New Alliances
by TMM1205
Summary: After the events in Kirby Plaza, a new hero shows her face, a bigger, more dangerous threat than Sylar raises it's ugly head, and everyone has to find a way to make peace with each other to fight the latest evil or face extermination.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter One-Deafening

They say that a person in a coma can hear everything going on around him. It's especially true if you have super hearing, as Gabriel Gray was grimly discovering. He could hear the sounds of the technicians in the building he was trapped in as they walked floors stories above him. He could hear whispers and conversations surrounding him, the sounds of people greeting the guards as they entered and exited the buildings during their shifts. The sounds of people entering his room to take his vital signs was deafening, as was the drip of fluids in the IV bottle hanging somewhere over his head, filling his veins with the chemicals that, he assumed, were keeping him in this paralyzed state.

Was he in a hospital, or somewhere more sinister? He didn't know the answer to that as he struggled to move any part of his body to no avail. He searched his mind, trying to remember what had happened to him last, before he ended up in this limbo. He remembered killing Ted Sprague, taking the man's extraordinary powers for himself and planning to destroy New York City. The rest? He struggled to remember and found, to his horror, that his supremely perfect memory, that he'd stolen from a waitress in Texas (Charlie, he remembered, her name was Charlie) was full of holes.

"_Maybe you've finally done it." _He thought to himself. _"Maybe Mohinder was right. You've finally absorbed too many powers and screwed your DNA to a point of no return. You've put yourself in a coma, Hot Shot. Your brain couldn't handle all of those wonderful powers."_

Somehow, in his heart though, he knew that theory was wrong. Something else happened to him. Something big. He strained to listen to all of the sounds around him, listening for voices, trying to hear anything familiar to remind him of where he was and how he'd gotten here. Suddenly, he heard the sound of a gurney rushing past his room, sounding as loud as a freight train to his sensitive ears, frantic beeps from medical equipment, and frantic voices, one in particular that caught his attention.

"This man needs an O.R. STAT! Don't tell me there's not one open, he's bleeding out. I want an O.R. and I want one NOW!"

He concentrated on that voice, listening as it faded as its owner rushed down the hall outside of his room. It was feminine, Southern, and full of steel. He realized he'd heard the voice before. Struggling to open his eyes, he heard other sounds around him, and realized with relief, that he wasn't trapped in a building like Primatech Paper, he was in a hospital, in a coma. He became aware of the pain to his chest, dull now, and in a flash, remembered everything: Peter Petrelli going nuclear, Kirby Plaza, a man shooting at him, only to be injured with his own bullets after Gabriel shoved the bullets back at the man. He remembered the events leading up to this injury and then remembered the man with the sword, a man named Hiro.

"_But how did I end up here?_" He wondered. He remembered using the last of his strength to crawl into the sewers below Kirby Plaza, his chest throbbing with each beat of his heart, feeling his life's blood gushing from his body. "_Who found me? Who saved me?_"

"DAMMIT!" He heard the feminine voice again, and strained to listen. He liked the cadence of it, the "Southerness" of it. He listened to the sound of neoprene gloves being snatched off and the sound of doors being shoved open as the beeps he'd heard a moment before were now replaced by one long, monotonous beep that was quickly switched off. Gabriel listened to the woman sigh as another voice, a masculine one, addressed her.

"Cheer up, Olivia, you can't win them all right?"

"Go to hell, Devon. If I'd wanted your sympathy, I'd have asked for it."

Sylar heard shoes squeak as she turned to walk away from the man, her voice growing closer.

"And 'you're welcome too'. For crying out loud, you can't win them all. You've already worked one miracle this week with that John Doe in 442, you were due a loss. We all lose patients."

Gabriel heard her shoes squeal again as she obviously spun around. "I DON'T LOSE PATIENTS!" He heard her footsteps as she turned again and stomped away.

"WELL YOU LOST ONE TODAY, PRINCESS!" The man's voice called to her. "GET OVER IT! WE HAVE ROUNDS IN TEN MINUTES! Spoiled little bitch," Gabriel heard the man mutter "thinks she's friggin' God."

Gabriel thought about the exchange he'd just heard, struggling to remember where in the hell he'd heard his mystery woman's voice before. It sounded like something he'd heard in a dream. "_She thinks she's God. She works 'miracles' with her patients._" He thought to himself. "_Olivia. I can't wait to meet you and see just how special and miraculous you are._"


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two-Intriguing

Gabriel Gray listened to the world around him. Since he was in a coma, listening was the only thing he could do. As he listened to the sounds of medical equipment, papers shuffling at desks, and voices carrying on conversations on all of the floors above and beyond him, he concentrated on one voice, trying to pick it out of the din that surrounded him as he tried to remember where he'd heard it before. It was a woman's voice, Southern-accented, with an undercurrent of steely determination. He remembered it the moment he'd heard it, shouting down the hall as she'd barked orders at staff, trying to get her patient into surgery, only to lose the patient moments later. He'd heard her trade barbs with a fellow staff member, a fellow doctor (because he knew she had to be a doctor) who had tried to console her, but she was beyond consolation. The strength he'd heard in that voice, the passion to save lives, intrigued him almost as much as the voice itself. Gabriel felt as if he'd heard it in a dream. He thought of her name: Olivia, and turned that name in his head over and over, trying to think of all of the Olivias he'd met in his lifetime. There weren't many, and none of them had a voice that affected him the way this Olivia's did.

He heard the door to his room open and listened as people walked in. He heard the people gathering around his bed, listening to their heartbeats and the breaths they took. Finally, a voice spoke up, this one unfamiliar and masculine.

"Case #48857, John Doe. Dr. Greene, he came in on you, present the case please?"

"Yes, Sir." Gabriel zeroed in on the voice, it was Her. Olivia. Doctor Olivia Greene. He listened as she took a deep breath and cleared her throat. "John Doe presented to the St. Ignacious Emergency Room approximately seven days ago at 3:00 am. Patient was found by NYC EMS lying near a storm drain in Queens. Patient was unconscious, suffering from a stab wound to his upper left chest. The stab wound went all the way through, puncturing and collapsing his left lung and narrowly missing his heart. Patient was also hypothermic, hypovolemic, bradycardic, and because of the hemopneumothorax, was suffering from hypoxia, with a blood oxygen reading of only 60 percent at time of arrival to the E.R. Chest C.T. showed that because of the trauma of his injuries, his pericardium was filling with blood, and his heart was failing. Dr. Carpenter and I took him directly into surgery, relieved the pressure in the pericardial sac and inserted a chest tube to re-inflate his left lung, after repairing the damage. During the surgical procedure, the patient flatlined, was down for over twenty minutes, but was revived after repeated, internal cardiac massage, internal cardiac shocks and drug therapy, including bretyllium, lidocaine and sodium bicarbonate. Patient was placed in Surgical ICU after surgery on a ventilator. The patient has not showed any signs of consciousness since the surgery, with zero response to verbal stimulus and minimal response to pain stimulus, despite the fact that he is physically recovering well from his injuries and his vital signs have been stable. EEG tests have shown that his brain is still functioning, and an apnea test performed last night showed that he is able to breathe on his own. Since last night he has been off of the respirator and breathing on his own."

Gabriel listened to Olivia discuss his case, his mind reeling. She'd opened his chest, flayed him open for the world to see and had repaired the damage that had been done by Hiro's sword, and from the sounds of things, had fought like a champion to keep him alive in the process. "_Is she just a good doctor?" _Gabriel wondered. _"Or is she truly special, like me?"_

"Dr. Greene." Gabriel was pulled from his thoughts by the voice he'd heard earlier, talking to her in the hallway. He remembered the name, Devon. "What do you think John Doe's chances are for coming out of this comatose state? Do you think that the hypoxia he suffered from an undetermined amount of time cause damage to his higher brain function? After everything you did to save his life, what did you honestly save? As you, yourself noted, with the exception of his persistent comatose state, he is recovering from his injuries well." Gabriel bristled at the mocking tone of Devon's voice.

"What are you saying, Dr. Manning?" Olivia asked. Gabriel could hear the tightness in her voice, and imagined the anger simmering underneath.

"What I'm saying, Dr. Greene, is do you think this man will end up in a permanent rehab center as a carrot for the rest of his life, or do you think you're going to pull another miracle out of your ass?"

"That's ENOUGH!" Gabriel heard the other masculine voice. "Dr. Manning, is that all you had to ask?" Gabriel heard the shuffling of feet. "First of all, we do not refer to patients as 'carrots'; and second of all, Dr. Greene did a hell of a job in that operating room last week on this gentleman and saved his life."

"Yeah, but what has she done for us lately." Devon muttered. Gabriel zeroed in on Dr. Manning's place beside his bed, and imagined what he could do to him if he were awake. He imagined crushing the man's windpipe slowly, watching him turn dusky as he struggled to breathe.

Suddenly, he heard a coughing, gagging sound. It was Devon. Gabriel listened, attentively. He had done it! He had reached out with his mind and done what he'd imagined. His body might not be responsive yet, but his mind, and apparently his powers, were still working just fine.

"Devon?" Gabriel's attention on Dr. Manning was broken as he heard Olivia's voice. "Everything okay?"

"Yeah." Devon gasped. "Just a slight attack, that's all. Damn asthma." Gabriel listened, his hopes crashing as he heard Dr. Manning pull an inhaler out of his pocket and listened to the whooshing sound as he breathed in his medication. "It's getting colder outside, my asthma always acts up this time of year."

"Well, now that the 'excitement' is over." Gabriel listened to the voice of the attending doctor, hearing his contempt for Devon in his voice. "Dr. Greene, what is your plan for the treatment of this patient?"

"Continue to provide stimulus in the hopes that the patient will respond, as well as daily EEG's to chart brain function. Watch for signs of organ failure and continue with I.V. antibiotic treatments. If he continues in this vegetative state, I suppose we will have no choice but to transfer him to a long-term care facility after he as completely recovered from his physical injuries."

"Very well then, Dr. Greene. I will leave you with your patient; he needs some dressing changes and post-op wound checks. Everyone else, follow me."

Gabriel listened as everyone left the room, everyone but Olivia. She walked around the room, collecting supplies to change his dressings. After a moment, he felt her hands on him, lifting up his hospital gown and touching his chest, removing bandages. Her hands palpated his wounds gently. He heard a door open and footsteps walk in.

"What the hell do you want now?" He heard Olivia ask, exasperated.

"He's a big guy." Gabriel seethed as he heard Devon's voice. "Do you really expect to turn him and change his dressings on your own?"

"I've managed before."

"Yeah, yeah." Gabriel felt Devon's hands steady him as Olivia turned him over onto his side, then felt her fingers gliding smoothly along his back. "How's he healing up?"

"Very well." Gabriel felt her replace the bandages below his shoulder blade before gently placing him onto his back to replace the bandages on his chest. "It's just worries me."

"What? The great Doctor Olivia Greene is worried about something? Get out of town."

"I don't understand why he's not waking up." Gabriel felt her hands touch his forehead, they were cool and soft. "It worries me. What if he did lose too much oxygen for too long?"

"So what if he did?" Gabriel wanted to kill the smarmy bastard as he listened to him walk around the bed to the side where Olivia stood. "See, that's your problem, Livvie, you spend too much time around here, hanging out in the vegetable aisle. I see you, sitting by the bedsides of the coma patients when you're not on your shift, concentrating on them so intensely. It's like you're willing them to wake up. You need to get out into the real world. Guess what? It's alive out there, with people living, breathing and walking around." Gabriel heard Devon lower his voice as he moved closer to the bed, and Olivia. "You've spent so much time around people teetering on the edge of death, trying to bring them back, you've forgotten how to really live. Maybe I could remind you."

"Ugh." Gabriel wanted to smile to himself at the distaste he heard in Olivia's voice. "You've GOT to be kidding me."

"Why not? You know I've been watching you for a long time, now. I know about your family, the money. I heard you just came into another big inheritance just this week. It must be nice being the only child of two wealthy only children, and the only goddaughter of yet another wealthy bastard, all of whom were nice enough to kick the bucket to keep your pretty ass in the lap of luxury. I know you know about my family too. Between the two of us, we'd be a force to be reckoned with in higher society. How about it?"

"You disgust me, how about that? I wouldn't touch you to slap you, how about that? Of course," as Olivia lowered her voice, Gabriel could hear the menace behind it "if you ever touch me again, I'll make an exception and wash my hand afterwards."

"Oh come on, Baby, don't be like that-OOOF!"

Gabriel listened as Devon gasped for air. "_Good Girl." _He thought to himself.

"That was your first and only warning. The next time you come within my comfort zone, I'll rupture the left one just as easily as I ruptured the right one. Now get the hell out of my patient's room."

If he could have smiled, Gabriel would have beamed as he heard Devon limp out of his hospital room, muttering threats under his breath. As soon as the door was closed, he heard Olivia sigh as she began to plump the pillow under his head.

"Good lord, what a jackass!" Gabriel felt her hand caress his forehead, smoothing down his hair before she pulled his gown down over his chest and pulled his sheet up, gently taking his arms and resting them outside of the sheet. "Guys like that just don't get it, do they? That's okay, I think you and I will come to an understanding soon enough. You'll wake up before you have to get shipped off to some long-term facility."

"_I think you're still in there, and I think you can hear every word I say—and don't say." _

Gabriel was startled by her last comment. It didn't come from inside of the room, it came from inside of his head. He heard her chuckle softly as she walked around his bed.

"You heard that, didn't you? Your blood pressure went up just now. It didn't go up a lot, but just enough to where I know, you heard me." Gabriel felt Olivia take his hand into both of hers, gently massaging the fingers. "It went up earlier too, when Devon started choking. Asthma my ass, you're waking up, aren't you Gabriel? You're starting to get your powers back, too."

_"How do you know my name?"_ Gabriel wondered. _"How in the HELL do you know my real name? And HOW do you know about what I can do?" _

"_I bet you're wondering how I know about you?" _He heard her voice in his head again. _"See, I know, because I know everything about you, Gabriel Gray. I know how you want to be special, and how you've been acquiring some of your more recent special abilities. I know how you want to be a hero and how you want to be powerful. I can help you with that and I will, after you wake up._"

Olivia gently let go of Gabriel's hand, placing it back on the bed. He felt her touch his forehead again as his mind raced, turning over what she'd said to him in his mind. "I have to go now, more patients to check on, you're not my only one, you know." He felt her lean over him, her lips inches from his ear. "Wake up soon." She whispered.

Her last sentence was delivered in a different voice, it was softer, breathier, and as soon as Gabriel heard it, he felt every nerve ending start to tingle as his heart began to pound in his ears. He suddenly felt hot all over his entire body. He heard her giggle softly.

"Well, you might be comatose, but not everything about you is unresponsive. I guess I found one stimulus you're VERY responsive to." He heard her walk towards the door, then stop. "By the way, if you want to know how I did what I did, just figure out how to ask me."

With that, Gabriel heard the door to his room open, then close as Olivia left.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three-Questions and Conversations

Gabriel Gray's mind was spinning as he thought about his doctor, the woman who'd saved his life: Olivia Greene. She'd proven to him two things: 1. she knew who he was and what he'd done before he'd ended up here, at St. Ignacious Hospital in New York City and 2. she had a special power, telepathy. He craved the idea of coming out of his coma and using his powers against her, opening her skull and taking out her brain, using the power she'd recently demonstrated on him for himself and his own personal gain. There was something he craved more though, something he needed first: answers. He wanted to know how she knew his name and his history. He wanted to know more about her and why, knowing his history and that saving him and showing him her powers would mean her certain death at his hands, she'd still worked so hard to save his life. She'd operated on him, cracked his chest open and repaired the damage caused by the sword Hiro Nakamura had shoved into his chest. She'd literally held his heart in her hands and, with her medical abilities, willed it to start beating again. He wanted to wake up from his coma, drag her away to a secluded area and get all of those answers out of her, one way or another, before he completed his coup de gras and took her brain and the incredible power it possessed, for himself.

"_You can't will yourself out of this coma."_ He thought to himself. _"You have to think of another way to get answers from her."_

He remembered her parting words to him_"By the way, if you want to know how I did what I did, just figure out how to ask me."_

He spent the rest of his day doing just that. After all, what else was he going to do?

"Good evening, and how is my patient tonight?"

Gabriel woke up, wondering how it was even possible for a person in a coma to fall asleep. After all, wasn't a coma basically just a deep sleep in and of itself? He listened as Olivia walked into the room and heard the creaking of vinyl as she sat down in a chair beside his bed. The wheels of a small table squealed softly as she pulled it up close to herself and Gabriel heard the sounds of charts being set down.

"It has been one hell of a day." Olivia sighed. "Seven surgeries, twelve consults, not to mention rounds. God, my feet are KILLING me! Now, on top of all of that, I have to document the charts not only for myself, but for my chief resident as well. The life of a surgical resident is rough, let me tell 'ya." Gabriel heard her yawn softly. "Eighty hours a week. Sometimes, I wonder if it's worth it. Then, I have a patient come in with part of his lungs shredded, bleeding out, basically a dead stick and I bring him back to the land of the living. Well, basically I do, anyway, and when that happens, I remember why I busted my ass through pre-med, medical school, my internship and now this killer residency. You know what would really make my day, Gabe? If you opened your eyes. Feel like doing that for me? No? Oh well. I'm going to sit here quietly and chart, if you need anything, give me a shout, you have figured out how to do that by now, haven't you?"

Gabriel suddenly realized that this woman sitting beside him, talking in her chipper voice, was seriously pissing him off. He wished he could sit up, turn to her and force her to shut up, shut that sunny, Southern-fried mouth up permanently.

"_I'm pissing you off, babbling about, aren't I?" _Gabriel heard her voice again, only this time in his head, like she'd done earlier in the day. _"You know, Gabriel, or do you prefer to be called Sylar? Oh well, until you start talking back to me one way or another, I'll call you what I like, and I prefer Gabriel. Don't like it, figure out how to tell me. Anyway, you know, Gabriel, I thought you'd have my little mind-trick figured out by now and we'd be chatting up the place something fiercely, in a silent way of course. Hell, Mrs. Appleton in 470 figured it out right away. Poor dear, too. She'd had a massive stroke and, as far as anyone else was concerned, was so vegged out, they might as well have made a salad of her. But I knew better. I sat in her room, like I'm doing with you now, and we'd talk and talk. I helped her find her way back. It took a month of me sitting with her nightly, but she woke up, and you will too. She didn't remember talking to me though, but when I went into her room to check on her the first night she woke up, she looked at me with the sweetest smile on her face and said 'Sugar, I dreamed of you the whole time I was out.' Of course, since she'd had a stroke, what she said vocally came out garbled. It's called aphasia, when a patient has difficulty forming words after a brain injury, but in her mind, I knew what she'd really said and I understood._

_See Gabriel, I understand what you're going through better than you think. I was in a coma once too. I was seventeen years old. I was on vacation with my parents and on the way home, there was a terrible car accident. Some idiot drunk driver crossed the line and hit our car head-on. I was thrown out of the car, which turned out to be a Godsend, since both cars caught on fire and blew up afterwards. My parents were both killed and I survived. I was busted up to hell and back and I was in a coma for three weeks. I remember every day of those three weeks, too. I remember people coming into my room and clucking their tongues, debating whether or not I'd live or even wake up. I remember them talking about my parents' deaths in front of me. It broke my heart to hear about it and the sick jokes the doctors made about the conditions their bodies were in after the fire was put out." _Gabriel heard her pause, and audible heard her clear her throat, sniffling. _"Do you have an idea how difficult it is to grieve when you're in a coma? There's nothing there, it's just a void of darkness and voices and emotions tearing you apart. When I finally woke up, my godfather was standing beside me. He comforted me and praised my miraculous recovery. That was when I decided that I wanted to be a doctor. When my little special skill here manifested, it enforced my decision more. I found that I could talk to people and get them to talk back to me when nobody else could. I could comfort when no one else could. I could give my patients a release, a sounding board for their fears and worries and hopes, while they lie in a bed, unable to speak or move. I could give people hope that no one gave me._

_So have you figured it out yet, how to talk back to me? See, I think of telepathy coming in two varieties. You've got the mind readers, who remind me of a police scanner. They hear everything, every little thought that runs through someone's brain, without even wanting to, but they can't talk back. Then, there's telepaths like myself. I like to think of my power as like a walkie-talkie. You can talk into it without hitting the little talk button and I don't hear what you're saying, or you can press the button and broadcast your thoughts to me and I can do the same. The first thing you have to do though, Gabriel is hit that talk button. You're probably talking away right now in there, I just can't hear you. Visualize it as a walkie-talkie with a talk button and you might just have some luck."_

Gabriel concentrated, visualizing a walkie-talkie, then visualized him pressing the button—HARD.

"_**CAN YOU HEAR THIS?!?!?"**_

Gabriel heard her jump, and heard the clattering of charts on the floor.

"_I'll be damned." _She echoed in his head. _"It finally came to you, huh? Word of advice, I can hear you just fine, you don't have to yell. Take it down a notch or two, if you don't mind. I've been up almost 24 hours straight and my head is killing me."_

"_Is this better?" _

"Why yes it is. So, tell me Gabriel, how does it feel to be able to communicate with someone after a week of being incommunicado?"

"_Oh, it feels great." _Gabriel said sarcastically. _"Nothing like it, really."_

"_Wonderful. So, is there anything you want to ask me? Need any help returning completely to the land of the living?" _

"Not yet, I have one thing I need to ask you first."

"Fire away, Sugar."

"Why?"

"Why what?"

"You know my name, you know my history, you know that now that I know about your little power, as soon as I come around, I'm going to collect it for myself. You know all of this, yet you busted your ass to save my life and then revealed your little gift to me. Why?"

"Maybe I believe that your life is worth saving, even if you are an alleged serial killer-"

"_-Oh, there's nothing 'alleged' about it-"_

"_-or maybe I believe that everyone, even the fearsome Sylar deserves a second chance to redeem himself-"_

"_-not gonna happen. I like who I am and who I become with each power I collect-"_

"_-or maybe I believe that you won't take my powers and use them for yourself. Maybe I believe you'll let me live."_

"_Then I believe you have to be the most naïve person on the face of the earth. Wait a minute," _Gabriel thought to himself a moment _"Did you say 'powers', plural, as in more than one?"  
_

"_Maybe. Trust me, you don't want either of them." _

"So you have two special little powers. Twice the reason to rip your head open like a piñata and collect the treats inside when I recover."

"_You won't take them. I have faith in you. Once you find out what the second one is, you won't want it. It's more trouble than it's worth most of the time."_

"_You don't know that. What's your second power?" _

"I'm not answering that right now, thank you very much. You should know what it is though, I've already demonstrated it on you, somewhat."

Gabriel's mind raced, trying to think about what she meant. He drew a blank.

"_Has it come to you yet?" _She asked in a teasing tone.

"_No, what is it?" _

"_You'll have to figure that one out for yourself. Anyway, back to the original topic-"_

"_-don't dismiss me like that-"_

"_-that subject is closed. Back to the original topic as to why I don't think you'll kill me and turn my brains into a Snack Pack-" _

"-Oh I will kill you, Peaches, if anything just for the way you have supremely pissed me off in the last few minutes-"

"_-'Peaches', cute, like I haven't heard that one before." _Her tone was dry, but still amused._ Anyway, do you want to know why I don't think you'll kill me?" _

"Oh, I'm just dying to hear this one."

"_It's two simple reasons. First of all, you went after people who didn't appreciate their powers, who didn't want them. I enjoy my powers. I enjoy my telepathy very much and I use it for the greater good-"_

"_-didn't stop me from killing Dale Smithers, now did it? She loved her supersonic hearing. It didn't stop me from hollowing out her skull like a melon-"_

"_-and second of all, if you took my telepathy, which for me is basically just a way of talking to someone without moving their lips, who in the hell do you think you'll use it on? Most of the people you come into contact with either get killed by you or, judging by the shish-ka-bob you came in here as, want to kill you. So with that in mind, who would you talk to without me around?"_

Gabriel thought about her question and realized he didn't have an answer for it.

"_I mean, honestly, it would just be like talking into a walkie-talkie without anyone else talking back. What's the fun in that?"_

"_Fun? You think this is fun?"_

"_Well, you're not bored right now, are you?"_

Gabriel didn't answer her. The truth was, he was starting to enjoy talking to her, even if she did drive him crazy, and he still had so many questions he wanted to ask her.

"_Well?" _She asked.

"_Well, what?"  
_

"_Are you bored?"_

Gabriel hesitated, then mentally shrugged. _"No, I'm not bored." _

"Good. I get the feeling it's been a long time since you were actually able to have an honest, adult conversation with someone, am I right?"

"_Perhaps." _

"You know, it's a damn shame it took you falling into a coma before that could happen. If you weren't so hell-bent on your bull shit, you could have had this more with other people. Instead, you had to go on and kill people, rip open their heads like piñatas, as you so eloquently put it, and end up with a sword in your chest. I have to say, you really have a way with people."

"Thank you."

Gabriel heard her laugh out loud softly to herself. _"You're welcome. So, have we reached an understanding?" _

"An understanding about-?"

"_-About the fact that you're not going to be killing me anytime soon?" _

Gabriel imagined himself crossing his fingers behind his back. _"Lull her into a false sense of security, pretend to be her friend, get her to bring you out of this prison called a coma and then when she's no longer useful, take her powers and leave her body to rot."_

"_Fine." _He told her. _"I won't be killing you anytime soon." _

_"Good."_ Olivia yawned and he heard the vinyl seat in the chair crackle as she stretched and stood. _"I meant what I said though, I think you deserve a second chance. Now, I'm going to go into an office somewhere, finish these charts, take a nap and start my next shift. I want you to try and rest your brain and think about what we talked about. I'll start trying to lead you back from the land of Nod tomorrow."_

Gabriel smelled her perfume as she leaned over him, touching his forehead again before she gently kissed it. She moved her lips to his ear, her voice growing soft and husky again, making his nerve endings tingle and his body flush with heat. "Sweet dreams, Gabriel."


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Four-Conversations and Revelations

During the next week that Gabriel Gray lay in his coma, he began to discover interesting things about Olivia Greene's power, at least, the power she had deigned to let him in on. He realized that if she were in the building, he could contact her, reaching his mind out to hers after honing in on her voice; a fact that he found thrilling and Olivia found to be more than occasionally annoying, especially when she was in surgery.

"_Gabriel, I get that you're bored, I get that you have questions and that I'm the only person you can talk to about this, but I'm in the middle of a very delicate surgery here and I have an attending standing behind me, waiting for me to seriously FUBAR this man. If my hand slips while I'm holding this scalpel, even for one second, the man on my operating table will never walk again."_

_"So you're asking me to shut up for a while?"_

_"Yes, I'm asking you to please leave me alone while I try to finish operating on this patient."_

"_So I guess being quiet, then suddenly yelling 'Boo!' wouldn't be a good idea."_

Gabriel waited through a pause for a moment before Olivia finally answered. _"If you try it, I swear to God above, I will set down my scalpel, walk out of this O.R., walk down the hall to your room and Kevorkian you with my bare-ass hands. Try and stop me if you can."_

Gabriel had realized that his slight attack on Dr. Manning had obviously been a one-off. He'd concentrated hard on moving objects around the room, first concentrating on the chair beside his bed. Finally, after what seemed like hours of trying without the chair moving, he gave up, realizing that his mind might be ready to talk to Olivia, but it wasn't ready to try anything else, including waking up.

Late at night after surgeries and rounds, Olivia would always come to his room to chart on her cases. Gabriel would listen to the sound of her pen scratching along the paper as she'd write. It was late at night when they would really talk about themselves. Gabriel started by telling Olivia about his life, being raised as an only child by his parents, his father's death just a few short years ago, and his decision to carry on with the family business of repairing watches.

"_It's still called 'Gray and Sons', which is a complete and utter joke. I'm the last of the Grays so far, I don't see myself settling down and starting a family, therefore having more little Grays to carry on the tradition, not that I would push them into it."_

"_So why did you do it? Why did you go into your father's line of work?"_

"_Because I liked it. I really **liked** building and repairing watches and clocks. I like seeing how the pieces fit together and how, when you do it correctly, you have this beautiful timepiece that can work perfectly, right down to the millisecond, if you're gifted enough." _

_"Were you gifted enough?"_

_"Yes, I was. My mother couldn't see that, though. She was always urging me to do something else, to be 'special'. She refused to believe that I could be happy just being a watch maker. Did your parents do that, before you died?"_

_"Somewhat. When my parents died, I was seventeen and basically only interested in going to college to chase boys. My dad had aspirations of me going into the family business though."_

_"What was the family business in your family?"_

_"It depends on what side of the family you're talking about. My father's side of the family created Greene Technologies, ever hear of it?"_

_"Yes. They started out making watches. They still do, as a side business, if I'm not mistaken. They are the manufacturers of Sylar watches, aren't they?"_

Gabriel heard an audible click as Olivia swallowed hard._ "Oh my God. Yeah, they do. They're also involved in technological discoveries to lead the world into the next millennium, blah, blah, yadda, yadda, whatever crap is on the company's masthead currently."_

"_So you inherited that after your parents died?"_

"_Yes. I'm still chief stockholder, which basically means that I get big fat dividend checks every quarter. My godfather took over the running of the day to day business with my whole hearted blessing after Mom and Dad died. At least, he ran it until he died recently. Now, I'm stressing over what to do, not only with Dad's business, but my godfather's as well. He left me everything in his will, and I do mean EVERYTHING. I've been silently freaking out over it since his death."_

_"You have some difficult decisions to make?"_

"_Yeah, some very difficult decisions. What do I keep? What do I sell the highest bidder? My attending offered me some time off to settle everything, but I put that time off on the back burner for now."_

_"Why?"_

_"I wanted to see you through this. You came into my E.R. the same night my godfather died. As a matter of fact, I had just received the news about his death when you came in."_

"_I'm sorry."_

"_My godfather was good, to me. He was a conniving bastard to everyone else though. He made a lot of enemies, quite honestly. I'm surprised it took this long for someone to get fed up with him and kill him. I just wish he'd named a different successor to his little 'empire' first."_

Gabriel listened as Olivia groaned, hearing the muscles and joints in her back popping as she stretched. "_So you've been left massive inheritances from both your father and godfather?"_

_"And my mother. Both of my parents were only children and I was their only child."_

_"Ah, the other family business you were referring to. What business would that be?"_

_"Politics. My grandfather was Governor of New York when I was born. MacKenzie Stoddard. His family was old money, based in steel mills and fortified with political seats. My full name is Olivia MacKenzie Greene, a nice mix of Southern charm and Yankee highbrow."_

"_My mother used to tell me I could be President, if I wanted."_

"_Mine did too. Then my grandfather would laugh and say 'President? The world won't be ready for a woman President! She might make a good First Lady, though, if she learns to keep her mouth shut!' He was very old-school in his thinking."_

"_Obviously. So, you're descended from the Greenes and the Stoddards, you weren't born with a silver spoon in your mouth, it was platinum with jewels covering the handle."_

Gabriel heard Olivia sigh and then laugh bitterly. _"Yeah, that's me. Blue-blooded pedigree with more money than God with no one to share it with. No parents, no grandparents, no sisters or brothers, no aunts, no uncles, no cousins-"_

"_-No husband or children-"_

"_-and few friends, if any, to spend time with. I live for my job, then go home to my snooty little penthouse on Central Park West and crash until it's time to go to work again." _Gabriel heard her snort in derision. _"Poor Little Rich Girl. Gloria Vanderbilt has nothing on me." _

"_With all that money, you probably had your pick of colleges."_

_"I went to University of Georgia for my pre-med. I graduated first in my class. It was Dad's alma mater. I loved it. I was raised in Georgia, pretty much, so it's always been my real, true home to me. I wish I'd taken my med studies there too."_

"_Where'd you go for that?"_

_"Columbia University, here in the good old Big Apple. I graduated second in my class there and did my internship at Columbia Hospital, but I chose to do my residency here."_

_"Why? Why would you choose a tiny hospital in Queens for your residency over a renowned hospital like Columbia?"_

_"Columbia was too big. St. Ignacious has more of a sense of community. It's not very big, only about five floors-"_

"_-I know, I was born here."_

"_Really? You almost died here, you know. The full circle was almost completed that night. Here, I can have more time with my patients and get to know them. I think people get better care when their doctors actually take time to know their patients-"_

"_-and dig into their brains with their special talents-"_

"_-that too. I like this sense of community more than the 'treat them and street them' mentality of bigger hospitals. If you hadn't been brought here, you'd probably be in a long-term facility by now, being fed through a tube and pissing in a bag for the rest of your life. That's not going to happen to you, though."  
_

"_You like to take time with your patients, but I doubt you spend as much time with them as you do with me now, do you?" _

_"No, I don't. But then again, I don't have as much faith in my other patients as I do with you." _Gabriel heard Olivia stand up and lower the rails on his bed._ "Come on, it's late, my bed has been screaming my name for the last half hour and it's time for your exercises."_

Gabriel groaned inwardly. The exercises that Olivia put him through every night were mental and physical and felt more and more like an exercise in futility. As she gently massaged his arms and hands, manipulating the joints to keep his ligaments and tendons stretched and supple, she'd urge him to relax and meditate.

"_Okay, let's try this again._" Olivia stretched his right arm out, letting his wrist dangle, his hand hanging limply. _"Imagine that your hand is stuck in mud and heavy weights are attached to each of your fingers. Fight against the mud, fight against the weights and concentrate on lifting your hand."_

Gabriel concentrated and strained, his head starting to pound. After a few minutes of trying, he gave up. _"I can't. I can't do it."_

"_Just try again, a little harder."_

Gabriel concentrated to no avail. "_I just can't, I'm sorry."_

"_It's okay. Just try doing it some during the day. You know, instead of playing 'twenty questions' and 'what number am I thinking' with me all day. Just imagine yourself fighting through layers of mud, of anything hard to fight through, really. Imagine yourself pushing upwards, pushing up towards a light."  
_

"_You want me to head towards the light? Now Olivia, I thought you were trying to bring me out of a coma, not kill me." _

Olivia laughed softly as she began to massage and manipulate his left arm and hand. Gabriel had discovered that, as difficult as the mental exercises were, he liked this part of the exercise, feeling her hands gently working over his weakening muscles and joints. He realized that he genuinely liked this woman. She was obviously lonely and sad, just like he was, but dared anyone to pity her. He liked listening to her talk about her life, even if she was only talking to him in his head, and craved to find out everything he could about her.

"_But you're still going to kill her when you recover from this."_ He thought to himself. _"You must have her power, her powers. You will make her tell you about her other power, the one she's hiding from you and then you'll snatch them away from her. No one will mourn her. No one will miss her. She'll be the easiest kill you've ever had."_

As Olivia began to massage his feet and legs, moving and stretching them as her hands worked over them, Gabriel realized that, no matter what he told himself, killing her was going to be far from the easiest thing he'd ever done.

* * *

A quick message from the author: 

I'd like to thank everyone who has read this story so far. It's pretty encouraging for me to see so many hits in so quick of a time. I hope everyone is enjoying this story and, though I know it's moving slowly now, things will be speeding up soon for Olivia, Gabriel/Sylar, and soon, the rest of the Heroes cast as I fold them into this story.

I know some of you are probably wondering why, with the exception of a foul word here and there, WHY I would rate this story "M". Well, the chapters I've written so far may be tame, but things are going to happen soon that will earn this story that rating soon enough.

Thank you again, please throw some comments my way if you'd like to and keep on reading! Now, much like Olivia, I have been working my butt off all night, and my bed is screaming for me as well. I'll be back later after I've rested to bring you more chapters in this story. Right now, it's flying out of my mind as if it's practically writing itself and I'd like to keep that pace up as long as the story allows.

Love ya'll!

TMM1205


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter Five-Resurfacing

"_So tell me more about your coma."_

"_What's left to tell?" _Gabriel could feel Olivia cradle his right heel in one hand as she bent his leg, stretching it as she guided the leg into a bent position with her other hand, before straightening it and gently placing it back on the bed, massaging his calf. _"I told you. I couldn't move, I couldn't speak, I couldn't even open my eyes for three weeks. It was nothing but darkness and voices. I heard everything that happened around me and what everyone said, but I couldn't physically react to it. I couldn't scream, punch the walls or cry. It felt like I was drowning in darkness."_

"_And you fought your way to the surface, like you've been guiding me?"_

"_Exactly." _Gabriel could feel her hands working their way up his leg before stopping at mid-thigh before she switched to his left leg. _"I felt like I was sinking into the darkness. It scared me. I was absolutely terrified that I would never wake up, that I would sink down and be lost forever, trapped in a world of blackness and sound. A few days before I woke up, the sounds I heard, that I clung to started to fade. That scared me the most. I was afraid that I would die if I didn't start fighting, so I did. Then, I felt this-" _

"_-What?"_

_"I can't explain it, really."_

_"Try to. I want to know what you felt. I want to know what to expect."_

_"I heard this voice. It was my godfather. He was talking to me, telling me to fight. Then, I felt this surge, like I was flying into this light. The next thing I remembered, I was awake and my godfather was standing over me, stroking my forehead and smiling at me. It was the only thing he could touch, actually. I was in a body cast, with my head in a surgical halo. You know, one of those contraptions that neurosurgeons put on patients with neck injuries to stabilize the spine. They're damned uncomfortable, really. Your head is basically surrounded by this metal wheel and your head is the axle with these spokes screwed into your skull. That's what it always looked like, to me."_

"_Sounds medieval."_

"_Feels pretty medieval too." _Olivia finished massaging Gabriel's legs and covered them with a sheet.

"_Olivia, what if I don't wake up? What if I stay in this darkness forever, like you thought would happen to you?"  
_

Gabriel felt Olivia take his hand, gently squeezing it. _"You won't."_

"_I've been like this for three weeks, now. What if your voice starts to fade, like everyone else's did for you?"_

"_"Gabriel, you suffered a loss of oxygen to your brain, but I don't think it was enough to cause permanent damage. I think it's just trying to heal, that's all."_

_"How do you know?"_

_"Because I've tried talking to patients who suffered hypoxia that was more severe than yours was and for much longer than you did. There IS no talking to them. There's nothing there, nothing left. I CAN talk to you, that's why I know, you will wake up. You have to." _She squeezed his hand softly again for emphasis before letting it go.

"_You have nice hands. They're very gentle and warm."_

_"Thank you."_

_"Did anyone hold your hand while you were in a coma?"_

_"No, not that I know of. It's funny, now that you mention it."_

_"Funny how?" _

_"Well, there was no one left really TO hold my hand, but I don't remember feeling anything physical during my coma. I could hear nurses bandaging injuries and checking my injuries, starting IV's and whatnot, but I don't remember FEELING them. But you do feel it when I touch you, don't you?"_

"Yes, I feel everything." 

"_Weird." _Olivia whispered. Gabriel heard her sigh as she walked around his bed and sat in the chair, pulling a table up to start working on her charts. _"You need to get some rest. I'll sit in here a bit longer and finish up."_

_"Okay."_

_"Goodnight, Gabriel."_

_"Goodnight, Olivia."_

* * *

Gabriel dreamed of swimming through darkness, sinking deeper and deeper, just as Olivia had described. He was unable to move or scream. He looked everywhere, searching for a light, anything that would lead him out of his state. Finally, he saw a glimmer in the distance, it was faint and looked so far away. He struggled to move, to push towards it. He felt himself begin to move, slowly towards the light as he fought to push towards it. The light grew closer and closer until he finally broke the surface. 

Gabriel's eyes slowly opened. The hospital room was dimly lit. He blinked once, then opened his eyes wide.

"_I'm awake. She was right, Olivia was right."_

With a great deal of effort, grimacing at how exhausted and weak he still felt, he turned his head to the chair beside his bed. Olivia was curled up in the chair, asleep, medical charts stacked on the floor in front of her. With her legs folded underneath her, Gabriel couldn't tell how tall she was. Her blue scrubs were wrinkled and hung off of her body in a way to suggest that she'd lost weight recently. With her back to him, he couldn't see her face, but her hair was dark brown, almost black in the dim light of the room. It was pulled back into a braid that hung down to the middle of her back, once probably neat, the braid was now mussed, with dark ringlets escaping from it. With a sigh, she turned over and Gabriel studied her face. She was classically beautiful, heart-shaped face with a straight, slender nose, high cheekbones and a full mouth. Her eyes were closed, but thick long black lashes fringed the lids. Her skin was pale, almost translucent and flawless, save for the two dark purple marks that curved under her eyes. Gabriel noticed that she looked like someone who had been through serious hell recently. Along with the dark circles under her eyes, hollows in her cheeks made her cheekbones seem more prominent than he was sure they usually were.

"_I have to say Liv, you are a very beautiful woman, but you'd be a damn sight prettier if you got a decent night's sleep and put on at least ten pounds."  
_

"This coming from a man who looks like a human scarecrow." Olivia muttered aloud in her sleep.

Gabriel's eyes widened. She'd heard him. _"Stupid, stupid, stupid man!"_ He thought to himself. He heard Olivia gasp and begin to rouse and quickly shut his eyes, pretending to sleep.

"Gabriel?" He heard Olivia stand up and walk to his bed. He felt her reach out and touch his hand. "Gabriel, did you say something to me? Did you wake up?" He struggled not to reply to her, keeping his face still and his eyes closed. He heard her sigh. "Dreaming, I was dreaming, that's all." As she sat back down in her chair, her beeper went off and she groaned. "God, what I wouldn't give for eight hours of sleep again, even four would be nice." She stood and Gabriel heard water running. He opened his eyes to slits to see her. The sink was across the room from his bed. Olivia stood with her back to him, washing her face. She was tall and was normally slender, but skinny now. Gabriel judged that she must be at least fifteen pounds underweight at least. He wondered if she'd lost that weight in the last three weeks, worrying over him while mourning her godfather and stressing over handling his affairs while keeping up her hectic work schedule at the same time. He watched as Olivia regarded her reflection in the mirror over the sink, bracing herself with her arms on the counter. She stared intently at herself, as if she were mustering the energy to move. She finally turned and Gabriel closed his eyes again and listened as she walked to his bed and gathered up the charts from the floor before walking out of his room.

Gabriel concentrated on the sounds of her footsteps as she shuffled exhaustedly down the hall. He heard other footsteps coming towards her.

"Hey Livvie! They've been paging you downstairs in the E.R. for the last five minutes, where in the hell have you been? Carpenter sent me up here to look for you, he's got a patient with an appendix that's getting ready to rupture!"

Gabriel sneered as he heard Devon Manning's voice. The last three weeks had not endeared him to the man. He was obviously interested in Olivia, constantly following her around and asking her out, never taking "no" for an answer.

"Jeez Livvie," Gabriel heard Devon talking "you look like shit! What in the hell has been wrong with you these past few weeks, huh?"

"I'm fine, Dev, just leave me alone and let me get down to the E.R. already."

"Screw the E.R.!" Gabriel could hear the same concern mirrored in Devon's voice that he himself had felt at hearing how weak and exhausted her voice was. "When's the last time you got any decent sleep, huh?"

Olivia sighed. "We're residents, we don't get sleep, remember?"

"Like hell we don't and you know it! You're skinny as hell and you look even worse. When's the last time you ate anything besides a bite of a sandwich here or half of a salad there? You're falling apart."

"DAMMIT DEVON LEAVE ME ALO-" Olivia's voice trailed off as Gabriel heard Devon gasp.

"Livvie? LIVVIE! Hey you nurse, get a gurney over here now and then call the E.R.! Tell them that Dr. Greene has collapsed and I'm on my way down with her!"

* * *

Gabriel listened to the sounds of people running towards Olivia and Devon and the squealing wheels of a gurney as it raced down the hall, taking her to the elevators and the emergency room below. 

Gabriel was thankful for the super hearing he'd taken from Dale Smithers as he listened to Olivia being treated in the emergency room. She was soon released, diagnosed with exhaustion and dehydration. He listened as her attending doctor, Dr. Carpenter, admonished her.

"Olivia, I know you've been through a lot these last few weeks with your godfather's death and taking on your John Doe's case, but you have to take care of yourself first before you can take care of anyone else."

"I know Sir, I'm sorry but-"

"-but nothing. By your own admission you've lost nearly twenty pounds since November eighth and you've been averaging only three hours of sleep a night. I'm surprised it took you nearly three weeks to finally collapse. These are my orders and you will not, repeat NOT contradict them, unless you want to find yourself out of a job-"

"-but Sir-"

"-I'm not going to let you kill yourself, Young Lady. I'd rather fire you for insubordination for not following these orders than let you keep up at this pace and end up dropping dead. You will do the following: you will go home today, you will sleep, you will eat like a horse, you will drink fluids as much as you can and you will do so for the next three days, do you hear me? You will NOT call this hospital for updates on any of your patients, you will NOT visit this hospital to see John Doe or any of your other patients; we have other doctors here to take care of them who are just as dedicated, if not as stubborn and pigheaded as you are. Don't do anything but rest, eat and get better. When you come back in three days, not one day, not two days, but THREE days, you had better look like the bright-eyed, well-rested young woman I accepted into this residency last year and not the unkempt, exhausted dishrag I see before me now, is that understood?"

"Yes Sir. I just need to go upstairs for just a moment to-"

"-No you will not! Dr. Manning's shift has ended and he has already said he will be glad to drive you home. You will not go upstairs for anything, you are going home immediately."

"But I just wanted to-"

"-IMMEDIATELY!"

Gabriel took a deep breath, then reached out to Olivia with his mind. _"Do what he says, Olivia. Get some rest. You sounded tired last night."_

_"But I wanted to come upstairs and say good-bye to you."_

"We're saying it now. Go on. I think I can survive three days without playing 'twenty questions' or 'guess what number I'm thinking?'. I can do those mental exercises you've been teaching me while you're gone. Who knows? Maybe I'll surprise you when you return." 

_"Okay, good-bye, Gabriel."_

"Good-bye, Olivia." 

* * *

Gabriel did exercise for the next three days, but he didn't use what Olivia had taught him. He practiced sitting up in the bed, moving his arms and his legs, his hearing keenly attuned towards the sounds of someone approaching his room. If he heard anyone, he'd lie back down, keeping himself still as he was examined. After he was left alone, he'd sit back up and move more, strengthening his arms and legs, thankful for the time Olivia had taken every day to stretch his joints. He was shocked at how quickly his muscles would tire, and would lie back on the bed, breathing hard after just lifting his arms a few times.

After he was satisfied with his limbs, he began to exercise his powers, starting with his strongest power: telekinesis. After struggling a few times, he found he was able to move the chair beside his bed a few inches back and forth. Within a day, he was able to lift the chair a few feet off of the ground, letting it hover and move back and forth before setting it back to the ground, gently. He practiced his other powers quietly, finding a pen in the table beside his bed, and letting it melt into the waste paper basket. Studying his hands, he watched as ice formed over them, then quickly melted it away with a faint glimmer of radioactive heat. The night before Olivia was to return. Gabriel went to sleep, smiling as he thought of surprising Olivia the next morning.

"_Surprise her with a quick scalping, as soon as she walks through the door." _He thought to himself.

"_No, not yet. I'm not strong enough yet. I'll build up my strength, rely on her trust, make her trust in me, then after I'm released, I'll find her and kill her. It'll be easier to disappear then. Even if they connect me to her murder, no one will no anything about me. As far as anyone's concerned, I'm just John Doe."_

Gabriel woke up early the next morning and waited. Soon, he heard familiar footsteps walking down the hall and listened as Olivia's fellow coworkers greeted her. He closed his eyes as he heard her approach the door to his room and heard it open. He heard her walk over to the bed and felt her hand as she touched his shoulder.

"_Good morning Gabriel."_

Gabriel took a deep breath, and opened his eyes. He heard Olivia gasp as he turned his head to her and studied her face. The dark circles were gone, making her look more beautiful. He stared into her eyes as they widened, her navy blue eyes staring into his dark brown ones. He sat up slowly, smiling at her.

"Good morning Olivia. Sugar, I dreamed of you the whole time I was out." He laughed softly, raising an eyebrow as Olivia's mouth flew open, and she stared at him in shock.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter Six-Not So Angelic

Gabriel grinned at Olivia as she stared at him in shock. He waited silently as she looked into his eyes, marveling at how beautiful they were, dark blue with gray and silver flecks throughout the iris.

"_It'll be a damn shame to close those eyes forever soon, but a man's gotta do what a man's gotta do and I want her powers for myself." _ He thought to himself.

Olivia reached out and touched Gabriel's arm, sliding it down until her hand rested on his. "You're awake."

"How observant of you, Olivia."

"When?"

"A little while after you collapsed." Gabriel lied. "I guess I was so worried about you and wanted to go to you that it gave me the final push I needed to come around."

"You were worried about me?" Olivia stared at Gabriel as he nodded. She shrugged and stared at the floor, patting his hand once before shoving them into the pockets of her lab coat. "You didn't have to. Everyone made too much of a big deal over what happened. I just hadn't eaten much that day and-"

"-You were exhausted. I heard your doctor talking to you. You've been stressed out ever since I showed up here. I heard him talk about how much weight you'd lost and how little you've been sleeping. I felt responsible-"

"-Well don't!" Olivia's eyes snapped up at his. He noticed how much darker her eyes got as she glared at him. "Don't feel responsible for the things I do and don't worry about me. I can take care of myself. I've been pretty much on my own for the last eleven years since my parents died and I don't need you or anyone else-"

"-Olivia." Gabriel purred as he reached out and touched her shoulder. "You worry about everyone else and take care of everyone else. You took such great care of me. You led me back from my coma. I think you deserve to let someone worry about you, take care of you, don't you?" He hand moved from her shoulder to her neck, where he gently began to knead the base of her skull. She closed her eyes, and Gabriel could feel the tense muscles under his fingers begin to relax as she leaned against the bed, bracing herself against the bed rails.

"Olivia?" Olivia's eyes flew open as she spun around, shrugging Gabriel's hand off of her neck.

Gabriel stared at the man standing in the doorway. He was tall, broad-shouldered and handsome: blond wavy hair, chiseled features and green eyes. The man glared at Gabriel, his eyes narrowing as he looked at Olivia. Gabriel glanced at her. She was blushing, shoving her hands in her pockets nervously.

"Good morning, Dr. Manning." She muttered.

"Good morning and welcome back." Devon walked into the room, closing the doors behind him. He stared at Gabriel. "You're awake."

Gabriel cleared his throat and nodded. "Yes, I am."

"When did this happen?" Devon walked towards them. "When I checked on you last night, you were still gorked out."

"Gorked?" Gabriel raised an eyebrow.

"Comatose. Vegetative. You were dead to the world five hours ago and now you're wide awake and talking to me."

"Yes I am." Gabriel smiled at him, staring into his eyes. "It was a miraculous recovery, really. I owe it all to Dr. Greene, here. I could hear her voice the entire time I was out. It gave me the will to live."

"Oh, I'll just bet it did." Devon smirked. "So how are you feeling now?"

"Like a million bucks, actually." Gabriel's smile faded. "I heard your voice too. You're Dr. Manning, aren't you?"

"Yes I am."

"I remembered you very well."

Gabriel and Devon glared at each other silently for a few moments until Olivia shook her head and stepped between them. "Put them both away, boys, you're both big." She turned to Gabriel. "You get some rest. Dr. Manning and I will be in here soon on rounds and we'll share the good news then." She glanced over at Devon. "That IS why you were in here, right? You were looking for me to take me to rounds?"

Devon nodded, his eyes never leaving Gabriel's. "Yeah. I knew you'd be here, this has become your favorite little hideaway, lately."

"Good." She smiled at Gabriel. "We'll see you later. I'm glad to see that you're finally up and around." She stepped forward and grabbed Devon's arm, steering him towards the door.

Devon stopped and turned back to Gabriel, grinning. "Actually, Dr. Greene and I aren't the only ones who will be glad to hear that you're awake! The police have been asking about you every day. They have some questions for you and about how you got injured. I'll be sure to call them and let them know that you're awake and ready to talk." His grin got wider as Gabriel's eyes widened in surprise. "I'm sure you'll want to speak to them as soon as possible."

As soon as the door closed, Gabriel climbed out of bed and stumbled towards a small closet in his hospital room. He opened it and cursed to see that nothing was inside it. He spun around, searching the room.

"_I've gotta get out of here before the police arrive. There are too many questions, ones I'm not ready to answer. If they find out I'm Gabriel Gray, it won't take long for them to look into my background. They'll find my mother, her apartment. They'll find her body, if they haven't found it already. I've gotta pull my I.V. and sneak downstairs. I can go to an on-call room, find scrubs. Yes, I'll find scrubs and wear them when I leave. No one will think I'm an escaped patient, they'll just think I'm a doctor, leaving for the day. That's what I'll do."_

"What in the hell do you think you're doing?" Gabriel turned to see Olivia standing at the door, glaring at him. She closed the door and walked towards him. "Get back into bed, dammit!"

"No." He tried to shove past her, but Olivia stood her ground. "I WILL get past you, Olivia, one way or another. Don't make me hurt you."

"Go to hell, you're not going to hurt me. What are you doing? Running? Why?"

"You know me, you know my history, you know why I'm running." 

Olivia rolled her eyes. "Oh for God's sakes! You're such a fucking coward. Get back into bed, NOW!"

"When the police find out my name, they'll find my mother and-"

"-And find her body? They already have. They also found fingerprints leading to a known junkie who lived in her building. When they went to his place to ask questions, they also found him dead of a drug overdose. They also found something else."

"What?" 

"It seems that this young man had quite a sword collection. Weird, yes, but people are strange, you know? One of those swords was covered in blood, yours." Gabriel stared at Olivia, his mouth hanging open. "Don't look so shocked, Gabriel. Like you said, I know your history and I like I told you once, I have plans for you. Do you think I'd let the police fuck up those plans?"

"What plans do you have for me? What are you planning?"

Olivia smiled broadly at Gabriel, flashing dimples at him. "You're not ready to find out yet, but you will be soon." She led him back towards his bed and helped him back into it. "Until then, you're gonna be a model patient and you'll tell the police everything. You were worried about your mother. You talked to her the night she died and when you went to her apartment, she didn't answer the door. She was known for being flighty and forgetful, so you figured she'd just forgotten you were coming over that night and went to dinner with friends. She'd mentioned the possibility of it that night. The night you came in here, you realized she still hadn't called you back, so you went back to her apartment and used your key to get inside, where you found her body. The junkie lived next door to her. He must have heard you pounding on the door and got scared. When you found her body and tried to call the police, he surprised you and stabbed you with one of those swords he had just lying around. You fought him off, which wasn't hard, since he was stoned out of his mind and ran. You collapsed down the street. That's the last thing you remember."

Gabriel stared Olivia, shocked. "You planted that evidence? How? What? How?"

Olivia smiled sweetly. "Gabriel, you've been collecting powers from different special people in an effort to be extra special and powerful. You didn't realize something though. Do you know what is the most powerful thing in the world?" Gabriel shook his head. Olivia leaned towards him. "Money. Money is the most powerful thing in the world, it's greater than all those little tricks you've got stored up in that brain of yours and I've got more than God." She leaned closer, their faces inches apart. "Don't worry about your mother's murder or your injury. Don't worry about any of the crimes you've committed. Everything's been taken care of."

"Why?"

"I've already told you. I've got PLANS for you." She laughed softly. "Every girl's gotta have a hobby, right?" She kissed his cheek before placing her lips to his ear. "Everything will become clear soon, don't worry. Now, be a good boy and pretend to be as innocent as I look." She stepped back from him, grinning. "I've gotta go on rounds. I told Devon I forgot something in here, he'll be back looking for me soon. See you later." She turned and walked towards the door.

"You're not as angelic as you look, are you?" Gabriel stared at Olivia in amazement.

She turned, her hand on the doorknob and winked at him. "No, not in the least."


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter Seven-Flashbacks, Introductions and Revelations

November Eighth

Niki Sanders rubbed her eyes, exhausted as she paced the ICU waiting room of Columbia University Hospital. It had been eighteen hours since her husband D.L. had been shot by Linderman and the events of Kirby Plaza had unfolded. D.L. had been rushed to the hospital, with Niki and their son Micah by his side and he was taken immediately into surgery. She remembered the grave looks on the doctors faces when they'd come to talk to her after his surgery.

"Mrs. Sanders your husband-"

"-Serious injuries-"

"-massive internal bleeding-"

"-critical condition-"

"-the next twenty-four hours will be the most important-"

"-we're hoping for the best, but you should prepare yourself-"

Niki closed her eyes and leaned against a wall, trying to forget what the doctors had told her. She thought about her life with D.L.; the way they first met, dating, their wedding, Micah's birth. She thought about how D.L. had been shot, taking a bullet meant for her and the words he said to her afterwards.

"_I don't care what he said. Me and you getting together, that was real."_

Tears began to seep from Niki's closed eyes as she choked back a sob. She opened her eyes and glanced over at Micah, sleeping peacefully across chairs in the waiting room, a blanket wrapped around him. She took a deep breath, mentally pulling herself together as she walked to a chair across from Micah and sat down, her hands gripping the arms of the chair.

"Niki Sanders?" Niki looked up to see a tall woman walking into the room. She was dressed in blue scrubs, her dark curly hair pulled back into a ponytail. "Are you Niki Sanders?" The woman asked. Niki nodded and the woman smiled softly, stepping forward and offering her hand. "Hello. My name is Olivia Greene. I'm a doctor at St-"

"-Is it about my husband?" Niki started breathing heavily, her lips trembling. "Oh God, is he-"

"-Oh no! No, no, no, noooo." The woman shook her head. "I'm not a doctor here. I work at St. Ignacious, where I'm a resident. No." She pointed to the chair next to Niki. "May I?" Niki nodded and the woman sat down. Niki watched at the woman stared down at the floor, her hands twisting nervously in her lap before she finally looked up at her, biting her bottom lip nervously. "I'm here about Mr. Linderman. I'm his goddaughter, his heir. I know I'm the last person you'd want to see right now but-"

Niki's eyes narrowed as she sat back in her chair. "-You've got that right. Where do you get off, coming here after what your godfather did?"

Olivia nodded, her blue eyes welling up with tears. "He did terrible things, I'll admit to that. He kidnapped your son, shot your husband-"

"-forced me to prostitute myself in exchange for money I owed him, sent thugs to my home, used me as an assassin-"

"-Yeah. I know." Niki glared harder at the young woman as she stared at the floor again. "I've been going through some of his papers this afternoon and I came across your file, and your husband's. I've read about the things he did to you and your family. I know an apology won't help, but-"

"-Save it." Niki snapped. "I don't want to talk to you."

"My godfather was a hateful bastard." Olivia looked up at Niki, her eyes darkening. "The things he did to your family cannot be repaid with all of the money or all of the apologies in the world, I know this. I only hope I can help repair what he's done in any way I can." Olivia reached into the beat-up knapsack on her shoulder and handed Niki a check. "I only hope this can help in some way."

Niki glared at Olivia for another moment, then took the check, her eyes widening when she saw the amount. "Twenty million dollars?"

"I've also made arrangements with the financial department downstairs, asking them to forward all of D.L.'s hospital bills to me and I've made arrangements with All-American Skyways for open-ended first-class tickets in your names when D.L. has recovered and you're ready to return home." Niki stared at Olivia in shock as the woman stood, shouldering her bag. "I'm just so sorry for everything my godfather has done." Niki nodded, unable to speak. "If there's anything else you need, just call me." She dug in her purse again, grabbing a notepad. She quickly jotted down a number and handed the note to Niki, who took it with trembling fingers. "That's my home number and my cell. Please if there's anything at all-"

"-I will." Niki nodded, staring at Olivia. Olivia stared back for a moment, her eyes shimmering with tears. She turned and glanced at Micah.

"Your son?"

"Yeah. Micah."

Olivia nodded. "He looks like a really good kid."

"He is." Olivia turned to leave. Niki cleared her throat and glanced at the check before looking back up at the young woman. "Olivia?" She turned to look at Niki, her eyes full of apprehension. Niki smiled softly, blinking back tears of her own. "Thank you. Thank you for coming here and apologizing. I'm sorry about being so nasty earlier, I just-"

"-I know." Olivia's face crumpled for a moment as she choked back a sob. "I know. I don't blame you." She turned and walked out of the waiting room.

Niki pocketed the check and Olivia's phone number. As she stood, she noticed the day's paper, with Nathan Petrelli smiling from the front page with the headline _"Landslide"_ printed across the top. She picked up the paper and glanced over the article before walking to the window and looking out at the New York Skyline, lit up in the dark. Her eyes searched the skies, remembering the nuclear explosion she'd seen in it the night before. She closed her eyes and said a silent prayer, hoping the Petrelli brothers had somehow survived the events.

* * *

Noah Bennet sat in a chair in his hotel suite, reading the newspaper. Nathan Petrelli, his daughter Claire's biological father, smiled at him from the front page. Noah turned and glanced towards the closed bedroom door across the room from him. She'd had a rough day filled with relief that the excitement had finally ended, to grief over the assumed fates of her father and her uncle Peter, a man she and Noah had grown to love and respect in a brief amount of time. He'd called the Petrelli mansion earlier, hoping that Angela Petrelli had heard any news, but she curtly told him that he wasn't privy to ANY information she had before slamming the phone down in his ear. Claire had finally gone to bed, exhausted after running across the country and the city for the last week. Noah knew without even looking in on her that she was sacked out, probably sleeping harder than she'd slept in quite a while. 

A soft knock on his hotel room door broke his reverie. Noah stood and walked to the door, opening it. A young woman stood in front of him, tall and pretty with long, dark curly hair pulled back into a ponytail. She was dressed in scrubs.

"Noah Bennet?" He nodded. "I'm Olivia Greene. I'm Mr. Linderman's goddaughter. May I speak with you?" Noah opened the door wider and allowed the woman to walk inside. She was carrying a sealed manila envelope in her hands. She sat in a chair, her hands nervously playing with the envelope as Noah sat across from her. "I'm also Mr. Linderman's sole heir. I had to work most of the day today at St. Ignacious-"

"-Doctor, or nurse?"

"Doctor. Resident." The woman smiled softly. "I was informed of my godfather's death early this morning. After I got off of work this afternoon, I was sent over some of his personal papers as well as some of his business papers. I saw something about OWI and I did some research. I made his lawyers give me whatever they had on it, actually. I found some information about you in there." Noah sat back, preparing himself for the worst. "You got a bad deal with OWI, didn't you?"

Noah blinked, surprised. "Well, I don't know about 'bad deal' but-"

"-I want to try and continue the research OWI did, but without it being quite so secretive and under the table. I want you to head it, if you're interested. With Mr. Thompson dead, someone needs to step up and take his place, someone with some ethics and morals who isn't quite so underhanded. From what I understand, the organization actually used to stand for something before the edges were blurred, something good and important. I was wondering if you'd be interested in making it stand for something again."

Noah took off his glasses, staring at Olivia. "I don't know, Dr. Greene. Lying to my wife, the secrecy-"

"-it would all be completely above-board, Mr. Bennet. You will never have to lie to your family about what you really do again. You will be the head of a research facility, not a shadow organization." She handed him the papers. "This is all of the information that you'll need to start with, including your contract, your raise, and a cashier's check inside. Consider it a signing bonus. If you decide to be on board, just cash the check and report to what used to be the Primatech Paper factory when you return home."

Olivia stood up and walked towards the door as Noah opened the envelope and began to read the paperwork. He glanced over it and then stood. "Wait."

Olivia turned. "Yes, Sir?"

"Noah held the paperwork out. "No more sneaking around, no more secrets? We're just a research facility, that's all?" Olivia nodded. "Stability for my family, no more lies?" Olivia nodded again. Noah reached into his pocket and pulled out a pen. He signed the contract and handed it over to her. "It'll be nice to finally stand for something good again."

Olivia smiled softly as she took the contract from him. "I think so too." She nodded and walked out of the room.

* * *

Olivia left the hotel and stepped towards the curb, raising her arm to hail a cab. 

"Did he fall for it? Is he on board?" Olivia turned as a woman stepped out of the darkness, her head raised haughtily. "Well?" Angela Petrelli snapped.

Olivia's mouth screwed up in distaste as she turned away, searching the streets for a taxi. "He's in."

"Good girl. You've made your mommy very proud."

Olivia spun around, her eyes blazing. "My 'Mommy' died eleven years ago. Sally Greene was the only mother I ever had, wanted, or will ever acknowledge. You're just the married bitch who couldn't keep her legs closed around her husband's best friend and then tried to hide the result!"

"Watch your mouth, Young Lady!" Angela's eyes narrowed as she walked towards her. "You've always had a nasty little temper, haven't you? You get that from Linderman, your father."

Olivia snorted as she looked away. "Nathan and Peter?"

"They're fine. We found them a few hours ago."

"Good." Olivia whispered. "Thank God Nathan had the sense to get Peter out of Kirby Plaza before he went off. You and your stupid plans."

"Me and my 'stupid plans' were meant to put Nathan in the White House." Angela stood beside Olivia. "But as you've well discovered this afternoon, we have a Plan B that will put him there as well, as long as you do your part and continue to play the sweet, innocent little doctor." She laughed softly as Olivia glanced sideways at her. "Speaking of which, I understand you pulled some strings to have that beast Sylar found and brought to your hospital." Olivia nodded, silent. "You realize he killed your brother and tried to kill your niece."

"It doesn't look like that killing took."

"What are you playing at, bringing that animal into all of this?"

Olivia turned and stepped away from Angela as a cab pulled up to the curb. "That's none of your business."

"He's going to end up killing you, you know. He's gotten a taste for it, the power."

"Maybe I'll show him a new way to find power. I have faith in him. I have faith that what I offer will be much more interesting to him than murdering me."

Angela laughed. "You're a proud, vain little thing, aren't you? THAT you get from me. Pride goeth before a fall, Olivia. I found that out and you will too. You'll find out very soon if you don't let that man die."

Olivia opened the door to the cab as she glanced at her mother. "I didn't get anything from you but a sense of supreme relief that I was raised as a Greene and not as a Petrelli. I'm right about Sylar, you'll see soon enough." She climbed into the cab and slammed the door.

Angela Petrelli watched as the taxi drove away. "I hope he makes you eat those words while he's eating your delusional little brain, you stupid, stupid, stupid little girl."

* * *


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter Eight-Electrifying

Olivia had been right. The police bought the story Gabriel fed to them about his mother's death and his own attack while Olivia stood beside him, inwardly giving him advice on what to tell the police, while outwardly standing stoically beside him, comforting him when he began to break down, describing finding his mother's body only moments before being attacked by her killer.

"-it was just so terrible to see her lying there with those scissors-"he gasped, choking back a sob. "-there was so much blood. I heard a noise and I turned around. Jimmy Pepone was standing there. He was obviously stoned out of his mind. It was a shame really. I grew up with him. He used to be such a good kid. I looked down at his hands and they were still covered in blood. They were carrying a sword, it was the strangest thing. Then he, he-" He covered his face with his hands and began to sob openly. "-he's the man who killed my mother, isn't he?"

Olivia reached out and touched Gabriel's shoulder gently, her eyes brimming with tears. "It's okay, Gabriel. I'm just so sorry." She looked up at the police detectives standing in front of her. "Do you have enough? This is very upsetting to my patient and he's just awakened from his coma. He's still recovering from major surgery."

One of the detectives nodded and closed the notebook he was writing in. "Yes ma'am, I think we've got everything we need." He nodded at Gabriel sympathetically. "I'm terribly sorry about making you have to relive everything."

Gabriel shrugged, wiping away tears. "It's okay. You had to find out what happened. Did you find Jimmy?"

"He was found in his apartment dead. Apparently he overdosed after he killed your mother and attacked you."

Gabriel shook his head sadly. "God, poor kid. You just have to think about what terrible things he was going through to make him do such terrible things."

"Yes sir, I know." The detectives headed towards the door, passing Devon Manning as they began to leave. One of the detectives turned around. "You're a very lucky man, sir. From what I understand, your injuries were pretty severe."

Gabriel sighed and looked up at Olivia, who smiled sweetly back at him. "I realize how truly lucky I am. I owe everything to Dr. Greene here. I understand she fought like a wildcat to keep me alive."

The detectives smiled and left the room as Dr. Manning walked to Gabriel's bed, his arms crossed, a smirk twisting his lips. "Quite a tragic story, Mr. Gray: mother murdered, you attacked, I guess fate really stepped in when you were able to escape your attacker and continued to work its charms when you came in on Olivia's shift."

Gabriel stared at Devon, his eyes narrowing for a moment. "It was a terrible thing to go through. I owe my survival to Olivia. She's been an angel on my shoulder, a true inspiration."

Devon glared at Olivia as she rubbed Gabriel's back comfortingly. "Oh, I'm sure she is." He turned and stomped out of the room.

Gabriel turned to Olivia, grinning. "I don't think he likes me very much. I think he thinks I'm stealing his girl."

Olivia rolled her eyes, her hand still resting on his shoulder. "Please, I was never his girl." She glanced at Gabriel, smiling softly. "Are you though? Are you stealing me?"

"Am I?" Gabriel shrugged. "I don't know. I think we're just beginning a lovely friendship, that's all." Gabriel smiled at Olivia as she turned away from, raising an eyebrow at the emotion he just saw fleetingly cross her face. He wondered if it was disappointment. Olivia reached for the bag Gabriel had seen her bring in earlier before the detectives arrived. "So what's in the bag? Food? I'd kill for a cheeseburger right now. I haven't eaten solid foods in three weeks."

"Nope, no cheeseburgers yet, your system wouldn't be able to handle it. You're on clear liquids for the next day or two, with bland foods following. Baby steps, Gabriel. If you tried to eat a cheeseburger now, it would just come right back up. Tell you what, the day you're discharged, I'll bring you a cheeseburger to celebrate, how's that?" Olivia handed Gabriel the bag. "Here's an early Christmas gift."

"What is it?" Gabriel reached into the bag and pulled out a wooden case and a sketch book. He opened the case, revealing oil pastels, watercolor pens and colored pencils. He glanced up at Olivia. "Wow, thank you."

"You're welcome. I decided that, now that you're starting to get your physical strength back, you might want to work on your other strengths."

Gabriel shrugged. "I've already started on that." He pointed to the chair and lifted it off of the floor, letting it swing in the air for a moment before setting it gently back on the ground.

Olivia giggled as she leaned towards Gabriel, her eyes sparkling. "That was cool." She whispered breathlessly. "What else can you move with your mind?" Gabriel turned to her, smiling and realized their faces were inches apart. She lowered her eyes for a moment, her cheeks turning red. "I didn't mean that to come out all porny like that." She shook her head as she started to stand up straight, moving away from Gabriel. He reached out and grabbed her shoulder, pulling her close again as he stared into her eyes.

"You have got the most beautiful eyes I have ever seen." He whispered, pulling her closer.

"They're just blue."

"No, they're not just blue. They're blue and silver and grey and, and-" He reached out and touched her cheek, leaning in and kissing her softly on her lips. She tried to pull away for a moment, then leaned forward, kissing him back. His hand slid up her cheek to her hair, running his fingers through it as he kissed her harder, his lips moving against hers.

Olivia kissed him back just as hard for a moment before pressing her hands against his chest. She pulled away from him, breathing hard, her neck and cheeks blood-red as she stepped away from Gabriel. Gabriel watched her with interest as she tried to pull herself together, straightening her hair as she avoided his eyes. Finally she glanced up at him.

"That's enough." She breathed. "I have patients and-" She gasped for air. "-you have your future to draw."

Gabriel smiled softly as she turned and left the room, her hands and legs shaking. He turned back to the sketch book and art supplies. "My future." He whispered as he picked up a watercolor pen, his eyes turning white as he began to draw.

* * *

Gabriel gasped as his eyes turned brown again. He glanced at the window near his bed, noticing how dark it had gotten outside. He shook his head, wondering how long he'd been drawing. He glanced at the book in his lap and began to flip through it. The first picture he saw was of a man looming in darkness, white bolts emanating from his fingers. The next picture was of two men in the middle of a battle, one man outlined in lightning bolts, the second man in a hospital gown, ice flying from his hands. Gabriel ran his fingers through his hair, eyes widening as he flipped to the next picture. A woman with long dark curls, dressed in blue scrubs lay on the floor in the darkness, bolts of electricity covering her. Scalpels and a threaded needle were lying beside her outstretched hand. The next picture was of the lightning man again, now pressed against a wall, his arms stretched out, crucifix-style, his hands pinned to the wall with scalpels, his mouth sewn shut. Gabriel bit his lip as he flipped to the next page and gasped. The man in the hospital gown had the dark haired woman pressed against a wall, her legs were wrapped around his waist. They were kissing passionately. Gabriel took a deep breath as he flipped to the next page. The man pinned to the wall was dead, the top of his head sawed off as the man in the hospital gown stood in front of him, small atomic explosions coming out of the palms of his hands. 

Gabriel closed the book and looked around his room. He reached out to Olivia with his mind.

"_Olivia?" _

"_Yes. Welcome back. You were pretty out of it. Draw anything interesting?"_

Gabriel climbed out of bed and walked to the door to his room, opening it and glancing down the hall.

"_There's someone else here with powers, isn't there? Tell me the truth!"_

_"Yes. Why?"_

_"Who is it? TELL ME!"_

"_No. What's gotten into you? What in the hell did you draw?"_

"There you are!" Gabriel turned as Devon approached him, pushing a wheelchair, a broad smile across his handsome face. "I was just on my way to get you."

Gabriel narrowed his eyes. "Why?"

_"Gabriel? Where are you? What did you fucking draw?"_

Devon's smile got wider. "Well, I was just going over your chart. Olivia scheduled a chest x-ray for you earlier today, to check the progress of your recovery. I guess in all of the excitement today, no one thought to do it." He patted the seat of the wheelchair. "Let's go."

Gabriel grinned at him. "Sure, Dr. Manning!" He sat in the wheelchair and smirked as Devon began to push him down the hall. "So Olivia ordered this, huh?"

"Yeah. I guess she's still not one hundred percent yet after her collapse. She's been so distracted lately with you and with her inheritance, I guess she ordered it and then just forgot about it."

"She's such a great person, isn't she? So generous and gifted and caring."

"_Gabriel, where are you?"_

"Yes, she is." Gabriel could hear the edge in Devon's voice. "She's the best."

"_Dr. Manning remembered a chest x-ray you ordered and forgot about. He's being kind enough to take me to have it done now."_

_"SHIT! Shit, shit, shit, shit, SHIT! Gabriel, I'm on my way, don't do ANYTHING_!"

_"You may want to bring a scalpel or two, sweetie. I think he's going to attack me. He's very threatened by me." _

Devon pushed Gabriel down the hall to a room marked "Radiology". As soon as they entered the room, Gabriel started to stand. "So do I lie on the table or-" As he turned, Gabriel fell as Devon punched him in the face. Gabriel began to stand as Devon shoved the wheelchair out of the way and stepped towards him.

"She belongs to ME, asshole!" He kicked Gabriel, sending him sprawling on his back on the floor. "Olivia's MINE! I have plans for her. I have plans for US, she just won't accept that yet, but she will, once you're out of the way."

Gabriel reached out with his mind, shoving Devon back. Devon tripped over the wheelchair and fell. Gabriel stood up, glaring as Devon began to stand as well, laughing.

"I'll be damned! TK, right?" He nodded. "Cute. You can't fight me with that little parlor trick though. They'll come running in a moment when I hit the code button." Gabriel looked at Devon's hands as sparks began to fly out of them. "Did you know that electricity surging through your body can cause cardiac arrest? It was so tragic, really. I was running an x-ray on Mr. Gray when all of a sudden, his heart just stopped. I guess he just wasn't as strong as Dr. Greene thought he was, huh?" He thrust his hands forward, shooting bolts of electricity towards Gabriel. Gabriel tried not to scream as he collapsed on the floor, his muscles beginning to spasm as the electricity flowed through him. Devon lowered his hands as Gabriel twitched on the floor. "Like that? That was just a taste, really, not even close to the power I possess." He walked towards Gabriel as he tried to stand, his legs shaking. "You ready for more?"

Gabriel stood, glaring angrily at Devon. "You don't want to piss me off, Devon." He looked down at his hands, smiling as ice began to form on them. Devon saw them as well, his eyes widening. "TK isn't the only power I possess." Devon raised his arms as Gabriel raised his. "Game on?"

They both turned as the door flew open. Olivia ran into the room and stopped, staring at Gabriel and Devon. Devon started laughing. "Here to save your little boyfriend? You're just in time to watch him die, but first, a lesson for you about kneeing me in the balls, you little bitch." He raised his hands at her, shooting electricity at her. She shuddered and collapsed, her hand twitching as metal objects fell out of it, another object falling out of her pocket.

Gabriel smiled as he saw the scalpels sparkling in the glow of the electricity. He raised his hands, shooting ice at Devon with one hand while making the scalpels rise with the other. "Hey Devon!" Devon turned towards Gabriel, dodging the ice. Gabriel twitched his fingers, and the scalpels flew through the air, piercing Devon's hands and pinning him to the wall, arms outstretched as sparks of electricity sputtered from his fingers. Gabriel glanced at Olivia as she lay on the floor and noticed a suture packet that had fallen out of her pocket. He opened it with another twitch of his fingers, opened the packet and grinned as a threaded suture needle flew out of it. He turned to Devon and wiggled his fingers. Devon squirmed and groaned as the needle flashed, sewing his mouth shut. "Game over, Dev." Gabriel laughed as he turned and walked to Olivia. He reached out and touched her shoulder, turning her over. She stared up at him for a moment, dazed before she reached out her hand. Gabriel took her hand and helped her up, steadying her as she stumbled, her legs twitching with spasms. She pulled him into a hug, holding him close to her, her face buried in his shoulder.

"You're okay?" She whispered.

"Of course." He raised her face and looked into her eyes. She looked at him for a moment before glancing over his shoulder at Devon, struggling against the scalpels and stitches, twitching like a fly trapped in flypaper.

Gabriel's eyes followed her gaze. "He was going to kill me. He was jealous. I was right. He thought I was trying to steal what he thought was his girl."

"You did the right thing, then." Gabriel turned back to Olivia as she looked up at him. "He was going to kill you. I was never his girl, I could never be his."

"Whose are you?" Gabriel whispered.

"I'm my own girl." Olivia whispered back.

"For now." Gabriel whispered before bending down, capturing her lips with his, kissing her passionately. Olivia moaned as he pressed her against the wall, kissing him back. She wrapped her legs around his waist as he buried his face in her neck, feeling her fingers running through his hair. He felt her shudder as he slid his hands up her shirt, running his fingers up her back before sliding around to reach under her bra. He lifted his head as she kissed him again, taking her lips away from his only long enough to pull off her shirt, flinging it across the room. They kissed a moment longer before his lips slide down her neck to her collarbone, then to her cleavage. She trembled against him, and then froze, tapping him on his shoulder. He lifted his head to hers as she nodded towards Devon. He turned his head to look at the doctor, then turned back to Olivia. She lowered her legs and stood, sliding away from Gabriel to grab her shirt.

"Finish it, Sylar. Do what you need to do." She whispered as she put her scrub top back on, breathing hard. She turned back to him. "Do it, then dispose of the body." Gabriel nodded, unable to speak as she stepped past him. "I'll be waiting outside. Don't worry about the radioactive-"She shrugged. "-we're in an x-ray room, the rooms are used to shield x-rays. I'm sure they can shield anything you do in here." The door closed as she stepped out of the room.

Gabriel turned to Devon, smiling evilly. "Your girl, huh?" He laughed softly. "She'll be joining you soon enough though, you can have her then." He stepped towards Devon, who stared back at him, his eyes full of terror. "This is going to hurt a lot!"

* * *

When Gabriel walked out of the room, Olivia was leaning against the wall. She looked over at him. "Well?" 

Gabriel lifted his hands, smiling as sparks began to sputter from them. "Shocking, huh?"

Olivia laughed softly. "You could say that." She tilted her head towards the door. "Devon?"

"Instant cremation. Ashes to ashes, so to speak."

"Good." Olivia took a deep breath and straightened up. "Let's get you back to your room."

"Wait." Gabriel walked towards her. "What was that in there?"

"What was what?" Olivia asked innocently. "You look as tired as I feel." She reached out and took Gabriel's hand. "Come on, before someone starts to get suspicious."

Gabriel let Olivia lead him back to his room, studying her face the whole time. He allowed her to help him back into bed and let her tuck the sheet around him. "How did you know about Devon? How did you know about his abilities?"

"Simple. I have the list."

Gabriel's eyes widened. "Excuse me?"

Olivia looked up at him, smiling. "I have The List."

"I want it."

Olivia shook her head. "No." She turned and walked towards the door. As she opened the door, it suddenly slammed shut. She turned and glanced at Gabriel, giggling. "Temper, temper, Gabe."

"Give me that list."

"I said no and I meant it." Gabriel glared at her. "What are you going to do? Kill me? Do it! Saw off my head, take my brain, go for it. You'll get nothing but a power that you can't use since everyone you meet usually ends up dead, and a power that would only interest a frat boy at a kegger. Get some sleep. I'll see you tomorrow."

She opened the door and this time, Gabriel let her. He watched her as she left, closing the door behind her. He closed his eyes, remembering the kiss, the way she felt pressed against him, the way her body felt when he'd touched her. He smiled, remembering how she'd trembled and shuddered against her, then frowned as he thought of her with The List.

"_Change of plans."_He thought to himself. _"Let her live until you can get that list, then kill her." _He smiled as he drifted off to sleep, his mind racing with thoughts her lips, her body, and her head cut open as he read The List.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter Nine-Wheels in Motion

The next morning, Gabriel used his mind to search for Olivia to no avail. She was also missing from rounds that morning, when Dr. Carpenter, a man who Gabriel discovered to be a kindly, grandfatherly man, brought the residents into his room to discuss his case. As they prepared to leave, Gabriel asked Dr. Carpenter to stay for a moment. The man walked to his patient's bed and stood in front of him, his hands clasped behind his back as he smiled kindly at Gabriel.

"You're wondering where Dr. Greene is this morning, aren't you?" Gabriel nodded and the doctor chuckled softly. "I thought you two were growing close. Dr. Greene called me this morning to say that she wouldn't be in today or tomorrow. I'm sure you're aware that she suffered a death in her family the night you were brought in."

"Her godfather."

"Yes. Mr. Linderman was very close to Olivia. He became a second father to her after her own parents died. I know she keeps her emotions inside, she plays her cards very close to the vest, that one, but she's been under a great deal of stress in the last month. She has had to go on a little business trip. It apparently came up quite suddenly." He turned and headed for the door. "She did have a message for you, though, that she wanted me to convey before she disconnected the call."

"Oh?" Gabriel looked towards the doctor.

"Yes. She asked that I look after you and she wanted me to tell you to get out of bed and walk around, get your strength back. I would have to agree with that advice. No sense in you lying around more than you have to. I know you're still rather weak since waking up, but it would be a shame for you to come out of a coma only to succumb to a blood clot from being bedridden." Dr. Carpenter nodded. "That would be good for you. I'll send a nurse or an orderly to come in and help you walk around some."

"Thank you." Gabriel paused for a moment. "I noticed there was another doctor missing as well, Dr. Manning?"

"Yes." Dr. Carpenter rolled his eyes. "Little bastard left a message on my answering machine early this morning. It seems he got an offer to finish his residency in Los Angeles and he took it. No good-byes, no kiss-my-ass, just gone. Not that I'll miss him or his negativity around here, but it was quite unprofessional of him to leave so suddenly. It's been marked on his employment record here." Dr. Carpenter sighed. "I won't miss him. He got my blood pressure up. I'm too old for that."

Gabriel smiled as the doctor left the room, then shook his head. "You have money, power, The List, and the ability to plant murder evidence on junkies and make people disappear. What else have you got up your sleeve, Olivia?"

* * *

"As you can see, we've been able to get things up and running very well." Noah Bennet led Olivia around the building that used to house Primatech Paper Company, now called Greene Technologies Genetics Research Institute. "I was able to contact a man I met in New York, Mohinder Suresh, I'm sure you know who he is."

Olivia nodded, smiling softly. "I've read his research. I'm very glad you were able to get him to come on board." She glanced at Bennet. "How is the family?"

"Everyone is doing well. We rented a house near our old one and Claire is adjusting fine. She's been spending a lot of time with Lyle and Zach. She's also been brushing up on her big sister skills more with Molly."

After meeting Olivia and re-signing with what used to be Primatech, Noah had convince Mohinder to move to Texas to head the genetics research department, with Noah as the head of the entire operation. With Olivia's help, he'd pulled strings to have Molly Walker brought to Texas as well, having himself and his wife Sandra listed as her foster parents. Mohinder was pleased to have his young patient nearby to monitor her health and continue to treat her for the illness that had threatened her life a month earlier and Molly was pleased to have a familiar face around as she adjusted to life with the Bennets.

"So Claire and Lyle are enjoying their new little sister, huh?" Olivia grinned. "That's wonderful."

"Sandra's thrilled too. She and Claire and Molly have been having 'girly days', going shopping, getting their nails done, buying lots of clothes." Noah laughed. "They've been bonding quite nicely, and Lyle's thrilled to have someone younger than him in the house to pick on and tease." Noah opened a door to a research lab. "And here he is! I don't think the two of you have met yet. Dr. Mohinder Suresh, I'd like you to meet Dr. Olivia Greene. Olivia, this is Mohinder."

Mohinder turned and stood, offering his hand to Olivia. "It is quite a pleasure to meet you, finally Dr. Greene."

"Oh please, call me Olivia." Olivia beamed as she shook Mohinder's hand. "I've read all of your research, it's very interesting." She walked over to a computer display, where a DNA molecule turned and twisted on the screen. "So have the two of you had any luck getting people with special abilities to come in for testing?"

"Actually, yes." Mohinder nodded. "I've been contacting people on my list. Many have not been very receptive, but I have had quite a lot of luck with others. I found one young woman in Guadalajara, who came in for testing. She has the ability to manipulate the weather."

"The weather?" Olivia stared at Mohinder, her mouth hanging open. "She can make it rain?"

"Or she can make the sun shine, or the wind blow, or create hurricanes or tornadoes." Mohinder chuckled. "She made a bit of a mess in the abilities testing laboratory."

"I'll bet she did!"

Mohinder stared at the computer screen for a moment, then turned back to Olivia. "There was another name I saw on the list."

"Oh?" Olivia raised an eyebrow.

"Yes. Yours."

Noah stepped forward, his eyes widening behind his horn-rimmed glasses. "YOU have an ability?"

Olivia shook her head, laughing. "Why do you think this, of all of Mr. Linderman's ventures, interested me the most? It's no big deal, really. I'm a telepath." She took a deep breath and explained her abilities, using her favorite walkie-talkie analogy.

"Fascinating." Mohinder nodded. "Quite fascinating, indeed." He studied her for a moment, concentrating on her face.

Olivia giggled as she heard his question in her head. "I'm sorry, Dr. Suresh. I'd love to go to dinner with you tonight, but unfortunately I have to head back to the airport in a couple of hours. There's something I need to check on in Las Vegas, and then I have to head back to New York. I'm a resident and I don't have a lot of spare time right now." She smiled. "Rain check."

"Oh, absolutely." Mohinder nodded. He looked back at his computer, shaking his head, softly. "A telepath, quite intriguing." He turned back to Olivia. "So if you have any questions about my research, you know you can contact me any time you'd like. Also, the research I've compounded so far is on the company database-"

"-I'll be sure to look at it as soon as I can." Olivia grinned as she nodded towards Noah. "You two have done incredible work here, keep it up!"

Noah led Olivia out of the building, and then walked back inside. He walked into the research lab where Mohinder was studying the DNA molecule. "Asking her out to dinner? Subtlety is not your strong suit, is it?"

Mohinder blushed, then shrugged sheepishly. "You told me she was smart, you didn't tell me how pretty she was."

* * *

Olivia arrived at the airport in Odessa, and boarded the small private jet waiting for her. As she walked inside, she saw someone sitting inside, waiting for her. She groaned, rolling her eyes.

"How did you know where I was?"

Angela Petrelli smiled. "I know everything, Young Lady. When are you going to figure that out?"

Olivia took her seat across from Angela. "So what are you doing here?"

Angela shrugged. "I was curious about Las Vegas. I understand the first test of Project Athena is due to take place tonight." She rolled her eyes. "Project Athena, what a stupid name."

"Athena is the Greek Goddess of wisdom, something I hope to gain a little more of with this test."

"Your flair for the dramatic is adorable Dear, really."

A private car met Olivia and Angela at the airport in Las Vegas, then drove them out into the desert to a heavily secured concrete building. They were escorted into the building by armed guards and led to an observation deck, protected by heavy-duty glass. In the research lab below, Candice Wilmer lay unconscious, strapped to a table. Another young man lay on a table beside her, heavily sedated.

Olivia turned to greet a man as he walked over to her and Angela, dressed in a lab coat. "Dr. Greene, Mrs. Petrelli." He shook both of their hands.

"Dr. Cooper, have you been getting the research from Dr. Suresh?"

"Yes, I have. It's been very helpful." Dr. Cooper looked down into the lab, his hands clasped behind his back as he rocked back and forth on his heels. "We've been on this project for over ten years with Mr. Linderman without much luck, but thanks to Dr. Suresh's research, I think we've finally had a breakthrough."

Olivia nodded at the people strapped on the table. "Those our test subjects?"

Dr Cooped grunted. "Miss Wilmer is the designated donor this afternoon. Mr. Simmons is a young man who we were directed to after reading Dr. Suresh's research. He fits the profile: no family, no friends to miss him if this test goes awry. His noted powers are the ability to manipulate magnetic fields around himself."

"Interesting." Olivia breathed.

"We've derived a serum from Miss Wilmer's DNA and are preparing to inject it into Mr. Simmons. If it works correctly-"

"-He'll have her powers as well as his own."

"Yes, ma'am."

Olivia, Angela and Cooper watched as the serum was injected into the man strapped to the table. Olivia held her breath the man took a few deep breaths, seemingly accepting the serum. Suddenly, he began to scream, then shake on the table in the throes of a grand mal seizure. Finally, his skin began to bubble and melt, before his body broke down, exploding into a puddle of blood and tissue that began to ooze off of the table and drip on the floor. Olivia lowered her head in defeat, bracing herself against the glass with her hands, her forehead against the glass.

"Fuck." She whispered.

"Don't take it so hard, Dr. Greene." Dr. Cooper began to stammer. "This was just the first test. I'm sure after a few more test subjects-"

"-Yeah, let's kill more people while trying to figure out how to make this work." Olivia snarled. "What's a few more lives, right?"

Angela Petrelli rolled her eyes. "Leave us." She snapped at Dr. Cooper. She reached out and took Olivia's arms, glaring at her. "Get yourself together. You're so dramatic, just like Peter."

"I just want to figure out a way to do what Peter can do organically and what Gabriel can do-"

"-With brute force and murder?" Angela shrugged. "The researchers will figure it out, just give it more time." She sighed as she smoothed Olivia's hair. "So messy, all those curls. Why do you want this so badly? Is it just so you can have Linderman's power?"

"Of course." Olivia looked at her mother. "I'd be the most respected and sought-after doctor in New York, hell in the country with Linderman's abilities. I'd be the doctor who could cure with the simple touch of my hand."

"You'd be a miracle worker, that's for sure." Angela frowned. "But that power weighed so heavily on your father's mind. He could only heal those who were injured, he couldn't revive those who had died. It destroyed his heart, his goodwill trying to resurrect the dead, and now, you're trying to do exactly that. You're trying to resurrect Linderman through his powers and-"

"-That's not it." Olivia stepped away from Angela, glancing down at the lab before looking away. "I just keep thinking that if I'd had those powers as a teenager-"

"-That you could have saved Sally and Jack?" Olivia nodded and Angela sighed. "I told Linderman to keep a lid on what he could do around you. I knew it would have you wishing for that very thing." She stepped forward, taking Olivia by the arm. "Come on, Dear, let's go home. Let's leave the researchers to what they know best."

"Causing big gross messes in labs?"

Angela laughed softly. "Exactly." She rested her head for a moment on her daughter's shoulder, then left the building with her.

* * *

On the plane, Angela watched as Olivia stared at the clouds that flew by her window. She frowned. "How are things with Gabriel Gray going?"

"Very well." Olivia said softly. "He's awake and starting to move around."

"Any chance of rehabilitating him, do you think?"

Olivia shrugged. "Who knows?" She looked at Angela. "He's a good man, really. He just went a little crazy in his need for power."

"You poor idiot, you're falling for him."

"I'm not, really-"

"-Just be careful around him." Angela reached out, touching Olivia's cheek. "I know I haven't been much of a mother to you, but I'd still hate to see something happen to you because you trusted the wrong man."

"I'll be fine." Olivia turned back to the window. "If they get this project running right, think of what could be achieved. You could make a serum with Claire's DNA and give it to Nathan, making him a man who can fly who is also indestructible. That would be pretty cool, huh?"

"Pretty cool indeed." Angela sighed. "You know, Christmas is in just a couple of weeks. I was thinking perhaps Nathan and Peter would like to meet you. We can tell them you're the daughter of an old friend of the family. That's not a complete lie. Sally and Jack were close friends of ours once, before Linderman convinced them to adopt you. After that, they decided it would be best for everyone if they moved to Georgia and cut off ties as much as possible with me and Dallas. It probably was for the best, really, I suppose. You did have a good childhood didn't you?"

Olivia blinked back tears, her eyes never leaving the clouds. "I had the best childhood anyone could ask for, and the best parents."

Angela smiled sadly. "Good."

* * *

Note from the author:

So, we've seen Olivia start to move and associate with some of the other Heroes characters besides Gabriel/Sylar. She's going to start associating with everyone more and more in the coming chapters, including the Petrelli Bros and Parkman.

I know some of you are curious as to what her second power is. It's definitely a lu-lu for Gabriel, even if it is kind of lame, as far as many superpowers go. It will definitely give Gabriel one HELL of a jolt once she gives him a full-on blast of it, that's for sure.

I'd like to thank idonno for the suggestion of electricity as a superpower that was used in the previous episode. I don't know why I didn't think of that one. The other two that were suggested will probably be used at some point in this story, I'm sure.

Thanks again for reading this story and for the reviews and please keep them coming! I'm really pleased at the reception this story is getting and I hope everyone is pleased at how it's moving so far and will continue to move in the future.

I'm not sure if I'll be posting this weekend. I've got some family events to attend, so I'll be pressed for time, but I'll try to write what I can and post when I'm able. Thanks to everyone, again!

TMM1205


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10-Peter, Angela and The Haitian

The brothers flew together, over Kirby Square, over New York City. Peter clung to Nathan as the city soon became a distant twinkling of lights, barely visible through the clouds that surrounded them. Peter could feel the power he couldn't control begin to take over him in one final surge. He glanced down again, seeing the cityscape give way to water below them. Feeling the nuclear power pulsing through him, he looked at Nathan sadly.

"You can fly supersonic, right?" He whispered.

Nathan nodded. "Yes, I can. Why?"

"When I let you go, push away from me and fly away as fast as you can."

Nathan stared at him for a moment, his eyes filling with tears. "Peter, no-"

"-I'll be okay, Nathan! We're away from New York, I saved the cheerleader, we saved the world, now let me save you. I'll live. Just do it." He released his grip on Nathan's shoulders, his expression determined.

Peter felt Nathan's arms tighten around him for a moment for a hug, then relax. "If you don't make it, I'll-"

"-Just go! NOW!" Peter shoved himself away from Nathan, flying himself for a moment as his skin began to glow white-hot. He watched as Nathan gave him one final, agonized look, then turned and flew away as fast as he could. Peter began to scream, struggling to stay aloft as the power surged and became a supernova. The nuclear explosion ripped through his body and the air, covering the sound of the sonic boom as Nathan escaped. Peter felt the energy rush through him, igniting the sky around him. He closed his eyes, remembering the lessons he'd learned from Claude. "_Think of Claire." _He thought of his niece, her sad sweet smile as his world went red, then white.

He was free-falling, watching the water rushing towards him. He looked down and realized he was naked, his clothes burned off of him. As he approached the water, he closed his eyes again, realizing he was about to die twice in less than five minutes and thought of his niece again. He remembered how she'd stood in front of him in Kirby Plaza, tears streaming down her face as she pointed a gun at him. He remembered thinking how heartbroken she must have felt, having to choose between the lives of those around her, and the uncle she'd just met and had gotten to know and love. _"I love you too, Claire." _He thought to himself as he struck the water, the surface tension breaking every bone in his body.

He woke up, floating on his back in the water, feeling the unpleasant sensation of bones mending, dislocated joints realigning into their proper places. He groaned, feeling too exhausted to move as he realized the sun was coming up. He glanced around himself, realizing he was far out into the ocean with no land in sight. "Why couldn't I have met Aquaman before this?" He whispered to himself. "Then I could have summoned some dolphins or something to push me back to New York." He raised his eyes to the skies, looking at the colors the sunrise painted the clouds, watching the dark indigo turn lighter, then pink. His brow furrowed as a hawk began to circle overhead. "Weird. A hawk out here? Maybe a seagull." He whispered. Then he realized, hawks and seagulls don't wear expensive suits. He sighed with relief as Nathan spotted him and swooped out of the sky towards him. He lifted an arm towards his brother as he passed out, exhausted from the effort.

"Hey Pete!" Peter lifted up his head, realizing he'd been dreaming. He sat up on the couch he'd been dozing on as Nathan strolled into his apartment, beaming, a newspaper tucked under his arm. "How's it going?"

Peter stood up and walked to Nathan, returning the smile. They reached out and hugged tightly for a moment. "I'm good. I was just dreaming about, you know."

Nathan nodded. "I dream about it every night. Apparently I've been talking in my sleep about it, too. Heidi asked me this morning if we were planning vacation. It seems I keep talking about flying with you."

Peter laughed. "As long as you don't start talking about cheerleaders, I think she'll be okay." He shrugged. "So have you told her yet? About what you can do?"

Nathan shook his head. "Not yet. How do you tell your wife something like that? Do I just sit her down and say 'Hey, remember how we talked about flying to Paris when the rates go down? What if I told you we could fly there now without a plane?' She'd have me committed!"

"Yeah, probably." Peter glanced sideways at Nathan. "How's she doing?"

"Good, good." Nathan sat down on the couch with a sigh, smiling softly. "She's taken to jogging daily in Central Park when the paparazzi aren't bugging her too much, and is trying to get me take ballroom dancing classes with her." He grinned sheepishly. "She says I promised to do that with her after her accident."

Peter smiled and sat beside Nathan. "It's so great, her getting the feeling back in her legs again."

Nathan nodded, his smile faltering for a moment. "Yeah, really great." _"Last good thing Linderman did before he died, the miserable old bastard." _

Peter stared. "Linderman did that?"

"Damn you and your mind-reading. When I find the jackass you took that power off of, remind me to kick his ass." Nathan groaned. "He had a power too. He could heal someone with the touch of his hand."

"So he was basically the only person who could have saved himself." Peter shrugged. "Irony's a bitch."

"So's Karma." Nathan muttered.

Peter smiled at his brother, then noticed the newspaper. "Today's paper?" Nathan nodded and handed it over to him. Peter opened the paper and began to flip through it.

"Heidi's been bumped to page two. Maybe the media frenzy around her is finally starting to die down some. That'll be good. I haven't even been to D.C. yet and I'm already one of the most recognizable Congressmen, thanks to all of this. That's a lot of pressure."

Two days after Nathan's election, Heidi had revealed her "miraculous" recovery to the world. The media snapped up the story, following her everywhere as Nathan's approval rating began to skyrocket in the wake of his wife's recovery.

"You'll be great." Peter nodded reassuringly as he read the newspaper. "Talk to Claire, yet? Did you ask her about Christmas?"

"I called her this morning. She's going to spend Christmas with the Bennets and Molly. Apparently that other family that was in the plaza when everything went down is coming to visit them in Texas on their way home to Nevada. Remember D.L. Hawkins with his wife Niki and their son Micah?" Nathan and Peter had tracked down the Hawkins family and Matt Parkman after they returned to Manhattan to make sure everyone was alright. D.L. and Parkman were both recovering well from their injuries at Columbia University Hospital and were both expected to be released before the holidays. "Molly got pretty attached to them that night. Claire said she'd try to fly up for New Year's."

"Good. I miss her." Peter glanced at his brother again. "Heidi know about that yet, too?"

"No. Yet another subject about my life that I'm having trouble finding the words to explain. How do you explain a sixteen year old daughter that you've just found out about?"

"Tell her while you're flying." Peter grinned.

"Right." Nathan laughed for a moment, then checked his watch and stood up. "School's letting out soon, I need to pick up the boys." He headed for the door, then stopped, turning. "You're coming over for dinner tonight, right? Mom's gonna be there."

Peter shrugged, glancing at the floor. "I don't know."

He remembered the look on her face after she returned home to find New York City in one piece and remembered the fleeting thought he picked up on as she hugged Nathan. _"Why couldn't you let him blow up? I am SO disappointed in you!"_ She caught Peter staring at her in shock and pulled herself together, remembering he could read her mind. She smiled tightly as she came to him and hugged him briefly. "I'm glad to see you're both in one piece."

"She doesn't want to see me." Peter whispered. "I've tried calling her, but she hasn't called back. She knows I can read her mind, Nathan. She knows I know she wishes I'd blown up."

"Then come to dinner tonight and confront her. Find out why she's avoiding you, if she really is." Nathan sighed. "She's been pretty busy lately."

Peter's eyes narrowed. "Busy with what?"

"Who knows?" Nathan glanced at his watch and then raised his eyebrows at Peter. "Dinner. Tonight. Seven o'clock."

"I'll be there." Peter stood and stepped forward, hugging his brother tightly, clapping him on the back. "I promise."

* * *

Angela Petrelli arrived late for dinner, bringing a guest along as she swept into the dining room. Peter, Nathan, Heidi and the boys turned as she smiled, taking her seat. "I want to introduce you to a friend of mine." She waved at the tall dark-skinned man as he took a seat beside her. "He's a business associate from Haiti. I invited him for dinner." She turned to The Haitian. "These are my sons Peter and Nathan, Nathan's wife Heidi, and their children Simon and Monty." He nodded wordlessly to everyone as they stared at him with interest before starting to eat.

Throughout dinner, Peter tried to speak to his mother, only getting vague answers out of her as to her new business ventures, and how she'd been keeping busy for the past month. Peter tried to read her mind, but only got a blank void for his troubles. Frowning, he realized The Haitian was equally vague with the answers to any questions posed to him.

After dinner, Angela quickly excused herself, stepping out of the room as she pulled her cell phone out of her purse. Peter watched her walk away, then excused himself as well, walking upstairs to his room. He concentrated for a moment, making himself invisible, then headed back downstairs to look for his mother. He glanced into the dining room, to make sure his mother's guest was still in the room. Reassured that The Haitian was still eating dinner, he turned and followed the sound of his mother's voice in the parlor. He walked into the room unseen and listened as his mother talked into her cell phone.

"Olivia?" She rolled her eyes and huffed. "I know you know who this is and I know you're getting my messages. Call me back immediately. I want to know if you're coming here for Christmas dinner. We're going to need to meet and get our stories straight about who you are before you come here so call me back, you ungrateful little-" She sighed. "-just call me back, for God's sakes!" With a snap, she closed her cell phone and turned to head out of the room, gasping as Peter materialized in front of her, blocking her way. She stepped away from him, her eyes searching behind him towards the dining room. "Peter! You really MUST stop doing that!"

"Who's Olivia?" He asked.

"Just a business associate." She tried to step past him. Peter blocked her way, staring at her intently.

"_He can't know about her! Not yet! I'm not ready." _

Peter raised his head. "What can't I know about her? What aren't you ready to tell me? Who is Olivia, Mom?"

Angela's mouth settled into a tight line, her eyes narrowing. "Stop reading my mind. It's very invasive and annoying. When I want you to know something I'll tell you!" She sighed with relief as The Haitian stepped into view. "Where have you been?"

Peter concentrated, trying to read his mother's mind again and was shocked to receive only a blank void again. He turned to The Haitian, shocked as he realized the reason why. The Haitian stared at him wordlessly as Angela walked over to him.

"I think I'm ready to go home now." She turned back to Peter, a warning expression on her face. "Just drop it. Now." She whispered as she headed towards the door.

Inside her car, Angela turned to The Haitian. "Make him forget that name." She hissed. The Haitian nodded, wordlessly.

* * *

"Nathan, does the name 'Olivia' mean anything to you? Does Mom know anyone named Olivia?" Peter asked later in the evening as the two brothers sat in the parlor.

Nathan stared off into distance, his expression serious. "No, not that I know of. The only Olivia I know when it comes to Mom is her grandmother. Remember her stories about her grandmother Olivia?"

Peter nodded. "Yeah, right. But you haven't mentioned any Olivias lately, right?"

Nathan shook his head. "No, not that I know of. Why?"

"No reason."

At home in his apartment, Peter thought about the phone conversation he'd overheard. His mother DID know someone named Olivia, and knew her well. He frowned, remembering her tone on the phone. She used the tone she normally reserved for himself or Nathan when one of them had made an error. He rubbed his forehead, and shook his head. "Who IS she?" He asked himself.

He heard a noise and jumped as a hand clamped over his mouth.

"SHHHHHHH!"

Peter turned, his eyes widening as The Haitian slowly took his hand away.

"I have been sent here by your mother to remove any memories you have of the name 'Olivia'. I take many orders from her, I have for years. In this case though, I have orders from someone else, someone higher." He smiled softly. "You cannot take my powers. I can block anything you try, it is my gift from God. I can prevent you or anyone else from absorbing it, but that is inconsequential at the moment."

"Who is Olivia? Why doesn't my mother want me to know about her? Why aren't you following her orders? Who else sent you here?"

"God sent me here. Olivia is a doctor. She has a close relationship with your mother."

"Is Mom sick?"

"No."

"Why doesn't she want me to know about her?"

"That is not my place to tell you. I can tell you she works at a hospital in Queens, St. Ignacious. She is a resident there. You must go to her. You must meet with her. I have been told not to keep you from meeting her. I have been told not to remove your memories of her."

"St. Ignacious?" Peter shook his head. "Queens?"

The Haitian nodded. "You must lie to your mother, pretend never to have seen her or heard of Olivia Greene. You must meet Dr. Greene. I will meet you outside of the hospital tomorrow morning, five a.m." He turned and walked towards the door.

Peter stared at the man. "GOD sent you?"

The Haitian turned and smiled broadly at Peter. "As far as I'm concerned? Yes. God. A fearsome God." He turned and left the apartment without another sound.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11-Big Sister, Little Brother, a Power Revealed

Early the next morning, Peter was waiting outside of the emergency room entrance of St. Ignacious, staring at every person that entered the building, his eyes searching for name tags.

"You are here early." Peter jumped as he turned to the voice, sighing with relief as The Haitian stepped into view. "I have been told she comes at five."

"Who is she?"

"Her name is Dr. Olivia Greene."

"I know THAT, but WHO is she?" Peter rolled his eyes in frustration at the man standing silently next to him. "What's so important about her?"

"I have not been told that. I have only been told not to keep you from seeing her as your mother would have wanted. I have been told that you two should meet."

Peter shivered, wrapping his coat around himself for warmth. It was mid-December, and freezing. "You were told by God to let me meet her." He muttered. "I guess as far as cryptic instructions go, it's no stranger than 'Save the Cheerleader, Save the World' and that worked out pretty well. Whatever, I'll play along."

The Haitian turned to Peter, his expression stony. "Do not mock me. The things that you have seen, the things that you, your family, your friends can do. Do you not consider it a gift? Who do you think made such a gift possible? If God gave you and I such gifts, why would you doubt when He has instructed you to come here?"

"Yeah, he works in mysterious ways." Peter looked down the sidewalk at the people walking by. Suddenly, he saw a woman walking towards him. She was tall and pretty, not beautiful, but pretty, dressed warmly in a heavy blue wool coat. He gasped as she walked past him, not even noticing as she strolled into the E.R. entrance.

"That was her. That was Olivia."

Peter's eyes widened. "She looks like Mom. The eyes are different and the hair is different, Mom's is straight, but-" He shook his head, remembering the photo of his parents that rested on his mother's nightstand table. It was their wedding photo. "-she looks like Mom looked when I was a kid."

"Interesting." The Haitian nodded. "You should go inside and introduce yourself."

Peter nodded as he walked into the E.R. entrance, his eyes scanning the room for the dark blue coat and brown ringlets. He spun around, searching for the woman.

"May I help you?" He turned to see a young nurse standing beside him.

"Yes." Peter scanned the room again. "I'm looking for someone, a doctor. Her name is Olivia Greene."

"Oh yeah!" The nurse grinned. "Dr. Greene just came in to start her shift. I think she's getting changed in the on-call room."

"Thanks." Peter walked away, searching the hospital. He wandered around the halls on the first floor, waiting for the woman to reappear. Finally, he saw her step out of a room, dressed in blue scrubs. He walked forward nervously, his hands jammed in his pockets. As he approached her, she turned, spotting him, her eyes narrowing for a moment.

"Yes?" She asked.

Peter took a deep breath, then extended his hand. "Hi. Are you Olivia Greene? I'm Peter Petrelli."

She stared at his hand for a moment, then reluctantly took it. "I know." She whispered.

"_God, you look like Mom! The eyes are a different color, the mouth is fuller, but you look so much like Mom!" _

Olivia's head snapped up, her eyes darkening as she let go of his hand and backed away.

"_Shit! How did you pick that up so quickly?" _

Peter's eyes widened. "You heard that? Wait! You did that too! You talked without," he leaned in close to her "talking."

Olivia closed her eyes. "Dammit. I knew you could absorb powers, I just didn't realize you grabbed them so quickly. You're like a fucking sponge." She looked around the hallway, then grabbed his arm. "We need to talk in private. 117's open, come on." She steered him towards the room and followed him inside, quickly closing the door behind them.

Peter whirled around on her. "You have powers!"

"Duh!" Olivia rolled her eyes. "How the hell did you find me?"

"Who are you? How do you know my mother? Why do you LOOK so much like her?"

Olivia stared at him for a moment, struggling to speak. Peter studied her face, still stunned at the resemblance to his mother. "How did you find me?" She whispered. "I always wondered what would happen when we met, what it would be like, the circumstances surrounding it." She shook her head, frowning. "I never thought we'd meet like this. I have no idea what to say or what-" She sighed. "-I just don't know what to tell you."

Peter shrugged. "Start at the beginning."

"Yeah, I guess so. I'm tired of lies and half-truths anyway."

"PETRELLI!" Olivia and Peter turned to the door and gasped to see Gabriel standing in the doorway, his eyes burning angrily as he glared at Peter and Olivia standing together.

"You're alive!" Peter glared at Sylar.

Sylar nodded. "Did you ever think otherwise?" He slowly walked into the room, closing the door behind him as he glared at Peter and Olivia menacingly.

* * *

Gabriel had been walking the halls, strengthening his legs as he wondered when Olivia would return from her trip. He thought she might be returning that morning, he wasn't sure. As he walked up and down the halls, marveling at how quickly his strength was returning, he thought of the last time he'd seen her. He thought about their kiss and how much he'd wanted to take that further. He couldn't remember the last time he'd felt that way about someone. He'd dated, had been in relationships, but none of them had lasted long. There was a girl in college who he'd considered marrying, but they had broken up after graduation when she'd headed off to greener pastures, chasing stockbrokers on Wall Street. After that, he'd kept to himself for the most part. He'd been so busy, first burying himself in his work, believing no woman worth having would be interested in a lowly watch repairman; then he'd spent his time collecting powers. He'd decided he was above everything else except collecting powers, until he'd heard Olivia's voice reaching out to him in his coma.

As he paced the halls, he remembered their kiss again. He remembered how it has felt to have her arms around him, the way her lips and skin felt against his mouth and the way she'd shuddered and responded as he'd slid his hands under her shirt and under her bra. He smiled, thinking of the feel of her, the smell of her, the taste of her.

"_Don't do this, Sylar!"_ He thought to himself. _"She has something you want, but it's not that. You're not good enough for her. She's a doctor, what in the hell are you compared to that? Rich, blue-blooded, old money, what would she want in you? Take what you want, take her powers, kill her. Don't fall for her, for God's sake don't fall for her."_

Gabriel tried to listen to himself, reasoning that whatever was happening was insane. They didn't belong together. Dr. Carpenter had been pleased with his recovery and was talking about discharging him soon. After he left the hospital, he'd see her again, one last time to, to . . .

. . . He thought about kissing her again and the thrill he'd felt pressing her against the wall, the sound of her heartbeat quickening as she'd wrapped her legs around his waist.

"_I'll see her one last time. I'll scratch my itch, take what I've been wanting for a few days, then take what I've been wanting since I found out about her powers. Seduce her. Kill her. Dump her body." _He nodded to himself, then glanced at a clock. It was a little past five a.m. Gabriel concentrated on the sounds of the hospital, searching for Olivia's voice, preparing to welcome her back. His eyes narrowed as he heard another voice addressing her though, a voice he knew all too well. He heard them talking and stomped towards an elevator, hearing Olivia lead them into room 117.

"_She's been playing me all along. She knows everything about me. She knows about my fight with Peter. She's setting me up. IDIOT! I fell for her and all along she was playing me, planning on handing me over to Petrelli when she was done. I knew she wasn't really interested in me, it was all a game. Like I said to Devon just the other night 'game over', Sweetie. You're going to pay for this, along with your little friend Petrelli."_

He arrived on the first floor, his eyes searching for room 117. He found it and walked inside. Olivia and Peter jumped as he walked in, closing the door behind him.

Olivia started to walk towards him. "Gabriel, no. Wait. Let me explain, this isn't what it looks like."

Gabriel glared at her. "My name is SYLAR!" With a twitch of his fingers, she flew across the room, striking a wall and sliding down it in a daze. Peter glanced at Olivia, worried as she tried to stand back up. Gabriel smirked at him. "Long time, no see. Didn't die from going supernova, huh?"

"Like I said last time we met, 'It didn't take'." Peter squared back his shoulders.

"Third time's the charm." Gabriel snarled, raising his hands. "I've learned a new trick, wanna see?" Electricity shot out of his hands. Peter cried out and hit the ground. He took a deep breath and disappeared. "That trick didn't work with me before, you little shit!" Gabriel looked at a metal tray beside the bed. He twitched his fingers and it began to fly around the room, finally hitting something in mid air. Gabriel grinned. "There you are!" He shot electricity where the tray had landed, then groaned as the tray raised up off of the ground, reflecting the electricity back at him. Gabriel stumbled, but held his ground. "Dirty pool, Peter."

Olivia slowly stood. _"Gabriel-"_

"_I told you, MY NAME IS SYLAR!"_

"_Gabriel, stop this! STOP IT NOW!"_

"No!" Gabriel yelled out loud, glaring at her. "You've been lying to me this whole time!"

"Please, just stop it." She tried to step towards him. Gabriel raised his hand, pushing her back against the wall. He turned back and began to scan the room, listening for the sounds of Peter advancing towards him. "Let me explain."

"You'll explain. You'll scream your explanations later, after I kill Petrelli and make you watch while I hollow out his head." He began to shoot electricity in random bursts around the room.

"_Gabriel, please don't, please. I love you, don't do this." _

Gabriel stopped for a moment, then turned to her. "You don't love me, you can't. You're just playing me."

Olivia shook her head, tears running down her cheeks. "I'm not lying, it's true. I love you. Please don't do this. Don't hurt him." She looked around the room. "He's my brother."

Gabriel froze, his eyes widening as Olivia nodded. "He's your WHAT?"

Peter materialized from across the room. "Excuse me?"

Gabriel stared at Olivia, then smirked. "Even more of a reason to kill him in front of you. You're about to see what I'll do to you next when I'm finished with HIM!"

"Hey Sylar!" Gabriel turned as Peter zapped him with a bolt of electricity, flinging him to the floor. "I've picked up a new trick too."

Gabriel stood back up, ice forming on his hands. "Good one, Peter, Peter, power repeater. Try this one on for size." He raised his hands towards Peter as Peter raised his hands towards him. Suddenly, both of them stared at their hands, confused. "What the hell?"

The Haitian walked into the room, glaring at the two men. "This will stop now." He stepped between Gabriel and Peter. "You will not fight here. This ends now."

Gabriel stared at The Haitian. "I've seen you before."

"Yes. We met in Odessa, Texas." He walked to Peter. "We are leaving now. You have met Olivia. Your purpose here is complete." He glanced at Gabriel. "And then some."

Peter shakily walked past Gabriel towards Olivia. "Come with us."

Olivia shook her head, staring at Gabriel past Peter's shoulder. Gabriel glared at her, his eyes burning with rage. "I'm staying."

Peter leaned in. "You don't understand. Once I leave with The Haitian, his powers will return. He's going to kill you."

"If he kills me, it's my destiny to die." Olivia shrugged, her eyes never leaving Gabriel's. "I'm staying."

Peter touched Olivia's arm, forcing her to look at him. "Please. Don't stay. I just met you, we have to talk and-" He looked at her pleadingly. "-please."

Olivia smiled sadly, then hugged Peter, her eyes locking with Gabriel's again. "I won't leave him. I can't." She let Peter go. "Go. Leave."

"_Word to the wise, wear sunglasses for a while and try to limit your talking until your get your new power under control."_

Peter cocked his head to the side. "What power?"

She shrugged. "You'll see." She nodded towards the door. "Go. Now."

The Haitian took Peter's arm and half-dragged him out of the room. After they left, she turned to Gabriel. Gabriel glared at her angrily. "You should have left with your brother."

Olivia shook her head. "No. I'm where I belong. I owe you answers, answers to everything." She lifted her hand. "Let's go to your room. I've got an hour before rounds. Come on."

Gabriel stepped past her, ignoring her hand. "Once we get in my room, I don't want to hear your answers or your lies. I just want one thing."

"Okay. What?"

He glared at her. "I want to see your power, your other power."

She sighed. "Are you sure?"

"Yes."

* * *

Back in his room, Gabriel turned around to face Olivia, his arms crossed, his eyes dark and angry. "Let's see it."

Olivia closed her eyes. "Just a taste, or full-blast?"

Gabriel smirked. "Full blast, of course."

"Fine." Olivia opened her eyes. "How's this?"

Gabriel's heart started pounding. Her voice was different. There was something to it, something soft and husky. She'd only spoken two words, but both seemed to penetrate his entire body, vibrating all the way to his fingers and toes. He stared at her, his mouth hanging open. Then he noticed her eyes. The normally blue and grey began to darken to almost purple, and started to sparkle. He tried to look away, but couldn't as the blue and purple shimmered and swirled, making his heart pound more. His breath began to quicken and he could feel the blood pounding in his ears as his body flushed with excitement.

Olivia stepped forward and began to speak, each word washing over him in that voice, giving him more pleasure than he'd ever thought possible. "My power doesn't seem like much, really. I thought it was lame when it first manifested, but then I did some reading. Did you know that from the earliest written accounts of man, there have always been stories of women who were able to captivate men of power? Some were historically beautiful, many were not, but they all had one thing in common: they held powerful men in sway, wrapped them around their fingers, convinced them to do whatever they wanted. They got men to overthrow churches, destroy their friends and families, even lose their greatest possessions, all for them. Some even used their powers to control countries of their own. It probably started with Eve herself, but there are so man accounts of these women over time: Delilah, Helen of Troy, Medea, Cleopatra, Anne Boelyn, Elizabeth I, Catherine the Great. They used their feminine wiles to cause a great deal of trouble with the men in their lives. Some lost their power over their men and paid for it with their lives. I have that same power." She began to walk around Gabriel, circling him as she spoke, watching as he closed his eyes, trembling. "When I let my little power out to play, with the sound of my voice, a twinkle of the eye, even a touch of my hand-" she touched his arm and he shuddered, moaning softly "-I could get you to do anything. You wanted to kill me when we came in here, didn't you? You've been planning it all along, haven't you?"

"Yes." He whispered.

"Try it now, Sylar. Kill me if you want to."

Gabriel opened his eyes to see her standing in front of him. He raised a shaking hand towards her, pointing a finger at her head. He struggled to visualize what he'd originally wanted, to slice her head open and watch the blood run down her forehead. He could only stare at her eyes, getting lost in the swirling blue-purple shimmer. He gasped as she reached up and took his hand, prying open the fingers before kissing the palm. He closed his eyes as her lips traveled up his arm to his neck. She placed her lips against his ear.

"You can't kill me. You don't even want to anymore. Besides, why kill me when you can just f-"

He couldn't take it anymore. He turned his face as he wrapped his arms around her, kissing her passionately. He pulled her towards his hospital bed, lying back and pulling her with him, his hands cupping her face as they kissed. He rolled over on top of her, his hands sliding up her shirt, feeling her bare skin as he reached behind her back, fighting with the clasps of her bra.

"I wasn't lying downstairs, Gabriel." Olivia whispered, her voice back to normal. "I have to tell you something and I'm not lying about anything, not to you, not anymore."

"What?" He moaned as he buried his face in her neck.

Olivia lifted his face up to make his eyes meet hers. Her eyes no longer shimmered, they were their calm, clear, blue-grey again. "I said I loved you downstairs. I meant that."

"I love you too." He whispered.

She closed her eyes, shaking her head. "No, you don't. That's my power working on you, that's ALL that is." She stroked his face. "I don't care, I still love you. But there's something else I need to tell you."

"What?" He began to kiss her neck again, grinning as he finally unclasped her bra and began to slide his hands back to the front.

"I don't trust you, I never have."

"I don't blame you." His voice was muffled against her neck.

"That's why ever since you woke up, I never come into your room without this." Gabriel jerked as he felt a needle stab him in the thigh. He lifted his head, his eyes wide as he stared at Olivia. Her eyes were shimmering again, this time with tears. "It's Thorazine. I'm sorry. You'll sleep for a while, you'll get over these effects. When you wake up, I'll be here tonight. I'll tell you everything. I'm tired of lying to everyone, especially to you. I'll tell you whatever you want to know, then I'll let you kill me."

Gabriel passed out on top of Olivia. She slid out from underneath him, adjusting her clothes before turning to him. She rolled him over in the bed to make him more comfortable, tucking the blanket around him before leaning down to kiss him on the forehead. Wiping away tears, she touched his face, then leaned down.

"Tonight." She whispered.

Olivia stood up straight, composed herself, then walked out of Gabriel's hospital room.

* * *

Quick note: Thanks to Television Without Pity for giving me the idea to refer to Peter as "Peter, Peter, Power Repeater." I cracked up when I read it and it sounded like a smart-ass Sylar-ism.

More to come soon!

TMM1205


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12-The Keys to the Kingdom

"I need to go back in there!" Peter had allowed The Haitian to guide him out of the hospital, but the moment they were on the sidewalk outside of the E.R. entrance, he'd turned, to try and run back inside. "You don't understand, he's going to kill her if I don't!"

"You must respect your sister's wishes." The Haitian easily pushed Peter aside. "You heard her, she wants to be alone with the man."

"He's going to kill her." Peter stared at the hospital over The Haitian's shoulder, his expression anguished. "She's my sister."

"I know." The Haitian nodded once. "She has survived in the company of the man for a month now, I don't think he'll kill her now."

Peter's eyes widened. "A month?"

"Yes. She has survived a month so far, I think she'll survive longer. It's God's plan."

"SCREW YOUR GOD!" As Peter raised his voice and tried to barrel past The Haitian, a few women walking past him stopped at the sound of his voice and turned, staring at him hungrily.

The Haitian noticed the looks on the women's faces. "You will stop this now! You now have the potential to cause a riot!" He tilted his head towards the women. "We are leaving now. Your sister will be safe."

"She isn't safe as long as he's alive." Peter whispered. He glanced at the women, who continued to stare at him, their eyes wide. "What is their problem?"

"You have absorbed your sister's power, that is their problem."

"What? Telepathy?"

"The OTHER power." He grabbed Peter's arm roughly and steered him towards a cab as the women slowly started approaching them. They climbed in and The Haitian turned to him. "I do not want to have to erase your memory of this morning, but if I have to, to give you peace of mind-"

Peter slumped in his seat. "-I'll behave." He glared at The Haitian. "But if Olivia-"

"-She will be fine. God tells me so." He nodded slightly. "You must tell no one of what you have learned today, either about your sister, or the man."

"I can't do that. Nathan needs to know about Olivia. Claire-" He gasped. "-as soon as Sylar gets out of the hospital, he's going to come after her. He wants her powers more than anything."

"Have faith in your sister. Have faith in God." The Haitian frowned. "You may tell your brother about your sister, but that is ALL you will tell her. If you tell anything else, I will erase any and all knowledge you impart to all you will give it to. Do you understand me? You are also not to tell your mother anything about this. She knows about your sister, she knows about the man she has been healing. She will be quite displeased to find that I did not do what she ordered me last night."

Peter shook his head. "This is just unreal."

* * *

Gabriel woke up in his room a few hours later. He sat up, his head throbbing. Rubbing his temples, he turned to see a paper cup beside his bed. He stared at the pills in it warily.

"It's just ibuprophen, to help with your headache." Gabriel looked up to see Olivia standing in the doorway. He stared at her as she twisted her hands nervously, staring at the floor. "One of the after-effects of what I did to you is a headache, sometimes nausea. It's like having a hangover."

"Tell me about it." Gabriel swallowed the pills and poured himself a glass of water. He nodded at the chair beside his bed. "So that's your other power. Sex."

"Technically it's pheromone manipulation." Olivia edged into the room, closing the door behind her before leaning against it, her eyes never leaving the floor. "I first manifested when I was nineteen. I was on vacation in Greece. I caused a riot. I hid in my room, terrified. My godfather knew what happened almost immediately, apparently he'd had me followed. He sent someone to pick me up and bring me to one of his facilities for testing."

"Testing?" Gabriel's brows furrowed.

"My godfather was 'special' like we are. He was very interested in other people's powers, how they used them, the effects they had on others. He'd find people with powers and bring them in to be tested. When I was tested it was discovered that I could manipulate the pheromones of those around me. I could manipulate you into being angry, calm, sad, scared, or-"

"-Horny?" Gabriel grinned softly.

"That one I mastered without even trying. The others-" She shrugged. "-I'm hit and miss with them. I'm pretty good at pissing people off and making them angry, but I think that's just my personality."

"I'd have to agree with you on that one."

"They also discovered that my powers sometimes had extremely adverse effects. One in ten men that I use it on end up having a psychotic break and get obsessive and violent."

Gabriel's eyes widened. "Devon. You used it on Devon."

"The night you were brought in. I wasn't on call, I wasn't even supposed to be in Queens. I knew you were coming in. I came in to be here and Devon started grandstanding. He wanted your case so-" She held out her hands "-I did what I had to do. I realized how badly I screwed up when he started following me everywhere after that night. He started stalking me."

"How did you know I was coming in here?"

"I told my people to bring you here." She looked up finally. "I saw the fight in Kirby Plaza. I was on the roof. I was supposed to be taking a helicopter out of the city, to get to safety, but I stayed and saw you fight Peter. I saw YOU. When I saw you stabbed and brought down, I instructed my people to find you and bring you to me."

"Why?"

Olivia struggled to speak, shaking her head. When she finally opened her mouth to talk, her beeper went off. She sighed with relief. "I have to go. I'll be back later tonight. I'll bring you a cheeseburger."

Gabriel smiled. "A cheeseburger? I'm being discharged?"

Olivia nodded. "As of tomorrow morning, you will be released from St. Ignacious." She turned and left the room.

* * *

She arrived late that night, just as she'd promised. She set a paper bag on the table beside Gabriel's bed and a soda. He sat up, grinning as he opened the bag, unwrapped his burger and began to eat, shoveling French fries into his mouth as he chugged the soda between bites. "I forgot how good these are." He sighed as he practically inhaled his food. "If I had to look at another bowl of chicken broth, I was going to scream."

Olivia smiled softly. "Glad to bring it to you." She sat down beside his bed, pulling her legs up and clasping her arms around them. "It's time for me to tell you everything."

"Yeah, I would say so." Gabriel muttered, his mouth full.

"Let's begin at the beginning." She nodded softly. "Two men met in Vietnam. They were sent on a secret mission. They went by their code names 'Austin' and 'Dallas'. 'Austin' was the man everyone later knew as Linderman. 'Dallas' was Nathan and Peter Petrelli's father. The men had a falling out after their mission and went their separate ways. A few years later, they met again. Linderman had become a very wealthy man. With his help, he elevated the Petrelli family and they started a group, along with other friends with powers. Two of the friends in that group were my adoptive parents, Jack and Sally Greene."

"What kind of powers?"

"Powers like ours. They started out using their powers to benefit man. Later, they started using them for their own personal gain. There was infighting, which was escalated when it was discovered that Linderman and Angela Petrelli had had an affair and that Angela was pregnant because of the affair."

"She was pregnant with you."

Olivia nodded. "Yeah." She whispered. "Dallas didn't want to raise another man's child, but Linderman refused to allow them to abort me. They came up with a compromise. Angela went on an extended vacation to Europe and gave birth to me. Jack and Sally couldn't have children and were desperate for one. They adopted me. After I was born, everyone in the group fought, took sides and eventually fell out with one another. They broke up their group for the most part. Jack and Sally moved with me to Georgia where they raised me. Linderman and the Petrellis later reconciled their friendship. Angela and Dallas also reconciled and had Peter. I never met any of them until after the accident, when I woke up to see Linderman standing beside me, telling me that I was his goddaughter and he wanted to take care of me. I was scared and alone. My parents were dead and my grandfather died after he'd heard about the accident, apparently from the shock of finding out that his only daughter was dead and his granddaughter was destined to be a vegetable for the rest of her life."

"A vegetable?" Gabriel shook his head. "But-"

"-I didn't come out my coma on my own. Linderman's power was the ability to heal. He probably had his work cut out for himself with me. I was thrown out of the car, but it rolled over on top of me before it exploded. Most of the bones in my body were broken, my skull and spinal cord were crushed. I was on life support and the doctors were preparing to pull the plug. Linderman had been in Tibet when he'd heard about the accident and rushed to me. It took three weeks to get to me, but when he did, he was able to do with the touch of his hand what doctors thought impossible. The darkness I told you about? The fading of voices? The feeling of drowning? I was dying, Gabriel. My spinal cord was crushed from the neck down, my brain was severely damaged and my organs were failing."

"Damn." Gabriel whispered. "But, how did you know how to pull me out of a coma?"

"I'd listen to coma patients, talk to them the way I talked to you. I heard their accounts of how they resurfaced, so to speak. I used their experiences to bring you out, like I've brought others out before you, that's all." She sighed. "After I made my 'miraculous' recovery, Linderman took me to Las Vegas to finish school. There, he told me the truth about who my birth parents were and he told me everything about his business. He expected me, as his only child, to take over everything. He had a way of making people, including his daughter, do what he wanted. He agreed with my going to medical school, and becoming a doctor, but he wanted me to be ready to take over his business as well. He wanted to build a dynasty to last after he died and he wanted to use me to build it. Me, and you."

"ME?" Gabriel began to rub his temples, his head starting to pound. "How in the HELL did he know about me?"

"He knew about everyone, don't you see? He decided that I was too soft, and if I was going to take over his business, I'd need a partner who wasn't soft, preferably someone as ruthless as he was. When he found out what you were capable of, he was thrilled. He'd never even met you, but he began to consider you the son he'd never had. He'd manipulated another couple with powers once, orchestrating their meetings until they fell in love, married and had a child with powerful abilities of his own. He wanted to do the same thing with us. He had all these plans. He was going to let you confront Peter in Kirby Plaza and get him to explode. He knew you'd survive the explosion. He was planning on having you captured and brought to him afterwards where he'd introduce you to me where I'd put the whammy on you, so to speak. He even had apartments built for us. He took a penthouse in this building on Central Park West and had it split in two, one tony penthouse apartment for you, the other for me with connecting doors. He decorated both of them and after you killed your mother, he had your personal effects from your apartment and hers moved there to wait for you. He wanted us put together, like in freaking breeding stable. He thought I could control you with lust until you tasted the power that came with running his businesses and working with him. He figured after that, you'd stay to inherit everything jointly with me and any children we'd have."

"What did you think of his plans?"

"I thought they were the stupidest things I'd ever heard of in my life, but I knew I couldn't go against his wishes and live, so I went along with it. I hated you without even having seen you and hated the idea of having to basically be pimped out to you so I could have someone help me run what was rightfully all mine in the first place. Then, I saw you."

"At Kirby Plaza." Gabriel whispered.

"Yeah. Linderman was dead and his men were trying to get me into a helicopter. I overheard them say that you were in the plaza, getting ready to fight Peter. I was curious, so I pushed away from them, grabbed a pair of binoculars and watched the fight. I saw you and decided to go through with my father's plans. I wanted you." She laughed bitterly. "I guess I just wanted a guy just like the guy who knocked up dear old mom." She unfolded her legs and stood. "So that's the story. There's a new change of clothes in the closet and a wallet full of cash and credit cards all in your name. Your record has been cleared and your crimes have been covered up. You could put on those clothes in the morning and walk out of this hospital and disappear."

"Or I could-?"

"Or you could read the address on the note in the coat pocket and use the key there to enter the apartment the address leads to. You can still have the keys to the kingdom that Linderman was offering to you. You can still have the money and the power, you can still run everything with me. He was right, you see. I can't do this alone. You can kill me, take my power and run for the rest of your life, you can disappear, or you can run everything with me by your side."

Gabriel leaned back in his bed, his mind racing with all of the information she'd given him. It was tempting, extremely tempting. He turned to Olivia. "And us?"

"There is no 'us'." Olivia shook her head. "I didn't lie when I told you that I loved you. That was true, but anything you feel for me is a side effect of my powers."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes."

"How often have you used your powers on me?"

Olivia shrugged, staring at the floor. "Twice when you were in a coma, to see if you would respond to the stimulus, and this morning."

"That's all?"

"That's all."

"What about in the x-ray room, with Devon? Were you using them then?" Olivia shook her head. "Are you using them now?"

Olivia shook her head again. "No, why?"

Gabriel sat up and reached out, pulling Olivia close. He touched her cheek, then gently kissed her before letting her go. "Just checking." He smiled.

Olivia cocked her head as she stared at him. "Checking what?"

"To see if you could get a rise out of me even when your powers aren't 'on'." He grinned. "You did."

Olivia blushed and looked away. "I won't be here tomorrow to see you leave. I've got the day off."

"Then you'll find out whether I'm taking your offer if I walk into the penthouse tomorrow, won't you?" He nodded towards the door. "It's late, you need to sleep."

"Okay." Olivia turned and walked to the door. "Goodbye, Gabriel."

"Goodnight, Olivia."

After she left, Gabriel stood and walked to the closet, opening the door and examining the clothes that were waiting for him to put on the next morning. They were well-made and expensive, with a black wool coat hanging beside them. He dug into the pocket and pulled out a note, his wallet and the key. His eyes widened as he stared at the cash in the wallet, and the credit cards, along with his drivers license. He read the address on the note and stared at the key.

"The keys to the kingdom." He whispered to himself. "Power, money and the ability to do whatever I please for the rest of my life." His fist closed around the key as he grinned.


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13-Coming Home

Nathan scrubbed his eyes wearily and leaned his head back on the headrest to his car seat. He glanced over at the hospital and sighed. "Why are we here again?"

Peter frowned as he stared at the entrance to the emergency room. "I said I'd tell you in a minute."

"That was three hours ago." Nathan looked at his watch. "It's almost midnight, for crying out loud!"

"I know." Peter's eyes scanned the E.R. entrance, scanning the faces of the people who left the building. "I'll explain everything soon."

"Damn right you will. Heidi's going to think I'm having an affair and using you as an excuse." He stared at Peter. "And what's with the damn sunglasses? Who do you think you are, Corey Hart?"

"Who?" Peter said absently.

"You're not THAT much younger than me, GOD!"

Peter touched his glasses. "It's for my protection."

"From what?"

"From something I picked up today."

"What? Pinkeye?" Nathan rolled his eyes. "You just get weirder and weirder, I swear."

Peter perked up as Olivia walked out of the E.R. and strolled to the curb. "There she is."

Nathan watched as she shivered, pulling her coat around herself as she looked up and down the street for a cab. "She's cute, I guess. What is she, your new girlfriend?"

"No, she's our sister."

Nathan stared at Peter. "Our what?"

"Sister. I found out today. She's our sister."

"Says who?"

"She told me so."

"Yeah, right. So some chick tells you that she's our sister and you believe her?"

"Yeah." Peter whispered. "I mean, LOOK at her."

Nathan looked at her for a moment as she rocked back and forth on the curb to stay warm, searching the streets for a cab. "Yeah? So?"

"She looks just like MOM!"

"She does not look just like Mom. She looks NOTHING like Mom!"

"It's dark, you can't see her very well, but in the light-"

"-In the light what?" Nathan shook his head, exasperated.

"She's obviously Mom's daughter."

"Her hair is curly!"

"I know, and her eyes are blue and her mouth is fuller, but look at the nose, look at the shape of the eyes, the cheekbones, the freakin' hairline, Nathan! That's MOM!"

"You're full of shit." Nathan cranked his car. "It's late, I'm tired, we're going home."

"No wait!" Peter stared at Olivia again. "We need to follow her."

"The only thing we need is to find a shrink for you and soon."

"Her name is OLIVIA, Nathan! Doesn't that seem off to you? I overheard Mom talking to an Olivia, talking to her the way she talks to us when we've done something to piss her off, and now HERE'S a woman named Olivia who looks just like Mom! She didn't even want to tell me she was our sister, it just sort of slipped out."

"Oh, I'll just bet it did. So what does she do there, is she a candy-striper?"

"She's a doctor."

Nathan snorted. "A young doctor, probably saddled with student loans that she's going to be paying on for the next twenty years tells you she's your sister. If she's intelligent enough to be a doctor, she's intelligent enough to read the papers and knows who I am. It wouldn't have taken a big leap to realize we're related, since Petrelli isn't a very common name. She's playing you for money."

"I don't think so." Peter started hitting Nathan's arm as a cab pulled up and Olivia climbed into it. "Follow the cab!"

"Stop hitting me! What the hell? Are you delusional? Do you THINK we're in a spy movie?"

"Will you just follow the damn thing? I want to see where she lives."

Nathan pulled the car away from the curb and followed the cab. The Petrelli brothers bickered and fought as the followed the cab from Queens into Manhattan, finally pulling up at a high-rise apartment building in Central Park West. Nathan whistled as he stared at the building that Olivia walked into. "Okay, maybe she's not hitting you up for cash, unless she's thinking of switching sugar daddies."

"She wasn't hitting me up for cash, she IS our sister!" Peter turned to Nathan. "Just think back, maybe a couple of years before I was born. Do you remember Mom being pregnant?"

"Only with you." His eyes widened as he smiled mockingly. "Maybe she's your long-lost twin!"

"No, she's about a year or two older than me. Did she take any extra-extended trips, maybe?"

"No." Nathan stopped for a moment, frowning. "Wait."

"What?"

Nathan looked at the steering wheel, drumming his fingers on it. "I remember, about three years before you were born-"

"-yeah?"

"Mom and Dad were fighting, a lot. I could hear them at night, but I couldn't hear what they were fighting about. Mom got mad and went to Paris for about six months. She said she'd be back soon, but she was gone for so long, I was afraid she wasn't coming back. Then, she came home and she and Dad didn't speak to each other for a while. She cried a lot when she thought she was alone and nobody could hear her." The corner of his mouth twitched. "She looked through photo albums a lot too, pictures of her grandmother."

"The grandmother who was named Olivia?"

"Yeah." Nathan whispered. "Her grandmother Olivia." Nathan glanced at the building. "This is twisted."

"I know." Peter followed Nathan's gaze to the building. "She's our sister, Nate. I feel it in my bones. The minute she said it, I knew it was true. I think I knew it the moment I saw her."

Nathan shook his head. "We have to tell Mom. We have to tell her that we know."

"No!" Nathan glared at Peter. "Nathan, we can't tell her anything!"

"And why in the hell not? If she's been keeping this secret for almost thirty years-"

"-I'm not supposed to know. I'm not supposed to even remember the name 'Olivia.' Mom sent that Haitian guy to my house last night. He's powerful, like WE'RE powerful and Claire's powerful. He can remove memories. Mom sent him to remove the memory of hearing Olivia's name. He said that God told him not to do it and to show me where Olivia was."

"GOD sent him?" Nathan leaned towards Peter, screwing his mouth up in distaste. "God."

"I know, right? Anyway, he led me to the hospital, where I met Olivia. She wanted to talk to me, but we were interrupted."

"Interrupted how?"

Peter stared at the floor, dying to tell Nathan the truth. "She got called away on an emergency." He took a deep breath. "Anyway, before she left, it slipped out that she's our sister. The Haitian made me promise not to rat him out for not removing my memories. He said I could tell you, but we had to keep our mouths shut to Mom."

"Ever think that Haitian guy might be in on a scam with this Olivia person?"

"DAMMIT NATHAN!" Peter's fist hit the dashboard. "Why can't you see the truth? That woman is our sister. She's not a scam artist, she's a freaked out doctor who is obviously dealing with some serious shit."

"Serious how?"

Peter ran his fingers through his hair. "This cannot leave the car, understood? The Haitian didn't want me telling this part. He said he'd erase my memory and the memories of anyone I told this to. Olivia has a patient, they've apparently gotten close, too close."

"And this patient would be-?"

"Sylar." Peter whispered. "She says she's in love with him."

Nathan's eyes widened. "He's alive?" Peter nodded, wordlessly. "Shit. And she's in love with him. That can't end well."

"Especially since she has powers too."

"What kind of powers?"

"Telepathy is one of them. The other one," Peter shook his head "it's a mess. Once I figure out how to control it, I'm definitely keeping it buried. From what I can tell, it has something to do with pheromones, especially causing attraction in the opposite sex."

"Seriously?" Nathan stared at the building again. "Weird." He rubbed his temples. "So what do we do?"

"I don't know." Peter sighed. "That's why I brought you into this."

"Sylar." Nathan frowned. "Great, just fucking great." He started the car again and began to pull away. "We'll figure this out somehow."

"Yeah, before our newly discovered sister ends up with her brain missing."

"Anyone who knowingly fools around with a serial killer doesn't have much of a brain to begin with."

"She thinks she can 'handle' him."

"Yeah, Siegfried and Roy thought they could 'handle' their tigers, too."

* * *

Gabriel sat on his bed in the hospital, staring at the key in the palm of his hand, arguing with himself on whether or not he could use it. 

_Don't do it. You're a loner, you're not a domesticated little kitty, living in a penthouse. If you use that key, that's all you'll be._

_She said I'd have complete equality with her. I'll own everything too, I'll be her equal partner in the business. I've heard of Linderman, he was powerful, very powerful._

_You're powerful too. You decide who lives or dies with a twitch of your finger. _

_I'll still be able to do that, running Greene Technologies/Linderman Corporation. Linderman did it, he was feared all over the world. I will be too. _

_You want powers from those who don't deserve it, people who hate their powers or don't use them correctly. It's your biological imperative. _

_The power she's offering me is greater than anything I could get, traveling from town to town, killing the people I want. I can still collect powers and I'll have the ability to hide what I do. I can cover up my crimes with her. I'll have the money, the collections to make anyone I want disappear. _

_You were meant to be alone._

_No one's meant to be alone. I'm sick of being alone. The best time I had before I met her was when I was traveling with Mohinder. I forgot how much I missed having a friend. She could be that, and more._

_You're just horny. She was right, it's just her power playing tricks with her head. Screw her if you have to, shake the penthouse to the basement if you must, but kill her afterwards. Take her brain, take her powers. _

_I don't want her powers. I want her more. She was right. What's the use of telepathy if you have no one to talk to? Why would I want to be able to go around, calling attention to myself by having women throw themselves all over me wherever I go? I'd want her more than some bimbos I'd meet in dive bars. That's all I'd have if I killed her, took her powers and went on another killing spree, bimbos in bars._

_You're weak, whipped, a lapdog._

_I'm none of those things. I have an opportunity to have a greater life than I ever imagined. I want that. _

_You want her brain, her powers. You want to get rid of her._

_I want to be with her. I want to have all of the power Linderman had, and then some. _

_Weak._

Gabriel stood and walked back to the closet, placing the key back into his coat pocket. He walked into the bathroom and ran a shower, pulling off his hospital gown. He stared at himself in the mirror. He'd lost a lot of weight in the last month, a coma and a steady diet of bland hospital food will do that. His muscle tone was slack. Someone, Olivia he imagined, had taken good care of him, shaving his beard while he was in a coma, and after he'd awakened, he'd taken over that duty. He rubbed his face with his hand, feeling the stubble scrub across his palm. He stared at his chest and at the surgical wound on his chest. It had healed, leaving a dark red line running down his chest, from the top of his sternum to mid belly. He ran his fingers along the length of the scar, imagining Olivia slicing him open, then opening his sternum with a surgical saw, spreading his ribs open to get to his damaged heart and lungs. He could almost feel the wires that now held his sternum together under his skin and what passed for muscle on him these days. He stepped into the shower, wincing at the heat of the water. He tried to adjust the temperature, then shivered as it came out cold.

_Bet it's not like this in a penthouse._

_Of course it's not. I'm sure Olivia will have taken great pains to make her little lapdog as comfortable as possible. _

He adjusted the temperature again, deciding that hot water was better than cold. He stood under what passed for water pressure, letting the water run down his body, breathing in the steam.

_I won't be her lapdog, I'll be her partner._

_You'll be her stud. You heard her, that was the only reason Linderman wanted you. He wanted someone ruthless to knock up his daughter and give him ruthless little heirs._

_That's not what she said. That's not how she meant it. Linderman wanted me for my abilities. He wanted me because __**I**__ was ruthless, because he knew I'd be a good successor with Olivia. We'll balance each other out. I'll back her up and she'll rein me in._

_Like the good little doggy you are._

_We'll be the most powerful couple in the world. _

_Bullshit._

_I want HER! Nothing will change, nothing. I'll still be Sylar, I'll still do the things Sylar did, I'll just be able to cover it up better, that's all. She'll help me, like with Devon. _

_I'm sure she won't have a problem at all with you killing her brothers and niece then._

_They'll be off limits, I'm sure. I can deal with that, as long as they don't come after me. _He looked down in the shower, staring at his scar. _She saved me. I can't kill her, I can't not be with her. I want her and what she's offering more than I've ever wanted anything else, ANYTHING._

Gabriel stepped out of the shower, wrapping a towel around his waist as he stood in front of the mirror. He wiped the steam away and grabbed a razor and shaving cream. Lathering his face, he shaved off the stubble, then walked into the hospital room. He stared at the gown on the floor, then stepped over it. Looking in the closet, he saw a pair of underwear. He pulled them on, and then climbed into his bed, tired and ready to be discharged in the morning.

* * *

He was dressed and ready to go when Dr. Carpenter brought his discharge papers to his room. Smiling broadly, he signed his papers and walked out of the hospital, excited. The clothes Olivia had left for him were a little too big, but he knew he'd regain the weight he'd lost soon. They'd fit better then. He hailed a cab and gave the address he'd memorized from the night before. 

They arrived at the apartment building thirty minutes later. A doorman immediately rushed to the cab, opening the door.

"Good morning, Mr. Gray. Welcome home."

Gabriel stared at the man as he stepped out of the cab, then stared at the building, his eyes widening. "You know who I am?"

"Of course, Sir. You are Mr. Gray. Your things were brought to PH1 over a month ago by Mr. Linderman's people." The man half-bowed to him. "It will be a pleasure working for you, Sir."

Gabriel grinned. "I'm glad you think so."

He strolled into the building, his grin broadening as he was directed to the private elevator to the left of the front desk. Stepping into the elevator, he pulled the key out of his coat pocket and inserted it into the lock beside a button marked "PH1". As soon as he turned the key, the button lit up. Nervously, he pressed the button and waited as the elevator slowly jerked and rocked as it rose up to the top floor. A bell rang as the doors opened, and Gabriel's mouth fell open.

The penthouse was huge. When Olivia told him that Linderman had decorated the apartment, she hadn't been kidding. Everything was masculine, dark colors with cream colored accents and heavy dark wooden furniture in the dining room. The living room had state of the art home theater equipment and overstuffed red leather furniture. A pool table was nestled in a corner of the room, along with stereo equipment. He noticed boxes stacked against a wall marked "G Gray" and "V Gray". He opened one box and smiled sadly to see his mother's snow globes meticulously wrapped and placed in the boxes. He walked throughout the apartment, glancing in all of the rooms. The bedroom was dark green and navy blue with a huge king sized bed against one wall. The bathroom was huge, with a giant marble bathtub and the biggest shower stall he'd ever seen in his life. A door in his bedroom led to a balcony with a perfect view of the Manhattan skyline. He stood in the doorway, shivering at a freezing wind as he stared at the view. Finally, he walked back into his bedroom and opened the closet door, staring at all of the new clothes hanging inside.

"Holy shit, that old bastard set me up with everything, didn't he?"

He walked back into the living room, finally pulling off his coat and tossing it onto the couch as he noticed what appeared to be a wall sculpture. He walked to it, staring. It was silver, and appeared to be a cross between an "S" and an "F". As he approached it, he realized the sculpture was actually part of a door. He reached out, grasping the sculpture and swung the door open to see another door in its place. He pushed that door open and walked into Olivia's penthouse.

The décor was decidedly feminine, with soft pastel colors and light colored wood in the furniture. She obviously had just moved in as well, Gabriel noted as he walked past half-unpacked boxes strewn around the floors. He saw pennants from The University of Georgia, Columbia University and The Atlanta Braves scattered on the floor in a corner, along with boxes of photo albums and medical textbooks. He found Olivia's bedroom and walked to it. He stood in the doorway saw her asleep in her bed. It was as huge as his, with a white lace canopy and pale blue silk bedding. She was buried under a heavy comforter, only her dark curls showing from under the covers. Gabriel walked into the room, glancing out the glass doors to her balcony to see a view of the park.

As he approached her bed, Olivia began to stir. She rolled over as Gabriel reached her bed and sat up, blinking her eyes blearily. She was dressed only in a beat-up University of Georgia tee-shirt, an angry bulldog glaring at Gabriel from the front of her shirt. She looked up at Gabriel and half-smiled.

"You came."

Gabriel nodded. "I came home."

Olivia climbed out of bed. "I'm starving. I'll make breakfast."

As she walked past him, Gabriel reached out and took her arm, pulling her close to him. He leaned down and kissed her. "Later." He whispered.


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter Fourteen-Coming Home

Gabriel and Olivia kissed, softly at first, then with growing passion as Olivia unbuttoned his shirt, her hands shaking nervously. Gabriel moaned as her fingers slid into his open shirt, gently touching his chest before moving lower, her nails gently skating down his belly to unbutton his pants. He buried his face in her neck, his hands sliding up the back of her shirt to massage her bare back as she kissed his neck, her hands slipping into his pants. Gabriel stepped back for a moment to pull off her tee shirt and shrug off his own shirt before pulling her into his arms again, reveling in the feel of his skin against hers. They kissed again, more hungrily than before as his hands slid down her back, cupping her buttocks and pressing her hips against his. Olivia pulled her head away from his for a moment, staring into his eyes. She leaned against him, kissing his neck, as she slid down. Gabriel closed his eyes as she kissed his chest, then stomach before moving further down, her lips and tongue making him gasp with pleasure. He grasped her shoulder with one hand, wrapping his fingers in her hair with the other, moaning as her mouth and tongue massaged his most sensitive part. Breathing heavily, he pressed on her shoulder and head, guiding her lips back up to his own, pressing himself against her as they stumbled towards the bed. They fell across it, him lying on top of her with her legs around his waist. His lips traveled down her neck to her chest and breasts, cupping them in his hands while he kissed and teased them. They were perfect; soft, rounded, supple and sensitive to his touch. He marveled at how perfectly they fit in his hands. He slid his hands down further, pulling off her underwear before letting one hand slide between her legs. He heard her gasp and felt her arch her back underneath him as his fingers entered her and moved in and out of her body.

They never spoke out loud, but in their minds, they talked and whispered as their hands and mouths moved over each other's bodies.

"_I didn't think you'd come. I stayed up most of the night wondering, pacing. After everything I told you, I knew you'd run the other way."_

_I almost did. I almost didn't come here." _Gabriel gasped as her hand stroked him, feeling his body throb as her fingers glided across him teasingly. _Thank God I did."_

He let his mouth travel down her breasts to her belly, hearing her breath quicken as his fingers moved faster inside of her. As his mouth slid down her belly, to join his hands, Olivia arched her back again, moaning loudly as she clutched the sheets beneath her. Gabriel could hear her heart pounding loudly in his sensitive ears, could hear the sounds of her nails clawing at the silken fabric of the sheets as his tongue probed and teased her. He heard her breathing heavily between moans of pleasure, his hands grasping her hips, massaging her thighs. When she cried out and stared to shake, he slid his body up hers, his mouth moving across her belly, her breasts, her neck before joining hers, kissing her deeply. They moaned together as he entered her, he could feel her legs tighten around his waist, her fingers digging into his back as he slowly began to rock back and forth on top of her, enjoying the sensation of her body grasping his, urging him on as she moved with him. They moved together slowly, for a few moments, savoring the feeling of their bodies together, then they began to move faster, crying out with pleasure at each thrust. Olivia moaned even louder and began to tremble underneath Gabriel, her fingers grasping at his hips. Moments after she began to orgasm, Gabriel did the same, moaning with a final aching thrust as he bent his head into her shoulder, almost as if in prayer, whispering unintelligible words of devotion as Olivia rested her head on his shoulder, her eyes closed, her face peaceful and calm.

They lay like that together, neither moving for a few minutes, neither of them saying a word as they held each other, listening to their pounding hearts slow and their breathing return to normal. Finally Gabriel rolled onto his side, pulling Olivia with him, their arms still wrapped around another, their foreheads touching as they stared into each other's eyes. As he lay beside her, feeling her leg thrown across his hip, her foot sliding sensuously up and down the back of his calf, Gabriel realized that this was the first time in his life he'd ever felt completely and totally satisfied and happy. He reached out and stroked her cheek before taking a dark curl in his hands, wrapping it around his finger as he studied the color. It was a dark chocolate brown, warm and beautiful. He smiled softly, stretching the curl out straight before letting it go, watching it bounce back against her shoulder in a fat ringlet.

Olivia touched his face. "I know this is a cliché, but what are you thinking about?"

"I'm thinking that for once in my life, I'm really and truly home." He sighed softly as he leaned towards her, pillowing his head against her breasts as he felt her fingers run through his hair. "I know it sounds stupid and mushy, but it's true."

"I was just thinking that as well."

"And I was thinking that you were made for me. Linderman had a point in wanting to bring us together. I've never felt this kind of connection with anyone before."

"He had his faults, but he was good at pairing people. The other couple whose relationship he orchestrated are very much still in love and together. They have been since they were kids. They're about our age now."

"And I was thinking that I didn't get much sleep tonight, thinking about today and I'm completely exhausted. Breakfast and round two in here can wait."

Olivia giggled. "Amen!"

They adjusted themselves on the bed until they were comfortable, buried themselves under the covers and dozed off asleep in each other's arms.

* * *

They awoke a few hours later, debating on what to eat.

"It's past noon, so it's a little late for breakfast." Olivia sighed, resting against the pillows, massaging Gabriel's chest as he pillowed his head on her stomach. She frowned. "I can't cook. I can barely boil water without burning it. You?"

Gabriel shook his head. "I know how to open a can and try not to burn the contents, sorry."

"So, order in?"

"Excellent idea." He sat up, kissing her quickly on the mouth before climbing out of bed. "Since you don't cook, I know you've probably got take-out menus from every place in Manhattan, correct?"

"Definitely!" She climbed out of bed and followed him into the living room, then the kitchen, giggling as he let her walk ahead, and then wrapped his arms around her, nibbling on her neck. She found a stack of menus and began to flip through them. "Italian, Mexican, deli or Chinese? I say anything that's seriously fattening. We both need to gain some weight."

Gabriel peered at the menus from over Olivia's shoulder. "Pizza?"

She turned her head, smiling. "You read my mind!"

"That's your gift Baby, not mine." He kissed her neck. "With everything on it, and a ton of hot wings."

"And cheese-covered breadsticks." Olivia nodded. "Wonderful." She grabbed a phone and placed the order as Gabriel started nibbling on her neck again, then her back when he noticed a tattoo on her lower back. It was difficult to miss, starting at one hip, spreading across the top of her buttocks and ending at the other hip. It was a symbol, apparently a cross between an "S" and an "F". He stood and stared at the tattoo, then turned and glanced at the door that led from her apartment to his. The same symbol hung on the door as a heavy gold piece of wall art. Turning back to Olivia, he finally noticed a delicate silver ring she wore on her right ring finger. It was the same symbol as the one on the door and her back.

"What is that?"

"Hmm?" She glanced over her shoulder at her tattoo, then at the door. "It's the symbol for the Linderman Corporation. It has two meanings, really. It's a combination of two Japanese alphabet symbols that mean 'Godsend'."

"What's the other meaning?"

"Along with casinos and investments, the Linderman Corporation also does genetic research, as I've told you before. This symbol is representative of a strand of RNA."

"RNA-Ribonucleic Acid, the nucleic acid polymer consisting of nucleotide monomers that plays several important roles in the processes that translate genetic information from deoxyribonucleic acid, or DNA into protein products." Gabriel rattled off quickly.

Olivia's eyes widened. "Wow. Yeah."

Gabriel shrugged. "I have a very good memory."

Olivia smirked. "Yeah, I know."

Gabriel stepped towards her, kissing her. "So when did you get that bitchin' tattoo, anyway?"

"After I manifested and Linderman explained that the powers that I and others exhibited are usually genetic. He always said that the powers were more of an act of God, as far as he was concerned." She kissed Gabriel back. "We have thirty minutes before lunch arrives."

"Thirty minutes." Gabriel smiled. "What to do? What to do?" He grabbed her hand and pulled her towards the bedroom, wriggling his eyebrows at her.

* * *

They lay in bed together, Olivia now lying across Gabriel. "I don't want to go back to work in the morning."

"Then don't." Gabriel stroked her hair. "You have more money than you'll theoretically ever know what to do with. Let's test that theory together."

"Mmmm." She stretched. "Wonderful idea. If I didn't love being a doctor so much, I'd quit tomorrow." She lifted her head, smiling at Gabriel. "But you're going to be quite busy yourself starting tomorrow."

"Oh?"

"One of the main operations managers from Greene Tech and Linderman Corp are coming tomorrow to train you on how to run the businesses. I think with your mechanical aptitude and superpowered memory, you won't have any trouble catching on at all. There's an office in your side of the penthouse with all of the files you'll need to get started."

"Excellent." Gabriel muttered. "A crash course in being a big-shot businessman. My mother would be tickled beyond belief if she were still alive."

Olivia kissed his chest. "I had to go through it too after Linderman told me that I was inheriting everything. He said he didn't want me running it into the ground six months after his death." She frowned. "There's something you need to know first. A couple of the employees in the Texas department? You've met them before."

Gabriel frowned. "Oh no-"

"-Noah Bennet and Mohinder Suresh."

"Are you SHITTING me?" He groaned. "I tried to kill both of them on more than one occasion-"

"-I know-"

"-I killed Mohinder's father, I attacked Bennet's wife and tried to kill his daughter-"

"-I know!" Olivia leaned forward, kissing him. "I've seriously sweetened the pot for them both, money and prestige-wise. After they've gotten comfortable with both, I'll spring you on them and force them to either make amends or hit the road. It'll be a while before you even have to worry about, I just wanted to let you know now so when you came across their names in the company records you wouldn't hit the roof."

"Shit!" Gabriel moaned.

Olivia sat up as the doorbell rang. "Has it been thirty minutes already?"

"I don't know." Gabriel covered his face with his hands. "Bennet and Suresh, what a cluster-fuck of a problem."

Olivia climbed out of bed and pulled on a robe. "I know it's SNAFU right now, but I'll figure a way out of it, I swear. I have faith that things will work out."

"You and your faith." Gabriel muttered, lowering his hands to stare at Olivia.

Olivia smiled, winking at him. "It hasn't let me down so far, has it?" She walked into the living room, grabbing her wallet on the way and pressed a button by the elevator, opening the doors. When she saw who was standing in front of her, she frowned. "Oh fuck NO!"

"And good afternoon to you too, Dear." Angela Petrelli swept into the room as Olivia slammed the door behind her. "Watch the language, by the way. It's really not ladylike. I would have thought Sally would have taught you that." She turned, staring at Olivia. "It's past noon! What in the hell is wrong with you? Did you just crawl out bed? You're not dressed, you're disheveled, you're-"

"-Is that lunch?" Gabriel walked into the living room naked, then froze as he saw Angela standing there.

Angela looked him over, her eyes widening as they took him in. She turned back to Olivia. "Lucky girl."

Olivia glared at her mother. "Gabriel Gray, meet Angela Petrelli. Angela this is Gabriel."

Angela turned back to Gabriel as he grabbed an afghan off of the back of the couch, wrapping it around his waist. "I've heard of you." She said dryly.

"Same here." He smirked. "How are your sons?"

"Fine. My granddaughter is doing well also, no thanks to you."

"No thanks were asked for." He walked past Angela to Olivia and kissed her passionately as Angela glared at him. "I'll be back in a moment, I'm just going to grab some clothes."

"Okay." She whispered.

Angela watched as Gabriel went to his apartment and turned back to Olivia. "I can't believe you're going through with Linderman's stupid plan. I personally was hoping he'd die after the explosion or after Nakamura stabbed him, but you had to charge in like the cavalry and save him. I hope he's worth it."

"He's worth it in multiple ways."

"So you've fucked him then."

"Twice so far, we're going for the third inning soon and will probably win the World Series by morning." Olivia crossed her arms in front of her chest. "And you may want to watch that language, it's soooooo unladylike."

"Lovely." Angela rolled her eyes. "And I suppose now you think you're in love with him."

"I know I am."

"I thought the same thing when I had the affair with Linderman. I thought I loved him. When I got pregnant with you, I planned on leaving my husband, taking Nathan and running away with Linderman. He refused to go through with it. Apparently screwing his best friend's wife and knocking her up wasn't as unforgivable as running away with her would have been in his eyes. He was just using me for sex and that's all Sylar is doing with you. If you're lucky he'll only hurt you the way Linderman hurt me, IF you're lucky. My God, you're so much like me, it's not even funny."

"What in the hell do you want, Angela?"

"You haven't returned my calls. For all I knew, you could be dead in a ditch somewhere which, considering the company you're now keeping, wouldn't be hard to imagine. Christmas dinner at the Petrelli house, are you coming or not?"

Olivia opened her mouth to speak, but Gabriel beat her to the punch, strolling into the room in a tee shirt and jeans. "WE'D love to come." He wrapped his arms around Olivia's waist, grinning at Angela.

The color drained out of the woman's face. "Both of you? YOU are coming with her?" She sputtered.

"Of course. I think it's time for me to be formally introduced to Olivia's brothers, don't you think? Christmas would be a perfect time to bury the hatchet." He rested his chin on Olivia's shoulder. "I'm sure they can't wait to meet the man who will become their new brother-in-law soon."

"Brother-in-law?" Angela parroted. Olivia bit the insides of her cheek, trying to keep from laughing at Angela's expression of horror.

"That IS what Mr. Linderman planned for us. He wanted me to meet Olivia and marry her. I think we'll make better partners in business if we're partners in everything else as well." Angela stared at the both of them, her face the color of chalk. "So what time on Christmas Day should we arrive?"

"Um," Angela tried to pull herself together "I'll have to call Olivia back with the time. I-I-"

"-How about we arrive about six o'clock that night?" Gabriel smiled broadly. He stepped away from Olivia and reached for Angela's hand, pulling her into a hug. Olivia turned away from them, suppressing laughter as Angela stood in the circle of Gabriel's arms limply, unwilling to fight him and cause a scene. "It's going to be so great to meet everyone, MOM!"

"Don't call me that. Not even Olivia calls me THAT!" Angela hissed, finally stepping away from Gabriel and shoving her way towards the door.

"We'll see you on Christmas!" Gabriel called after her as she rang for the elevator and entered it in a huff. "Bye Mom!"

As the doors closed on Angela's shaken, infuriated face, Olivia finally burst out into the laughter she'd been fighting. "OH MY GOD!" She turned to Gabriel, kissing him. "That was beautiful, really. Do you have ANY idea how much I love you right now?"

"I have an idea." He kissed her back, opening her robe to cup one of her breasts in his hand. "Why don't you go to the bedroom, get naked and wait for me. After lunch gets here, we'll eat, and then you can show me how much you love me."

Olivia pressed herself against Gabriel, her hand resting on his waist. "That's the best idea you've ever had." They kissed for a moment, as the doorbell rang. She handed her wallet to Gabriel, then headed towards the bedroom, turning to open her robe and flash him before darting into the room.


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter Fifteen-Recon

Angela arrived at the Petrelli mansion, still shaken from her introduction to Gabriel. She walked into the house and stormed into the parlor, where Nathan and Peter sat on the couch. They stared at her questioningly.

"Okay Mom, we're both here, what in the hell is going on?" Nathan asked.

"I have to tell you both something. I'm not proud of this, but I can't keep it a secret any longer." She paced the room as Nathan and Peter gave each other quick, knowing glances. "I had an affair with Linderman before you were born, Peter. We had a daughter that I gave up for adoption to old friends of the family. Her name is Olivia." As Nathan and Peter continued to stare at her, nonplussed, she stopped, narrowing her eyes at them. "But you both know that, don't you?" She screwed up her mouth. "That damn Haitian! First her lost Claire in the airport and now he can't erase a simple memory."

"Don't blame him, Mom." Nathan stood up and started walking around the couch. "He's not the one who's been keeping secrets from us." He stopped, shaking his head. "Linderman? Now that part was a surprise. I don't know WHY I should be shocked, but I am."

"So what else is going on, Mom?" Peter asked. "I don't think having your long-lost daughter around is the thing that's upset you, is it?"

"Get to know her, she can be pretty damned upsetting, stubborn little dishrag." Angela muttered. "But no, that's not why I'm upset. Linderman had a plan involving her and that psychopath Sylar, the one that killed you and tried to kill Claire. It was a ridiculous plan. I _thought_ Olivia was just as against it as I was, but apparently she wasn't. She's going through with it in her own way."

"What kind of plan?" Peter asked.

"He wanted someone to apprentice, someone he could train to take over his business after he died. He also wanted that someone to become involved with Olivia and start some new super-powered dynasty. He had a lot of the wheels in motion to make it happen and apparently Olivia has picked up the threads from it and started weaving her own little version of it. She treated him at the hospital where she works as a doctor. He was released this morning."

"This morning?" Nathan starts walking towards windows in the house, locking them.

Angela scoffed. "Oh please, Nate. First of all, I'm sure you know that locking windows and doors isn't going to keep that lunatic out if he wants to get in. Also, he won't be coming around here for a while. Thanks to your sister, he's going to be otherwise occupied for a while."

"Occupied how?" Peter asked. Angela gave him a look and Peter made a face. "Ew."

"I can't blame the girl for wanting to have a little fun, but why must she do THAT with HIM? She's even moved him into the little penthouse set-up that Linderman created for them. She's going full-speed ahead with plans that are going to land her in a morgue before long. The thing is, that's not even the worst of it. I was planning on inviting her here for Christmas dinner to meet the both of you, but now HE'S invited himself along with her. He claims that they're getting married." Angela shuddered. "Mother of God, this is a disaster."

"ABSOLUTELY NOT!" Nathan froze in his tracks. "That monster is not coming into this house, and my supposed sister is not coming either! This is MY house! My kids are here, my wife-" He shook his head "this is NOT up for discussion."

"I had no choice but to invite him. He claims that he's willing to turn over a new leaf, but I swear it's an act."

Peter groaned and rubbed his temples. "We need to let him come, Nathan."

"WHAT?" Nathan spun around, staring at his little brother in shock. "Did I smack you in the head too hard when you were a child? What in the hell is wrong with you?"

"The Haitian can block Sylar from using his powers. He's done it before. We need to see what angle he's working and try to get Olivia away from him. Maybe she's just lonely. If we welcome her into the family and let her see that she's not alone, that she doesn't have to sleep with serial killers to have someone in her life, she'll drop him."

"I didn't realize you'd joined the Girl Scouts, Pete. Got a box of Thin Mints to sell me too?" Nathan crossed his arms in front of his chest.

"I agree with Peter." Angela said quietly. Nathan whirled around to stare at her in shock. "Maybe seeing what she can have without that Sylar around is what she needs to get past him. She can see two brothers ready to welcome her with open arms as well as two nephews and a niece willing to accept her into their lives. The girl has been without true familial love and guidance since her adoptive parents died as a teen. She's been starved for attention. Linderman only used her as a pawn and I couldn't reach out to her much before your father died." She nodded her head. "This is the best way to do it. I'll invite The Haitian to dinner as well to make sure everyone behaves him and herself."

"This is insane." Nathan slumped against a wall.

"So's Sylar. Sometimes you have to fight fire with fire." Peter nodded his head.

* * *

The next morning, Gabriel woke up in Olivia's bed to find her already gone to work. He stretched, yawning as he noticed a note written on the mirror of the vanity beside her bed. It was written in her lipstick. 

**Study hard, learn lots. I won't be home late, promise-O**

He smiled to himself as he climbed out of bed, tired but happy. He and Olivia had spent the entire day and night in her bed, wrapped around each other, sleeping the restless sleep of new lovers. They would barely doze while clinging to each other, their hands fondling and caressing even in their sleep until they'd wake up and hour or two later to make love again and again. They'd explored each other's bodies until Gabriel was sure they both knew every inch of each other. Hell, they probably could have written their own version of the Kama Sutra by end of the night together, Gabriel thought to himself, laughing. He stumbled sleepily to Olivia's bathroom, kicking empty pizza boxes and Chinese food containers out of the way, and climbed into the shower, smiling at the warmth and pressure of the different jets of water spraying at him in different directions in the stall. He climbed out after a few minutes, toweling off as he walked from her apartment to his to get a clean change of clothes. Soon after dressing, he heard the doorbell to his apartment ring and walked to the elevator doors, pressing a button. A short, husky man walked into the apartment, dressed in a dark suit and carrying a briefcase. He looked up at Gabriel.

"Mr. Gray?" Gabriel nodded. "Good. I'm Stephen Koontz, the operations manager for Greene/Linderman, I assume Dr. Greene told you'd I'd be arriving today."

"Yes, come on into the office." Gabriel smiled at the man as they walked through the apartment. "I'm very excited to learn everything I can."

"Very well then, Sir."

They entered the office and soon, Gabriel found himself immersed in company files, payroll and accounting lessons, and project lists. He was thrilled to discover how easily he was learning everything and the day flew by as he learned the ins and outs to the companies that Olivia and he were controlling.

* * *

Olivia pulled her scrubs off quickly, tossing them into a laundry basket at the hospital and put on her jeans and sweater, smiling excitedly the whole time. She usually enjoyed spending time at the hospital, but today, all she could think about was getting home to spend the day with Gabriel. Throughout the day they'd sent each other text messages, teasing each other about what they'd do when she got home. She couldn't wait to get there. She pulled on her boots and grabbed her coat, practically running out of the doctor's locker room to get home. She blushed, thinking about everything they'd done the day before and what they'd do that night, as she sailed out of the hospital, waving absent-mindedly to her coworkers as she approached the curb, hoping that cabs would be running in force at that time of the night. She glanced at her watch. It was a little past seven p.m. She smiled. She had never willingly left the hospital so early before. As she scanned the streets looking for a cab, her hand preparing to go up to hail one, a dark Town Car pulled up beside her. The passenger side window slid down and Nathan leaned towards it, glaring at her. 

"You know who I am, I know who you are, get in. We have to talk."

"Great." Olivia muttered, her excitement deflated at Nathan's stony expression. She climbed into the car and Nathan drove off. "So I see our mother sent you here to talk sense into me?" Nathan stared straight ahead silently, the muscles in his jaw popping out as he clenched it. "Funny how she didn't bring you up to speed that I even existed until I did something she didn't like, or someone for that matter."

"He's a murderer, Olivia."

"Not according to the other people who have confessed to his crimes."

"You and I both know what he's done."

"That's in the past. We all have things from our past that we're not proud of, don't we Nathan? I can think of one name that pops into my mind immediately. Does Niki Sanders ring a bell?"

"Having a one-night stand and murdering innocent people are two completely different things. He's not going to change. He's always going to have that lust for killing, no matter how much lust he has for you. He doesn't love you."

"You don't know anything about him." Olivia stared out of the passenger window, frowning. "And don't talk to me about anyone loving me. The only reason you're here is because Angela sent you. You don't care about me, you're just being Mommy's Little Lap-Dog, as usual."

"If I really were her lap dog, the place we're driving through now would be an irradiated blast zone and you know it." Nathan turned to stare at Olivia's profile, realizing how much she really did look like their mother, especially now that she was starting to get angry. Peter was right about that. "I don't know you, Olivia, but I'd like to get the chance to. When Mom was pregnant with Peter, I kind of hoped for a sister, so it's interesting to have one now. I want to have you in my life, I think it would be wonderful, but I don't know if I can as long as you keep that man in your life as well."

"Then I guess you're going to have to continue going through life without a sister, because Gabriel and I are a package deal."

"Gabriel, so that's his real name?"

"Yes, it is. You'll get to meet him, the real him at Christmas." She turned, glaring at Nathan. "Or are we disinvited, because that wouldn't hurt my feelings one bit?"

"You're still invited, both of you. Mom's bringing a friend along to make sure my house is still standing when it's over with. Peter and I both want to see what angle he's working with you."

"He's not working any angle, Nate." Olivia opened her mouth to continue her tirade when her phone rang. She picked it up. "Hello? Oh, hi. That's great news. Tomorrow afternoon?" She glanced at her watch. "I'll try to be there, thanks." She hung up.

"What was that about?"

"Something I'm working on, that's all." She frowned as Nathan began to slow down in front of her apartment building. "You knew where I lived?"

"Peter and I followed you the other night."

"Nice." She sighed. "First I have a mother I don't want constantly popping up and digging around in my business, now I have two overprotective brothers, nice."

"It can be nice, if you let it." Nathan reached for Olivia's arm as she opened the car door. She turned, staring at him as he pulled her towards him. He hugged her fiercely for a moment, feeling her hesitate before hugging him back just as tightly. "I don't want to lose you before I get to know you. Be careful, Kiddo, okay?"

Olivia closed her eyes, confused at the lump that suddenly leapt into her throat and at the tears that stung her eyes. "I'll be fine." She muttered, her voice thick. She pulled away from Nathan, staring at the ground as she climbed out of the car. She glanced back at Nathan for a moment as she walked into the building. He smiled sadly at her as she walked into the building. She waved for a moment, then entered the building, quickly wiping away tears.

Nathan watched her walk into the building, smiling to himself as the door seemed to stay open a moment longer than it should. "Your turn, Pete." He whispered to himself.

* * *

Peter followed behind Olivia, careful not to make noise as she headed towards an elevator marked PH2. He slid quietly into the elevator with her and stood beside her as they rode up to the top floor. He crept behind her as she walked into the apartment and headed towards the kitchen. 

"Honey, I'm home!" She called as she grabbed a pint of ice cream from the freezer and got a spoon out of a drawer.

"I'm in here!" He heard a familiar voice call, the hair on the back of his neck standing on end at the sound of it.  
She laughed. "Where is 'here'?"

"The living room!"

Peter watched as Olivia went into the living room, eating ice cream as she walked. He froze to see Sylar stretched out on the couch, going over files that were stacked on the coffee table in front of him. As soon as Olivia walked into the room, he beamed, pulling off his glasses and pulling her into his lap. Olivia straddled him, kissing him as he ran his hands up her thighs, gripping her ass.  
Gabriel leaned back looking up at Olivia as she ate a spoonful of ice cream. "None for me?" He grinned as she handed him the pint, getting a spoonful for himself before feeding her one. "How was your day?"

"Boring. Bowel resection this morning, followed by a tonsillectomy, appendectomy, a couple of other –ectomies. I also got to do a whipple, which was pretty cool. I didn't have as much fun as I usually do though." She leaned down, kissing him softly on the lips. "I just wanted to get home to you. How was your day?"

"Educational, but boring." He suddenly became very aware of how tight his jeans began to feel as Olivia subtly moved her hips over his. He set the ice cream on the coffee table, concentrating for a moment to freeze it more. "That'll keep for a while."

Olivia grinned. "Handy trick."

"I know." He slid his chilled hands up her sweater, feeling her shiver with excitement. "I'm a handy guy."

"Wanna take a trip to Vegas in the morning? There's a project that I want you to see."

"Project Athena?" Gabriel's fingers unclasped her bra. He smiled as his hands slid around to cup her breasts, her nipples hardening under his thumbs. "I saw a notation or two about that, but I didn't know what it was."

"Yeah." Olivia's eyes closed as she ground her hips against his, shivering against the sensations of his fingers. "The scientists think they have come up with a breakthrough. I want you involved in the project. I think if it works, it'll benefit us both."

"Oh, I'm all about benefits." Gabriel moved his hips under Olivia's, moaning softly at the ache building up there. He pulled her close and kissed her, his hands still teasing her breasts under her sweater.

Peter cringed and turned away as Olivia and Gabriel began to make out on the couch, screwing up his face with disgust. He was relieved when they stood up, still kissing and began to head towards a door.

"Your place or mine?" Gabriel whispered.

"We haven't been in your place yet."

"You have a point." He pulled off her sweater as they went through the door, tossing it behind his back.

Peter rolled his eyes as the door closed behind them, listening to them moan and giggle. "Why in the hell did I have to pick up supersensitive hearing from that ass?" He muttered as he sat on the couch, flipping through the files abandoned on the table. He frowned as he read them, searching for anything about a Project Athena. He was dying to know what it was. He shuddered as his borrowed hyper-hearing picked up sounds of lovemaking from the next apartment and shook his head. "God what I'd give to be temporarily deaf." He whispered to himself as he stood and began to explore Olivia's apartment. In one corner of the living room, he saw a staircase, spiraling in a helix formation to a landing above. He climbed up the stairs and went through a door, discovering that it led to the roof. He slipped out there, shivering as he walked around, looking at the garden and patio that spanned the length and width of the building. He stared at the stars twinkling in the sky above, wrapping his coat around himself for warmth.

"I thought I heard you come in with her."

Peter spun around to see Gabriel standing behind him. "Where's my sister?"

"Ordering dinner. She doesn't know you're here, and you're not going to let her know, are you?" Gabriel shook his head, clucking his tongue. "Using invisibility to spy on your sister, not cool Pete."

"So what, we're going to fight again?" Peter stood up straight, pulling back his shoulders.

"I'm not in the mood to fight." Gabriel smirked. "I am in the mood to fuck your sister some more. Wanna come and watch? You might learn something." He laughed softly. "She's quite the little tomcat in bed. You wouldn't think it to look at her, but she can tear up a bedroom like nobody's business." He whistled. "Mmm-mmm-mmm, that mouth, the things it can do." He turned to walk away and staggered as a bolt of electricity hit him. He spun around angrily. "Hitting a guy when his back is turned? I never pegged you for a dirty fighter!" He twitched his fingers, making Peter freeze in his tracks. "I think you need to leave now, before I forget that your sister is downstairs and kill you." He walked towards Peter, smirking as the man struggled to move. "So Big Brother Nathan can fly. If I were the man I was a month ago, I'd pay him a little visit and make a collection, but since I'm trying to turn over a new leaf, I'll try to avoid taking off his head for now. Tell me Petey, did you pick up his talent for flight? I'd like to see if you did!" He twitched his fingers again, dangling Peter off the roof for a moment before letting him go. He watched as Peter fell to the alley below and smirked. "Oopsie, I guess not. Let's hope he's retained Claire's powers a little bit longer, at least." He turned and walked back into the penthouse, whistling happily.

* * *

Nathan sat in his car, parked in the alley beside Olivia's building as he waited for Peter. He jumped as he heard something smash behind the car and climbed out to see Peter lying on the ground. He winced as Peter took a breath, then started snapping bones and joints back into place before standing and kicking the wall. 

"MOTHER FUCKER!" He yelled.

"Technically he's a sister-fucker." Nathan sighed. "So I guess he caught you." Peter nodded, glaring up at the roof. "So what now?"

"NOW?" Peter paced the alley, furious. "Now I go back up there and kick his ass!"

"He'll just toss you back down here again, if you're lucky." Nathan sighed. "So what happened?"

"I followed her upstairs, they fooled around, I went to the roof, he followed me up there after he finished with Olivia. He made a few comments about her, comments I did NOT appreciate, and then threw me off of the roof."

"What kind of comments?"

Peter shrugged. "Stuff that brothers don't need to hear about their sisters, okay? He was just taunting me, trying to piss me off."

"It worked."

"Yeah." Peter frowned. "I need a drink. I need a lot of drinks. I need to get stinking drunk and then find The Haitian and have him do some memory erasing. I don't want to remember what I saw up there. That was just so wrong on so many levels. He knew I was there, Nathan. It was gross." He nodded. "I definitely need to get drunk."

Nathan shrugged and headed towards the car. "Let's go."

"Wait." Peter stopped. "I remember something else. Project Athena."

Nathan stared at him. "What's that?"

Peter shook his head. "I don't know, but they're going to Las Vegas in the morning to check on it." He grinned. "I know who we can send to spy on them." He reached into his pocket and frowned at the smashed cell phone. He looked up at Nathan who groaned and handed Peter his own phone.

"Give that back when you're done. You go through cell phones like they were candy."

"Only because people keep tossing me off of roofs." Peter dialed the phone and grinned. "Niki? Hey, it's Peter Petrelli, I have a favor to ask of you."

* * *

Note from the author:

Now, don't get me wrong, I love me some Peter like nobody's business. Heroes is actually one of the few shows that doesn't have a single main character that I want to bitch-smack through a wall. That said, I laughed my ass off when Claude tossed him off of a roof and I thought it would be funny to have Sylar do the same, after taunting him with some "your sister fucks real good" comments first, just to get him good and pissed off. I have to say, I'm having a major blast writing Nathan and Peter. I think it would be fun just to write a story of the two of them snarking and snapping at each other, because they do it so well on the show. Adrian and Milo are very believable as brothers with their arguing and bonding that they do on the show and it inspires me to write them the same way. As for Sylar, don't worry about Sylar losing his edge just because he's in love and getting laid. He's just finding a new way to "channel" his feelings, ahem, and he's about to find a new way to channel them as well.

Coming Attractions:

Niki does some spying of her own.

Think Gabriel/Sylar's been whipped? Think again. Sylar comes out to play in Vegas when there's a problem in the casino.

Olivia likes it when her man gets nasty.

Niki gets a new job offer.

Thanks for reading!

TMM1205


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter Sixteen-Bloodlust and Lust

"We need to choose a night to sleep, just sleep."

"Mmmh?" Gabriel opened his eyes as he absent-mindedly massaged Olivia's feet, smiling softly to feel that she was returning the favor. They sat opposite each other on the small private jet, their feet resting in each other's laps. "Now what's the fun in that?"

"There isn't any fun in it, but we do need sleep. We need a night of good, heavy uninterrupted sleep before we end up killing each other." She sighed, closing her eyes as Gabriel's hands slid up her legs, massaging her calf. "God, I love your hands."

"I TRIED to sleep last night, you're the one who woke ME up. You're a very handsy woman, Olivia MacKenzie Greene!"

"You LIE!" Olivia opened her eyes and laughed. "You're the one who couldn't keep his hands to himself, among other things." She grinned. "I think we answered the question of 'What else can you move with your mind?' last night!"

"What can I say? I'm a man of many talents." He sat up straight. "Speaking of. Have you ever joined the Mile High Club?" He started to lean towards her. Olivia pushed him back into his seat with her foot. "Aw, you're mean." He purred playfully.

"We'll join the club on the trip home." Olivia winked at him and then yawned. "We don't need to land in Nevada with mussed clothes and JBF hair."

"Meanness, pure and simple meanness." Gabriel sank back into his seat, rubbing Olivia's feet as he closed his eyes.

"I prefer to think of myself as a royal tease, thank you." Olivia dozed off in her seat.

* * *

Niki Sanders drove towards the airport, the flight number of Olivia's plane written on a note beside her purse. She frowned, remembering the doctor she'd met the night D.L. was shot. The only thing that Peter told her was that the doctor might be in over her head with a problem and that she was to follow the doctor wherever she went. She felt she owed it to Olivia to find out what was going on with her, and help her if necessary. After what Olivia had done for her, it was the least she could do. She smiled softly to herself. Micah had been enrolled in a new private school, one better than the one he'd been kicked out of a few months earlier, and was due to start in January. A shitload of money had a way of talking, big time. As soon as they'd arrived back in Vegas a week earlier, D.L. bought himself a new jeep and Niki traded in Jessica's convertible for a jeep as well. The rest of the money had been put into savings and investments, to grow and give them a long life of independence and wealth.

She pulled up at the airport and parked across from the private flight runways and gates. She pulled out a pair of binoculars and sat, waiting. She realized how much she'd missed being stealthy and spying on people, not to mention just plain working. She might not have to work the rest of her life, but Niki realized how much she missed it. After a week at home with D.L. and Micah, just the three of them hanging out around the house while Micah's school was out for the holidays, Niki was about to go crazy. She stretched her arms, looking forward to their Christmas trip to Texas. They had originally planned to stop by Texas on their way home from the hospital, but D.L. had been released a week sooner than planned. They went straight home and decided to visit for Christmas instead. The Bennets had taken Molly Walker in as a foster daughter. Niki and Micah had gotten very attached to Molly in the short time they'd known her; tense, dangerous situations have a tendency of doing that. She thought of the spunky little girl and smiled to herself. She and D.L. had discussed having another child, but had decided that was simply a pipe dream. At the time they could barely afford to raise Micah. Now that they had money, perhaps it was time to revisit that dream. Niki had always dreamed of having another child, a little girl.

"I could name her Jessica." She whispered sadly.

She was pulled out of her daydreams as a plane taxied down the private runway and came to a stop. Niki sat up in her jeep and pulled out the high-tech binoculars, zeroing in on the door of the plane opening, and a small staircase unfolding. She watched as Olivia stepped out of the plane, then her eyes widened as she spotted a man behind her descend the stairs.

"Son of a bitch!" She yelled.

Niki recognized Sylar right away. It's hard to forget a man once you've smacked him around with a parking meter. He followed behind Olivia until they reached the tarmac, then took her hand and walked with her towards a car that was parked and waiting for them. They were obviously a couple, Niki noted, as they leaned against each other, smiling and looking into each other's eyes as they approached the car. Niki shook her head in disbelief as Sylar opened the car door and helped Olivia into it before climbing into it himself. She cranked up her jeep and waited for the car to pull out onto the highway, then pulled out to follow them, staying as far back as she could to keep them from noticing that they were being followed.

"Okay Doc, what in the hell have you gotten yourself into?" She asked as she followed the car out into the desert.

* * *

Gabriel and Olivia pulled up outside of the compound and were led inside by armed security. Gabriel looked around the place, whistling softly under his breath. "Interesting set-up."

"You haven't seen the half of it yet." Olivia explained the concept behind Project Athena as they arrived at the observation laboratory. Dr. Cooper greeted them and showed them the test subjects for the day. Candice Wilmer was the donor again, the recipient was another young man, who lay on the gurney sedated. "Who did you pick today?" Olivia asked.

"He has the ability to elongate his bones, stretch them, into any shape he chooses."

"So he's sort of an elastic man." Gabriel said as he stared down at the man hungrily. "Interesting."

"Yes, very." Dr. Cooper turned and nodded to the technicians. They injected the serum into the patient.

Gabriel watched Olivia for a moment, then turned to the laboratory below. The patient's heart rate sped up. He started having a seizure, then his vitals stabilized. Olivia smiled and took a deep breath. Suddenly, the patient exploded, body parts flying around the room. Gabriel turned back to Olivia as she stood beside him, glaring down at the technicians as the scrambled to leave the room, covered in bloody shrapnel. The color in her face drained away as she clenched her fists and began to punch at the glass wall with a scream.

"DAMMIT! DAMMIT! FUCKING DAMMIT!" She whirled around on Dr. Cooper as he cringed and backed away from her. "YOU said you FIXED it! You SAID you had the formula perfected!"

"We thought we did, Dr. Greene." He backed away from her slowly, looking to Gabriel for support. "We really thought we had it right this time."

"Well obviously you were WRONG!" She lunged at the doctor, her fingers hooked into claws as Gabriel grabbed her and held her back. "How many more people are you going to kill, you STUPID ASS? How much longer is this going to go on?"

"We'll go back to formula, we'll fix it, I swear!"

"STUPID!"

"Olivia, Honey." Gabriel grasped her wrists, forcing her arms down by her side. "Yelling and being abusive isn't helping. You heard Dr. Cooper, they're trying everything they can."

"They're not trying hard enough." She struggled against Gabriel as he held onto her. "This is important. It's important for US." She turned to him. "You can continue to collect powers without killing people, I can do it too. We can be like Peter. We can-"

Gabriel nodded. "-Just give them time. I can wait before I get more powers." He winked at her. "It's going to be okay."

"We got a sample of his blood and DNA before we tested him." Dr. Cooper stammered. "His powers, along with Mr. Simmons' from the last test haven't been lost, I promise."

Olivia took a deep breath and turned back to Dr. Cooper, pulling herself together. "That's good news." She stared at the floor, then looked up at Dr. Cooper. "I'm sorry for yelling and throwing a tantrum. I know you're trying everything you can." Dr. Cooper nodded at her, then turned and left the observation booth as quickly as he could.

Gabriel chuckled as he walked up behind Olivia, rubbing her arms. "You're kind of a brat, aren't you? And I thought I had a temper. Remind me not to piss you off."

Olivia relaxed, leaning against Gabriel as she laughed softly. She groaned when her cell phone started to ring. "Oh what now?" She answered it. "Hello? Yes, I'm in Las Vegas. I see." She nodded. "Keep them both detained, Mr. Gray and I are on our way."

Gabriel frowned. "We're not going back to the plane to head home, are we?"

Olivia shook her head. "Not yet. There's a problem at the casino." She sighed, stuffing her phone back into her purse. "One of the croupiers and the head of security have been busted for stealing money."

* * *

Niki was parked half a mile from the facility. In the desert, the roads were so flat, and stretched so far ahead, it was easy to watch Dr. Greene's car from that distance without being noticed. Less than an hour after she had gone into the building with Sylar, they walked out again, their expressions grim and determined. Niki watched as the car pulled out and headed down the road, her eyes widening as she realized they were headed for her.

"SHIT!" Niki climbed into the driver's seat of the jeep, cranking up the engine as the car pulled up alongside hers and stopped. One of the back windows opened and Olivia leaned out, smiling at Niki.

"Hey. I saw you following me a while back."

Niki cringed. "Yeah." She mentally cursed at herself. So much for being stealthy like Jessica had been.

"Listen, I've got a problem at the casino. You used to work there, right?" Niki nodded, frowning at Olivia. "Good. You probably know the employees well, better than I do at least. We could use your help, if you don't mind."

"We?" Niki glared as Sylar leaned into view, grinning at her.

"I remember you." He smirked. "You hit me with a parking meter, didn't you?"

"Well, someone had to help even the odds between you and Petrelli." She was surprised to see him laugh good-naturedly and lean back out of view. She turned back to Olivia, raising an eyebrow. "Nice company you're keeping nowadays."

"He comes in handy, keeps my temper in check." Olivia smiled. "So what do you say? Follow us to the casino?"

Niki shrugged. "Fine, as long as HE behaves himself."

Sylar leaned back into view. "Oh, I'm a model citizen, Honey."

Niki glared at the car as it turned around and headed into the city. "What in the hell am I getting myself into?" She asked herself as she pulled her car onto the road and followed them.

* * *

They arrived at the casino and were led by the assistant head of security down a hallway of offices into a locked room. Two men were sitting side-by-side, one in a security uniform, the other dressed in the uniform worn by the croupiers of the building. Niki noticed how quickly Olivia's smile faded as she looked at both of them, her eyes darkening almost to black.

"Five hundred thousand dollars. Stealing from your employers." Olivia shook her head. "Not smart. Not smart at all." She snapped her eyes at the croupier. "Whose idea was this?"

"Mine." The man said nervously. He looked like a drowned rabbit, all large eyes and teeth. He shifted his eyes to the floor, biting his lip as he squirmed in his chair.

"What would possess you to do this?"

"I got a kid. He's sick. The medical bills-" The man shrugged, still staring at the floor. "-he's in the hospital right now." Shaking in his chair, he nodded towards the head of security sitting beside him. "He found out about it, forced me to steal more for his cut. He said he'd turn me in if I didn't."

The assistant head leaned towards Olivia. "He's not lying about the kid. Leukemia, it's pretty advanced. We've all been collecting money around the casino to help support them both."

Olivia closed her eyes, shaking her head. "Why didn't you come to me? Every supervisor here has my cell phone number. Any one of them would have given it to you."

"I know, I'm sorry." The man choked back a sob.

"Where's the money?" Niki stepped forward. "Come on, Edgar. You know me. I know Stevie. I know how sick he's been. What did you do with the money?"

"I hid it."

"Where?"

Edgar shook his head, crying openly. "I need it for my kid, Nik."

Gabriel cleared his throat and turned to the assistant head. "Leave the room. Now."

The man stared at Gabriel. "Excuse me?"

"You heard me. Go. Now. Guard the door. Don't come in here no matter what you hear." The man stared nervously at Gabriel, then walked out of the room, locking the door behind him. Gabriel turned back to Edgar. "Your little friend here, have you given him his cut yet?" Edgar shook his head and Gabriel stepped towards the security officer. The man looked up at him contemptuously as Gabriel glared at him. "You." He snarled. "You got a sick kid like Eddie here?" The man rolled his eyes and looked away. "I asked you a question!" Gabriel lifted his hand, squeezing his fingers together as if her were squeezing a ball. The man started to choke and struggle to breath. "Answer the question."

"Gabriel-" Olivia touched his arm.

"-Let me do my job." Gabriel shrugged off her arm and kept squeezing. "Ready to talk?" He relaxed his fingers and the man slumped forward, coughing and gagging. "Have you got a sick kid too?"

"No." The man whispered.

Gabriel's eyes narrowed as he began to smile. "So you were just stealing for shits and giggles then, right? Just for the hell of it. What? Dr. Greene and I don't pay you enough money?"

The man looked up at Gabriel, glaring. "YOU don't pay me shit and Dr. Greene doesn't pay me enough!"

"Wrong fucking answer." Gabriel twitched his fingers. Olivia and Niki jumped and Edgar screamed as a sickening crack filled the room and the now former head of security slumped to the floor, his neck broken. Gabriel turned back to Edgar. "Now it's your turn. You can tell me where you hid the money now, or you can tell me later. The difference between those two choices is this: later, you're going to be in a world of pain."

Niki's eyes widened as she looked at Gabriel, then at Olivia. Olivia stood behind Gabriel, her eyes sparkling as a half-smile touched her lips, her cheeks starting to flush.

"_Holy shit, she's getting off on this." _Niki thought to herself. She stepped forward, ahead of Gabriel and knelt in front of Edgar.

"Edgar, he's serious about this, okay? You saw what he just did to Dean. You know you're next. Come on." She nodded encouragingly.

"I can't Niki. I'm sorry."

Niki shook her head as she stood up. "Stupid." She glanced behind her at Gabriel, noting the look on his face. He was obviously relishing what he was going to do next. She didn't want to see what he was planning. She turned back to Edgar and slapped him hard. "DAMMIT! Start talking to me or you're going to be screaming to him!" Edgar started crying harder as she slapped him again. "Stop crying and start talking."

Edgar shook his head again as Gabriel stepped up. "Niki, I think you and Olivia need to step outside for a moment."

Niki glared at him. "I'm not going anywhere!"

Olivia nodded. "I don't want you going overboard with him. I'm staying too."

Gabriel shrugged. "Can't say I didn't warn you." He kicked Dean's body out of the chair and placed it in front of Edgar. He straddled the chair and grinned at him. "This is going to hurt—a lot." He leaned forward. "Where's the money."

"I can't tell you!" Edgar screamed as a snapping sound filled the room. "OH GOD!"

"That was your left pinky toe. It just broke." Gabriel smiled. "I'm going to start with your toes, Eddie. Then after I've broken all ten little piggies, I'm moving to the feet and ankles. From there, I'm breaking your legs, your knees, your hips . . . shall I continue?"

"I'm sorry, but I can't!" Edgar screamed again as the sound of another toe breaking filled the room. Niki turned away, covering her ears as Olivia leaned against a wall, her face feverish.

A few minutes later, after all of his toes and most of the bones in his feet were broken, Edgar finally cracked, giving the location of the money he'd stolen. Olivia turned to Niki, who stood against a wall, her face pale and sickly looking. "Niki, would you mind picking that up for us and turning back in to the accountants here?" Niki nodded and headed towards the door. "Wait." She stopped, glancing back at Olivia, her hands shaking on the doorknob. Olivia stepped forward. "What happened in here today, stays in here. It wasn't pretty, but it had to be done. You've handled yourself well. As you can see, we have a job opening for a new head of security. Interested?"

Niki's eyes widened. "Excuse me?"

"You're good at what you do. Linderman thought the world of you, even if he did screw with your life too much. I think you'd be good in this position. You're honest, you're not going to steal, and you're good at spotting liars and thieves."

"I thought I was." Niki glared at Olivia. "I'm not so sure about the liars part."

"I have never lied to you, Niki. I meant what I said that night at the hospital. Linderman was wrong to do what he did to you and to your family and I was extremely ashamed of it. I'd really like it if you took this job. It's totally above boards and legit. If you like, you can even bring D.L. into it as well. The talents the two of you possess, you'd be perfect in this job. I'd appreciate it if you kept the identity of my business partner under wraps for now, but other than that, you can do as you like here, security-wise. What do you say?"

Niki shook her head and rubbed her eyes. "Who would I report to, you?" She glared at Gabriel. "Or him?"

"Me, if you'd rather."

Gabriel stood and stared at the two women. "What? I don't get a say in this?"

Olivia turned to Gabriel, her eyes steely. "You don't agree with my thoughts on this?"

"Not really, no."

Niki smirked and turned to Olivia. "Consider me hired." She shot another glare at Gabriel, then walked out of the room.

Gabriel glared at Olivia as she turned to him. "So I'm not getting a single say-so in this at all, am I?"

"We're going to need her and her husband on our side eventually. It's best to start the goodwill now."

Gabriel rolled his eyes as he turned back to Edgar. The man slumped in his chair, moaning in pain. "I guess we're going to need all the goodwill we can get after this." He lifted his hand and Olivia stepped in front of him. "Do you mind? I need to finish him off."

"No, you don't."

Gabriel's eyes narrowed. "Excuse me?"

"You're done." She called to the assistant head of security, nodding at Edgar as he stepped into the room. "Get him to a hospital. Put the bill on worker's comp."

"No." Gabriel snarled.

"You're done with him." Olivia turned back to the security officer. "Also, check into that story about his kid. If it's true, tell the hospital to send all of the kid's bills to me." She glanced at Edgar. "Consider this a lesson. You're still going to work here, your fingers weren't broken and you can sit on your thieving ass to deal cards until your feet heal. Steal from us again, or breath any word to anyone on how this happened, and you'll disappear forever, understood?" The man nodded, sobbing and moaning. "Good man. The next time you need money, come to me." She turned back to Gabriel, raising an eyebrow as he glowered at her. "Got a problem?"

Gabriel nodded. "Oh, I've got a BIG problem."

"Fine." She turned and walked out of the room as Gabriel followed her. "Get rid of that body too, by the way." She called to the officer behind her. They stepped into an empty office and Olivia turned to Gabriel. "So let's have it."

Gabriel slammed the door behind himself, locking it. "Am I or am I NOT your business partner?"

"You are, and you've been doing a wonderful job so far."

"So far I've just been muscle and a one-man torture chamber while you've called the shots." He stomped towards Olivia. "I didn't sign up for that."

"True, but you're very effective at it. You're working towards your strengths." She smirked.

"My STRENGTHS?" Gabriel grabbed Olivia by the arms. "At least I have strengths! Linderman was right about you. He was right to want to bring me on board. You're weak."

"Shut up." She whispered, her eyes darkening again.

"You're a bleeding heart, whiny-ass, spoiled, weak little bitch. Some guy gives you a stupid-ass sob story about a sick kid and you fucking cave. You're spineless and weak."

"SHUT UP!" Olivia shoved Gabriel away. "WHY am I weak? Because I didn't want you to kill a harmless sniveling little fool?"

"Exactly!"

"Think for a moment, Gabriel darling. Which do you think will be more effective to keep people in line around here, two people disappearing, or one disappearing while the other hobbles around telling horror stories about one of the new owners of the business? In a few weeks, with Edgar's help, NO ONE will be stupid enough to put a single toe out of line around here." She smirked as Gabriel looked away. "I might be weaker than you, but I'm a damn sight smarter."

"Like hell you are." He slowly started stepping towards her. "If I thought you had a brain in that head, I'd take it now."

"You'd like that, wouldn't you? You'd love to kill me since I stopped you from killing Edgar."

"You got off on it. You got off on watching me kill and maim, admit it."

"I did not." Olivia frowned as she backed away from him.

Gabriel grinned evilly. "You did." He purred. "I saw you. I heard your heartbeat when I broke that man's neck with my mind, Olivia. It sped up. It sped up almost as much as it does when I fuck you. You liked watching me do that, admit it."

Olivia looked away. "I didn't."

"You did." He nodded. "Sweet little Livvie has a dark side. She likes her man all mean and evil when it suits her purpose. You'd have killed that man yourself, if you weren't so weak."

"I am NOT weak!" She swung her hand to slap him.

Gabriel caught her hand, his eyes narrowing as he shook his head. "No hitting, Honey." He grabbed her other hand as well and shoved her against a wall, pressing himself against her. He pressed his lips against her ear. "You like it when I'm mean and rough, it gets you hot, doesn't it?" He slid his hands down her arms to her waist, sliding one hand up her skirt. He laughed as she moaned, pressing herself against him. "I thought so. Admit it."

Olivia closed her eyes, then opened them, nodding. "I liked it." She whispered.

"That's what I thought."

He kissed her roughly, the hand on her waist sliding up her back to grasp her hair as he lifted her skirt. Olivia kissed him back just as fiercely, unbuttoning his pants. He pulled on her hair, bending her head back as he kissed and bit her neck. Olivia wrapped her legs around his waist as he shoved her harder against the wall with his thrusts, both of them moaning loudly. He let go of her hair, clutching at her waist as she dug her fingers into his shoulders, burying his face into her chest. Her legs tightened around him and began to shake as she moaned louder. As Gabriel thrust harder, he felt her hands slide up to his neck, tightening there. He looked up into her eyes as she started smiling, black spots dancing in front of his eyes. The moment he started to orgasm, she let go of his neck. The combination of the rush of blood to his brain as he climaxed caused his legs to shake and he slid down the wall, pulling her with him. They ended with her on top of him, laughing softly as she kissed his neck.

"Hell of a way to end a fight, huh?" She whispered.

"Yeah." He said breathlessly. He ran his fingers through her hair, grasping it at the base of her neck to pull her lips to his. "We're a seriously screwed-up couple, you do realize that."

Olivia nodded as she rolled off of him and sat up, straightening her clothes. "We're just a regular modern-day Sid and Nancy."

Gabriel sat up, pulling up his pants. "Interesting. Look how those two ended up." He leaned over to her, wrapping his arms around her shoulders as he rested his forehead against her back. "Stop treating me just as the heavy in this business. If I'm an equal, start treating me as one. Got it?"

"Deal. Don't call me weak again. Being reasonable and able to think more than a step or two ahead isn't weak." She stood up, her legs still shaking. She held out her hand and helped Gabriel up, smiling softly at him. "Let's go home."

* * *

Coming attractions:

Peter gets another visitor from the future--with a surprising tagalong and a message he does NOT want to hear

The "Big Bad" is revealed

All of the participants at Kirby Plaza discover they're going to have to learn to work together, if they don't want to die alone


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter Seventeen-Night Flying and Unexpected Visitors

Nathan smiled at Heidi over the book he was reading as his wife climbed into bed beside him. "I can't believe we finally got all of those presents under the tree." She leaned her head on his shoulder. "The boys are going to have a fit with everything we got them tomorrow morning." She glanced at the clock beside the bed. "And now I can officially wish you a Merry Christmas." She kissed him softly, dimples flashing.

"Merry Christmas to you too." Nathan glanced out the window. "It started snowing."

"I know." Heidi cuddled up to Nathan under the covers. "A white Christmas. I always love it when that happens."

"Me too." Nathan set his book down. "Heidi, I've got to talk to you about something, a couple of things, actually. I know that Christmas isn't the best time to do it, but I can't keep it a secret any longer. I've been trying for over a month to find a way to talk about it, but-"

Heidi frowned. "-Honey, whatever it is, you can tell me."

Nathan nodded. "Before we met, when I was in the military, I was stationed in Texas. I met someone there. Her name was Meredith. We," he shrugged "we were together."

"Okay." Heidi shook her head. "I wasn't a saint before we married either."

"We had a daughter." Nathan looked away at Heidi's shocked look. "I never told you because Meredith and our daughter were killed in an accident, or so I thought. The girl lived and was adopted by a family in Texas. Meredith thought the girl was dead too, so she started wandering the country. I didn't hear from her again until about two months ago. She'd found our daughter and wanted money from me to keep quiet during the election."

"What a bitch." Heidi muttered. "What about your daughter?"

"Her name is Claire. She's so beautiful, Heidi. I met her the night of the election. She was here in New York with her adoptive father on a business trip. She's sixteen and so smart. She's a cheerleader and she was homecoming queen at her high school."

Heidi smiled. "She sounds wonderful, Nathan. Why didn't you tell me about her before?"

"I didn't know how. I thought you'd be upset-"

"-WHY would I bet upset?" Heidi sat up in bed. "She's your DAUGHTER, Nathan. She's Simon and Monty's sister. I didn't expect you to not have a past before we met." She smiled. "Can I meet her? You know how much I've always wanted to have a daughter. I know I wouldn't be her mom, I'm sure she's more than close to her adoptive mother, but I'd love to be a stepmother to her. I bet she's so special and great."

"You don't know the half of it." Nathan hugged Heidi. "I'm so glad you're not upset by this."

Heidi hugged her husband back. "The only thing that upsets me is that you felt you had to hide this from me. We're married Nathan. We shouldn't keep secrets like this from each other."

"That brings me to the other thing I want to talk to you about."

"Okay." Heidi stared at Nathan, warily. "You actually DID marry Meredith and you never divorced her?"

Nathan laughed. "No, it's nothing that bad. It's not bad at all, actually." He threw back the covers and pulled on some clothes. "Get dressed, put on warm clothes and a coat and stand in the back yard under the balcony. I need to show you something."

"Okay, Nathan. What's this big secret that you have to show me?" Heidi stomped her feet to keep them warm as she stood in the snow, staring up at the balcony at Nathan. He grinned and climbed onto the railing. "NATHAN! ARE YOU NUTS?"

Nathan placed a finger to his lips. "I don't want to wake up the whole house, okay? Now, no matter what happens, don't scream."

"What are you about to do?" As Heidi asked the question, she clamped a hand to her mouth to keep from screaming as Nathan jumped off of the balcony. Instead of falling, he flew through the air, circling over her head as she stared at him in shock, then amazement as he gently landed in front of her. "Wha-?" She shook her head. "How? What? Oh my God." She pulled Nathan to her and hugged him. "Did you just FLY?"

"Yeah." Nathan hugged her back. "I just flew. I found out that I could the night of the accident. I couldn't control it then, so I flew out of the car accidentally just before it crashed. I'm sorry."

"Don't be." Heidi clung to him. "Everything worked out okay in the end." She let him go, grinning. "You can fly!" Nathan nodded and she smiled flirtatiously at him. "Ever fly WITH anyone?"

"Just Peter." He laughed softly as Heidi stared at him. "It's a long story. He's special too."

"Peter can fly?"

"Sort of. He absorbs other's powers. If someone can fly, he can. If they can hear thoughts, so can he, and so on."

"You've met people who can hear other people's thoughts?"

"Yeah, among other powers. There are a lot of people like me and Peter out there. Claire's another one."

"What can she do?"

"She can't die. She can jump off of buildings, be shot, get cut, and she heals almost instantly."

"Oh my God." Heidi shook her head in disbelief. "I have GOT to meet her."

"She'll be here for New Year's." Nathan smiled at his wife. "Wanna fly with me?" Heidi smiled and nodded as she put her arms around his neck. "Hang on."

"Up, up and away?" She laughed.

"I don't say that." He grinned as he wrapped an arm around his wife's waist and took off into the skies above.

* * *

Gabriel's eyes opened as Olivia stumbled into his bedroom sleepily, pulling off her clothes before falling into bed. "I hate holidays." She muttered.

"Rough night again?"

"Do me a favor. If that damned beeper goes off again, beat me over the head just hard enough to cause a concussion so I can call and say that I can't come in." She snuggled against him under the covers. "Idiot drunks leaving Christmas parties, refusing to call cabs, trying to navigate icy, snowy roads, I hate them. Then you have the brain trusts who try to climb up onto their roof to put up enough lights to have their houses seen from space who end up falling and rupturing spleens and breaking bones. Holidays suck!" She closed her eyes as she draped an arm across her boyfriend's chest.

"And Merry Christmas to you too." Gabriel stroked Olivia's shoulder. "I'm glad you're finally home, at least. I got a tree. I decorated it this afternoon."

She smiled sleepily. "I saw it. It's pretty. I'm glad to be home. Merry Christmas." She yawned as she fell asleep.

Gabriel nudged Olivia as she started snoring softly. "Well, so much for the idea I had of celebrating Christmas." He lay back against the pillows and tried to sleep.

* * *

"What are you still doing up?"

Claire turned to see her adoptive father, Noah walk into the living room. She was sitting in front of the Christmas tree watching the lights as they twinkled in the darkness. "Niki, D.L. and I have had a time getting Micah and Molly to get in bed and stay there tonight, now you're sneaking down here."

Claire laughed softly. "I didn't sneak. I love watching Christmas trees, they're so beautiful."

Noah sat on the floor beside her. "I remember when you were a little kid, you liked to lie underneath the tree and watch the lights from underneath."

"I just did that." She smiled softly. "It's really beautiful. You should try it sometime."

"Maybe I will." Noah stood up, wincing as the joints in his knees cracked. "I feel like a cup of cocoa, you?"

Claire nodded wordlessly and stood, following her dad into the kitchen. The new house they'd bought was bigger than their old one with new furniture. It should have felt strange, but to Claire, it felt like home. She watched her father as he heated up milk and began to stir cocoa into it. "Have I told you lately how much I love you guys?"

Noah stared at her for a moment. "What's up?"

She shrugged. "It just feels weird. When I first found out about my powers, I wanted to meet my birth family to see if they had them too. After I found them and saw what they could-" she shook her head "-I guess I'm just saying I'm glad to be in a house with normal people, that's all. Powers are cool, but you guys are my real family."

Noah looked away for a moment, swallowing the lump in his throat. "The Petrellis are good people too, though."

"Oh, I know. Nathan's a good person and Peter's the best, but they're not you and Mom and Lyle. I know I'm going to see them in New York next week, but I just want you to know that ya'll here are my real family. I want them in my life, but you guys-"

"-I know." Noah took off his glasses, quickly wiping away a few tears. "I love you too, Claire-Bear." He walked over to her and hugged her. "Thanks for being my daughter."

She hugged him back fiercely. "I wouldn't have it any other way." She glanced at the stove. "The milk's about to scorch."

"Oh shit-" He glanced at Claire, embarrassed as she giggled softly. "-shoot. I meant SHOOT." He stirred the cocoa and poured it into two mugs, handing one to Claire. "Merry Christmas."

Claire smiled, taking a sip. "Merry Christmas, Daddy." She glanced towards the living room as the lights from the tree bounced and played off the walls. "Wanna try that looking at the tree from underneath thing?"

Noah laughed softly. "Okay, but then you're going straight to bed as quietly as you can. We don't need Micah and Molly thinking they can slip down here too."

* * *

Peter woke up early Christmas morning, stumbling towards his kitchen to start a pot of coffee. He glanced out the window, smiling to himself at the snow that had fallen throughout the night. He started the coffee and stretched as he walked through his living room, stopping suddenly when he realized he was not alone. He stared at the two figures sitting on the couch in the darkness his eyes adjusting quickly as he turned on a light. His eyes widened as he recognized the man, smiling.

"HIRO!" He stepped forward extending his hand. As he got closer, he realized it wasn't either of the Hiros he'd met before. This wasn't the exuberant Japanese cubicle dweller who was thrilled to discover he could teleport, nor was this the grim, terse Hiro of the future. This Hiro looked like the previous future Hiro he'd met: dressed in black with his hair pulled back into a ponytail, a soul patch under his bottom lip, a sword slung across his back. The difference between THIS Hiro and THAT one was that this Hiro was older. White streaks were liberally scattered through his jet hair, his face was scarred from battles and lined with age, his eyes were heavy with sadness. The hand that reached out and took Peter's was equally scarred and lined. Hiro stood and bowed solemnly to Peter. Peter bowed back, then turned his attention to the young girl who stood up and stepped into view. He blinked for a moment. "Claire?" He whispered, then shook his head. This girl wasn't Claire, but she resembled her somewhat. She was taller, her mouth fuller, her eyes were dark brown (he realized he'd seen those eyes before) and her hair hung down past her waist in a long dark auburn braid, unruly ringlets escaping from it.

The moment he mentioned Claire's name, her eyes lit up and she smiled shyly, dimples showing in the corners of her mouth. "Do I look like Claire? I met her, but I don't remember her." She started to step forward. "You're my Uncle Peter. My name is-"

Hiro cut her off, yelling at her in Japanese. She argued back in Japanese for a moment, then stepped back, lowering her head. Peter noted how she was dressed. She was dressed in black, like Hiro: black satin pants and slippers and a short black kimono with red piping for a shirt. Peter noticed a red sword like Hiro's slung across her back. As she glanced at Hiro and crossed her arms over her chest, sulking, Peter noticed a red sash across her waist, a wakizashi sword tucked inside it against one hip, a tanto knife tucked against the other. "Who are you?"

"That is not your concern right now." Hiro stepped towards Peter. "I have something you need to hear. You told me once that I came from the future to speak with you and I gave you instructions that changed that future. Now, I have more instructions. You're not going to like what I have to tell you, but you MUST listen to me. You must make your peace with Gabriel Gray. You know him as Sylar."

"Are you KIDDING me?" Peter shook his head. "When hell freezes over. He's using my sister."

"He's NOT!" The girl started to speak again, then bit her lip, staring at the floor as Hiro glared at her. "He's not." She muttered sulkily.

"You must make peace with him, keep him in the circle. You must let that circle grow to include everyone from Kirby Plaza. You must use The List to find others, build an army and train them. Use Project Athena, Olivia and Gabriel know about it. Everyone must work together as a whole." At the mention of Olivia and Gabriel's names, the girl's head popped up for a moment, her eyes filling with tears. "However, you must not allow me, Claire or Molly to contribute their DNA to the project. You must do all of these things and do them soon. You have less than two years to prepare."

"Prepare for what? WHY must I do these things, Hiro? I can't make peace with that man."

"You HAVE to!" The girl stepped forward again, her eyes pleading with his. "Please, Uncle Peter, you have to." Hiro started to scold her in Japanese again and she turned to him, shaking her head. "No, Hiro-San, he has to know EVERYTHING!" She turned back to Peter. "Please do it. Do everything Hiro-San has told you."

"Why?"

The girl looked down at the floor, her eyes brimming with tears. "Because if you don't, you'll all die."

"How do you know?" Peter frowned. "Who in the hell ARE you?"

She looked up at him, tears streaming down her cheeks. "I'm Faith Gray, Olivia and Gabriel's daughter. Hiro-San has raised me and trained me since I was three months old. He was the only survivor of all of you. He was the only one who escaped the massacre."

"Massacre?" Peter's eyes widened. "Who killed us?"

The girl took a deep breath, wiping away tears. "Linderman."


	18. Chapter 18

Chapter Eighteen-Linderman's Massacre

Peter stared in shock at the young girl in front of him, his head reeling with the information she'd just given him. She was Olivia and Sylar's daughter and her name was Faith. As he looked at her more closely, he could see the resemblance. It was easy to see how he mistook her for Claire. Claire was Nathan's daughter and she had a few of his features, features that he'd inherited from his mother Angela. Olivia resembled Angela a lot as well. The red hair was a surprise, but recessive genes sometimes have a way of showing up in the most unlikely pairings. The dark brown eyes were definitely Sylar's, Peter could see that when she'd argued with Hiro. The information that was the most truly shocking was that Linderman was still alive and preparing to kill everyone in less than two years, everyone except Hiro and Faith. He shook his head, refusing to believe that he had to make nice with someone like Sylar. He turned to Hiro, frowning.

"Hiro, I'd like to believe all of this, I WANT to. You didn't steer me wrong the last time, but I just can't make peace with Sylar for a future that might happen."

"There is no 'might' to it." Hiro sighed. "I'm causing a rift by being here, I can't tell you anything more than I've already told you and Faith has told you more than enough."

"I'd love to take everything on, um-" Peter glanced at his niece for a moment "-faith, but-"

"-If you don't tell him everything, I will." Faith turned to Hiro. "They have to know everything, it's the only way they can survive."

"It will make our future disappear, Faith."

"So?" Faith glared at Hiro. "Think of the alternate future it would create. You'd still have your friends, Hiro-San. I'd have my parents. You have raised me for eighteen years and I could not have asked for a better guardian, but you yourself are always telling me that I shouldn't be living this life. I should be living the life of a teenager, arguing with my parents, chasing boys and deciding on a college to go to after I graduate high school. I shouldn't be living in 18th Century Japan, learning how to fight like a Samurai. You tell me that all the time. You altered the future once before when you told Uncle Peter about saving Claire from my father. You told me about how terrible that future was. How is the future we've been through any different? We've BEEN to that future, Hiro-San, we've SEEN what Linderman has made of it. Without you, my family and your friends standing in his way, he's dominating EVERYTHING! That world is hell, pure, unadulterated hell. We can change it now by telling Uncle Peter everything he needs to know, not just a few cryptic remarks."

Hiro stared at his charge wearily, then sighed. "Okay." He sat on the couch, his expression filled with sadness. "Do you have tea? This is going to take a while to tell and it's a painful story. I swore after I told Faith about it that I would never discuss it in detail again. I now see that I must talk about it one last time."

Peter nodded. "I'll make the tea, it's in the kitchen."

"Oh, I'll do it!" Faith stood up, smiling softly. "I'm good at making tea, and I'm rarely in a modern setting. Japan is great, but I like taking vacations to the modern world. The appliances rock!" She got up and walked into the kitchen to start cooking.

Peter cocked an eyebrow at Hiro. "You're raising her in 18th Century Japan and you guys go on 'vacations' to the modern world?"

"We got to meet Stan Lee when he first started in comics. It was very cool." He cocked his head towards the kitchen. "She ran into Frank Miller. She talked too much to him, as usual. I think he modeled Elektra Natchios after her, actually. He changed her hair and made her outfit a little more-" He cleared his throat. "-teenagers. They talk too damn much. In Japan she's able to train without distraction. She's pretty deadly with her little swords and knives, especially when you combine them with her power."

"What power does she have?"

Hiro grinned. "We'll show you before we go. That's actually the other reason we came." He leaned forward. "She's going to be your secret weapon."

"How?"

"Patience, Peter." Hiro looked up as Faith returned, carrying a tray with steaming coffee mugs. "Ah, you have returned."

Faith set down the tray, grinning at Peter. "You didn't have teacups, so I used coffee mugs."

"I'm not a very domestic person, sorry."

She shrugged. "S'okay. I'm not too domestic either." She turned to Hiro. "It's time to begin."

Hiro nodded. "Then I shall begin at the beginning, with Linderman's supposed death the night of the Kirby Plaza incident.

Linderman knew that he had many enemies who could attempt to assassinate him at any time. He set up a provision for that. I'm sure you've heard about how Sadaam Hussein had 'doubles' he would use to confuse his enemies. Linderman had one as well. It was a man who looked remarkably like him and would travel with him, hidden at all times. Only a select few of his people knew about this man, Olivia was not one of those people. The night that Niki and D.L. Sanders came to his offices to confront him, he saw them on a video monitor, on their way to him. He left the building secretly, with his own private security team, and sent the man in his place with orders to try and convince Niki to kill D.L. in exchange for money. Niki had a split personality at the time, a mercenary, violent woman named Jessica. The man's orders were to appeal to Jessica's love of money. Once she killed D.L., he had orders to shoot her. As I'm sure you know by now, that plan went pear-shaped. D.L. was shot by the double, taking a bullet for Niki after she refused to kill him, and D.L. reached into the double's brain, crushing it and killing him."

"Yeah." Peter nodded. "I got the story from them at the hospital. Pretty wicked."

"Linderman went into hiding, waiting for his contingency plan to begin. He had been planning on capturing Gabriel after you exploded in Kirby Plaza. He wanted to put him with Olivia. The story he told Olivia, the story she has told Gabriel, is that he thought that she was too weak to run his company alone and she would need a ruthless partner. That wasn't the whole truth. He did think Olivia too weak, but he also thought that Gabriel was too power-hungry. His intention was to put them together long enough for Olivia to have children, giving Linderman an heir, preferably more than one. He planned on killing them both after she'd had children, and taking those children to raise himself. He realized that he'd made a mistake in Olivia, by only taking control of her after she'd been raised for seventeen years by her adoptive parents. He wanted to take her children when they were young, to warp them and raise them to be just as twisted as he was. He felt with Gabriel's genes helping them along, they would be. After faking his death, he planned on sending Gabriel to her hospital after I stabbed him. Olivia pleasantly surprised him by having Gabriel sent to her before he could give the order. When she saw him fighting you in Kirby Plaza, she fell in love. She wanted him for herself. Linderman waiting for the two of them to come together. He also waited for her to perfect a pet project of his, a project he called Project Zero. She renamed it Project Athena. You'll have to have her explain it in detail, but the gist of it is, through gene therapy, a serum could be created with the DNA of a person with powers. When the serum is injected into a host with other powers, they develop the powers of their donor as well. He wanted technology to do what you, Peter, can do naturally.

Linderman thought Olivia only wanted to run the project so she could imbue herself with his power, the power to heal, thereby making herself a better doctor. He also thought she'd want to use it to keep Gabriel by her side, allowing him to collect any power he wanted at any time, without resorting to murder to do it. What he didn't count on was her plan to use it to help all people with powers, to help them become more powerful. She knew that Linderman, along with a group of friends, once was part of an organization that used their powers to help humanity. She wanted to start that organization again, this time with all involved having equal powers. She thought that, if everyone was equal, there would be less reason for infighting, and they'd have more of a chance to work together towards the greater good."

"It's a pretty interesting idea." Peter nodded.

"It would have worked, except Linderman didn't want that group to exist. He saw all of us as a threat. He wanted everyone's powers to make himself immortal, untouchable and unstoppable. He wanted the entire world to be brought to its knees at his feet. He wanted to strike us all down at that moment, but couldn't until Project Athena had been perfected. The men working at the facility developing this project are Linderman's men still, not Olivia's. All of the information they've been gathering has been sent to Linderman. The moment they perfect it, he'll be able to start imbuing himself with the powers of anyone who donates a sample of their blood to their database."

"So just stop the whole project." Peter rubbed his temples. This whole story was starting to confuse and upset him.

"It can't be stopped. It's a double-edged sword, you see, a Catch-22. If the project continues as is, Linderman's powers will become greater along with everyone else's. Even if Olivia closes down the project on her end, Linderman will still continue it in private. He'll be the only one with access to the powers and he'll be able to strike us down with even more ease than he did at the massacre in the desert. It must continue, but Mohinder Suresh must be convinced to do whatever he can in secret, away from the Linderman Corporation's computer network. His research became the key, you see. He came up with the way to perfect everything, and the doctors from Project Athena, who were using the network to steal his research, took everything and passed it on to Linderman. He used The List, which is now in his hands, to recruit people to his side, while we used it to recruit others to ours. As we imbued ourselves and our allies with equal powers, he did the same with himself and his. By the time we fought in the desert, we had both amassed armies with seemingly unstoppable abilities."

"So how does my making nice with Sylar help all of this?"

"Simple. Even the darkest heart can love deeply, Peter. Gabriel loved Olivia more than he ever loved anyone. She was his greatest love and his only weakness. He attempted to end his feud with you, with all of us, at her urging. He tried to work with us. We wouldn't let him. As Sylar, he had killed or attempted to kill many people, people that we all knew or were close to. We couldn't forgive him for that. We couldn't see how desperately he wanted to change and ally himself with us, for the sake of the woman he loved. We pushed him away at every chance, with you leading the charge. Almost a year before the battle, he'd had enough. He snapped, deciding to kill us all, starting with the woman he blamed for everything, the woman he loved. When he went to her to kill her, his super powered hearing heard something that stopped him, another heartbeat within her. She was carrying his child, his daughter Faith. Realizing that his rage almost destroyed his wife and daughter, he disappeared. He took a copy of The List, reverted back to Sylar, and traveled the country, killing the people on The List who hadn't taken our side.

In the meantime, Linderman realized after Faith was born, that with Gabriel gone, he wouldn't get another heir from his daughter. He decided to strike against us all, kill us and take the child. He and his army had gotten strong enough to come after us by then. He made a mistake. He double-crossed Candice Wilmer, who had been one of his closest allies and spies and tried to kill her. She somehow escaped and came to us to warn us of the danger that was coming. She told us everything. We hid the children: Faith, Micah Sanders, Molly Walker, Simon Petrelli, Monty Petrelli and little Matthew Parkman away with Noah Bennet and his family, Janice Parkman, Heidi Petrelli and Mohinder Suresh keeping guard over them with Candice. Then, we went to the desert outside of Las Vegas, where we'd been warned his army was meeting and started the fight.

Olivia was the first to fall. We had all been imbued with Claire's power of regeneration, but there is one way to destroy someone with that power, decapitation. Linderman himself did the honors with her. Gabriel had heard somehow about the battle that was about to begin and arrived to join us in battle. He arrived in time to see Olivia die. When a person is beheaded, the brain can still function for a few seconds. She used those last few seconds to contact me through her powers. She'd read Linderman's mind in the moment before he severed her head from her body. She knew that The Haitian, his right-hand man, had discovered where our children were and was on his way there with a few of Linderman's most vicious men to kill everyone and take Faith. She begged me to teleport there and do what I could. Then she died. I arrived at the hiding place. Everyone there was already dead. The Haitian had blocked Candice's powers and stood, watching while the men viciously murdered everyone in sight. What he didn't realize was that Linderman had ordered those men to kill The Haitian before they left with Faith. Linderman didn't trust the man's ability to block powers and was furious that he refused to allow his blood to enter the database. I fought the men as they attacked The Haitian. I killed them all and went to him. He was mortally wounded himself and died moments later. I teleported with Faith to Japan, asking Ando to watch her for a moment, while I returned to the fight. It was ending as I arrived. Most of the armies had been destroyed. Almost everyone I knew lay dead: my father Kaito, Matt Parkman, Niki and D.L. Sanders, Nathan Petrelli, Angela Petrelli, Anjelica Espinoza, Meredith Gordon, Claire Bennet, Claude Raines, Sherry Bombano, Nikolai Urovitch, Hana Gitelman, Sanjog Iyer-" Hiro closed his eyes, shaking his head. "The only two left fighting on our side were Gabriel and you, Peter. You were fighting side-by-side, like brothers, rage over the loss of your loved ones fueling the battle. You were cutting down Linderman's people left and right. Linderman realized that you might actually reach him to kill him and ran, leaving what was left of his army to destroy you both. Before he died, Gabriel saw me. He asked me to raise Faith, to take her away to another time to keep her safe from her grandfather and to raise her to be a warrior. Then the two of you fell together. I returned to Japan, took Faith and I have raised her since then."

Peter closed his eyes. "I fought with him by my side?"

"We were wrong about him. YOU were wrong about him. He is a murderer, but his capacity to love was stronger than his need to kill. Trust in that, accept him into your circle and convince the others to do the same. He will be an asset and a true ally if you let him. You must be a truly united front if you're going to defeat Linderman. Also, until you can find a way to have Mohinder work on the project without Linderman's men peeking over his shoulder, you cannot allow Claire or Molly to donate to the project. Their powers in Linderman's hands will be too great. He used those powers to make himself and his army practically invincible, to locate the children and kill everyone that was hiding. I never trusted the project, I didn't want to donate my DNA, so I never did. For that I am thankful. With the ability to teleport, he'd have been able to follow me and Faith throughout time and take her from me. Never allow me to donate to the project Peter, no matter what. That way, even if the future cannot be changed, even if everyone still falls, I can keep your niece safe."

Peter nodded. "I'll do that. I'll back you up when you refuse to donate."

"Your power to absorb others was deemed too unstable to use, so you never donated either. It was a good idea. Linderman could have used that to absorb teleportation from me at any time."

"Okay."

"Start as soon as possible with Gabriel. Lay down the foundation of peace with him, then start pulling everyone together as soon as possible. Start recruiting soon and find a way to stall Linderman from getting his hands on the perfected project as long as possible. You have less than two years, as I've told you. The battle takes place on November 8, two years after the battle in Kirby Plaza." Hiro stood, Faith following. "We should go."

"Wait!" Faith stopped Hiro. "You're forgetting something. The 'secret weapon'?"

Hiro nodded. "Yes." He looked at Peter. "Do you still have some medical supplies around? We need a needle to extract blood and vials for you to store it in."

"Yeah, I've still got some stuff lying around from my nursing days." Peter left the room for a moment, then returned carrying a box of blood collection tubes. "You want me to take Faith's blood, don't you?"

"Yes." Hiro nodded.

"What's her power?"

"I'll show you." Hiro pulled a gun out of his pocket and screwed on a silencer as Peter's eyes widened. He turned to Faith and pulled the trigger. A flash of red light surrounded her and the bullet bounced away.

"Holy SHIT!" Peter gasped.

Faith turned to him, laughing. "Force fields. I create them." She sat down on the couch, rolling up her sleeve. Peter knelt in front of her and began to collect her blood. "Fill as many vials as you can, you'll need to create enough of the serum to inoculate all of the people in your army. Maybe this, along with the information Hiro has given you, will give you and your friends more of a fighting chance. One thing though, you have to keep the fact that you have this blood a secret from everyone, and I do mean everyone. In fact, I wouldn't even create the serum until right before you go to the fight in the desert. That way, Linderman won't have any chance whatsoever of imbuing his own people with it."

"Gotcha." Peter filled up all of the vials he had with the blood before pulling out the butterfly needle and tossing it aside. He grabbed a cotton ball and placed it on Faith's arm along with a bandage. He looked up at Faith as she winked at him, then subtly nodded her head towards the floor beside the couch. He glanced down for a moment and saw a manila envelope as she quickly shoved it away with her foot.

"It's time to go, Faith." Hiro paced the room impatiently.

Faith and Peter stood. She reached out and wrapped her arms around his neck, hugging him tightly. "I'm counting on you, Uncle Peter. Don't let me down, okay?"

Peter hugged his niece back. "I'll do everything I can."

She kissed his cheek. "Tell my parents that I love them." She whispered. She stepped away from him, her eyes sparkling with tears. Peter swallowed down the lump that had formed in his own front.

"It was good to see you again, Peter." Hiro nodded. "I hope that your future is better than my past."

"Me too." Peter watched as Hiro and Faith winked out of sight, then picked up the vials of blood. He walked into his kitchen and opened his freezer, spotting a box of fish sticks. He tossed out the sticks and put the vials inside of it before closing the box and putting it in the back of the freezer, hiding it with other boxes of food.

He walked back into the living room and knelt in front of the couch, pulling out the envelope. He opened it, pulling out another smaller envelope, papers and a note attached to all of them. He read the note.

**Hiro is going to flip when he finds out I've done this, but I have to help you along. In the smaller envelope is a note for my parents. Please give it to them. Also, attached is the formula for Project Athena, the PERFECTED formula. Hiro-San returned to Greene Technologies after the battle and printed the formula out before he destroyed the facility. Give this to Dr. Suresh and my mother after he's found a way to circumvent the network. It'll help speed things along. Until you do, keep this hidden and safe. DO NOT TRUST THE HAITIAN!**

**I love you, Uncle Peter**

**  
Gabrielle Faith Greene**

Peter smiled to himself as he read the note. He tucked the papers back into the envelope as he went back to the kitchen, putting it in the box with the blood.

"Pretty sneaky, kid." He whispered to himself. "I can't wait to meet you when you're born."


	19. Chapter 19

Chapter Nineteen-Petrellis' Blessing

Peter Petrelli checked his watch as he pulled on his clothes, wanting to catch his brother Nathan alone before everyone else arrived at his home for Christmas dinner. Grabbing his coat, he stepped out of his apartment, then rushed back in to grab a small envelope, placing it in his pocket before he left. He caught a cab and rode to his brother's home, the words of future Hiro Nakamura and Peter's niece Faith whirling in his head.

He let himself into Nathan's home, hugging his nephews and sister-in-law quickly before seeking his brother out, asking to speak to him alone. As Nathan led him into his office and closed the door, Peter looked around nervously.

"Mom isn't here with The Haitian yet, is she?"

Nathan shook his head. "No, why?"

Peter sat down in a chair, fidgeting nervously. "I had a couple of visitors early this morning. I'll explain everything else in detail much later in a more private location, but I can say this now: you and I have to make nice with Sylar when he gets here."

"Excuse me?" Nathan glared at Peter. "Okay, that's it. I have to ask this. Are you on drugs?"

Peter rolled his eyes. "Nathan-"

"-Because I specifically remember that man killing you, twice! First he pierced your skull with broken glass and then he threw you off of the roof of Olivia's building, and let's not even DISCUSS Kirby Plaza. He tried to kill you in Texas when you were protecting Claire, he tried to KILL Claire and ended up killing one of her friends, not to mention countless others around the country. He even killed that painter friend of yours, Isaac Mendez, and now you want to be his friend? Screw that! You were saying just the other day how we needed to befriend Olivia and convince her to drop that guy."

"I know." Peter sighed. "Look, it's all screwed up right now, I know. Just trust me, okay? I know what I'm doing. You and I need to accept him and his relationship with our sister. I'll tell you more later."

"And where do you plan on doing this?"

"Charles Deveaux, remember him?"

Nathan nodded. "Yeah, he was good friends with Mom and Dad. They went pretty far back as I recall. You had a thing with his daughter Simone."

Peter looked down for a moment, his expression sad. "Yeah. Simone." He took a deep breath. "After dinner, I want us to go to Charles' rooftop; you, me, Olivia, Gabriel, and Mom. I want you to convince Mom to come and leave The Haitian behind. He can't be trusted, Nate."

"What about his belief in 'God'?"

"If the God he keeps referring to is who I think it is, that's not God, it's Satan reborn. He's going to be working against us soon, all of us."

Nathan crossed his arms across his chest and leaned against his desk. "Says who?"

"Says a friend who hasn't steered me wrong yet, and he has evidence that backed up everything he told me." Peter leaned close to Nathan, whispering. "If we don't start befriending Gabriel and getting Olivia to trust us, we're all going to die in less than two years."

"How? Is Sylar, or as you seem to be calling him now, Gabriel, going to kill us?"

Peter shook his head slowly. "No man, he dies too. We ALL die. You, me, Mom, Simon, Monty, Heidi, Olivia, Claire, and everyone else we know who is special." He lowered his voice even more. "We're all gonna die. We have to start befriending Gabriel, all of us. We have to form an army and work together as a team."

"An army." Nathan rolled his eyes, snorting. "Fine Pete, I'll play along-for now. I'll smile and make nice at dinner tonight, but if you don't have a convincing enough story on Deveaux's roof, I'll going to throw you off of it like Gabriel did on Olivia's roof the other night, and then it's game on with Sylar."

"Cool, fine." Peter stood up. "We've got to find a way to make peace, no matter what."

"Yeah, whatever." Nathan straightened up and followed Peter out of the room.

* * *

Olivia reached over and squeezed Gabriel's hand as their cab approached the Petrelli mansion. He turned and smiled at her as she chewed on her bottom lip. "You're nervous, aren't you?"

Olivia shrugged. "No, I'm fine." Her voice was hollow as the cab stopped outside of the house.

Gabriel laughed softly as he climbed out of the cab and walked around to help her out. He winked at her. "You DO know what fine means, don't you?" She shook her head as he put an arm around her shoulder. "Freaked-out, Insecure, Neurotic and Emotional."

"Then, I'm definitely fine." She whispered.

Gabriel's arm tightened around her shoulders as they approached the front door. "This is your first time sitting down with them, isn't it?"

"Yeah." She nodded. "I've only met Nathan and Peter once. I've never had to deal with all of them together in the same room. I've never met my sister-in-law or my nephews." She took a deep breath as they rang the doorbell. "I was fine being alone."

"Only in the sense of being fine that I just described." Gabriel kissed her on the cheek. "I'll behave, I promise. As long as they don't start anything with me, I won't finish anything with them."

"I'm not worried about you." Olivia whispered.

They both plastered smiles on their faces as Nathan opened the door. He stared at the two of them a moment, then stepped aside. "Olivia." He stared at Gabriel. "Sy-" He closed his eyes. "Gabriel. Please come in."

"Yeah, this isn't going to be uncomfortable at all." Olivia muttered under her breath as they walked into the house.

Nathan introduced Olivia and Gabriel to his wife and children as Peter walked into the room. They turned to him to watch him steel himself for a moment before he smiled and walked to them. He reached out and hugged Olivia, then turned to Gabriel, offering his hand.

"Merry Christmas, Gabriel."

Gabriel stared at his hand for a moment, then shook it quickly before shoving his hands in his pockets. "Yeah, Merry Christmas Peter."

Heidi stared at her husband and brother-in-law and then turned to their guests, smiling broadly to attempt to deflate the tension in the room. "So Olivia, how do you know my husband?"

Olivia's eyes widened as she glanced at Nathan. "Um, well-"

Nathan cleared his throat. "-There was one other thing I meant to tell you this morning." He glanced at his sons as they stared at the adults, shuffling their feet nervously. "This is really more Mom's story to tell, but-"

"-She's our sister." Peter stepped up. "We just found out about it ourselves. It's a really long story."

"Sister?" Heidi stared at Olivia. Olivia stared at the ground, nervously. "Are you Mr. Petrelli's daughter?"

"No." Olivia whispered. "Angela's."

Heidi laughed nervously. "Wow, if you're older than Nathan, you are extremely well preserved." She glanced at Nathan as everyone looked around nervously. "She's not older, is she?"

"She's between me and Nathan."

Heidi shook her head. "What?"

"Oh thank God." Olivia whispered as the doorbell rang. Heidi stared at everyone then, shaking her head, went to answer the door as Nathan took Olivia by the arm.

"Need a drink?"

"Just one?" Olivia laughed softly as she reached out to take Gabriel's hand. "Right now I think you could just hand me the whole bottle and I'd be happy."

Nathan smiled softly. "I know we can be a little tough to take at first, but I hope we'll grow on you." He smiled stiffly at Gabriel. "Both of you, of course. Olivia has made it very clear to us that she is extremely fond of you, to say the least. I understand that I need to respect her feelings." The last sentence was choked out as he glanced at Peter, his temper barely in check.

Gabriel stared at Nathan, surprised. "Thank you, Nathan." He looked over at Peter to see the same, stiff smile on his face as well.

"_What in the hell is going on here, Liv?"_ Gabriel asked Olivia, using her telepathy.

Olivia stared at him, her eyes wide. _"I don't have the faintest freakin' clue. This is wigging me out."_

"_You and me both."_

Peter stepped over to both of them, handing both of them drinks. _"We're not playing games here, I promise you both." _He gave both of them meaningful looks. _"We've got to meet later. There's an address, it's a safe place. I found out something, something very important. I'll explain everything later, but until then, know this: Nathan and I are very serious when we say that we DO accept you in our lives, Olivia and we also accept Gabriel. We want to bury the hatchet."_

Gabriel's eyes narrowed as he took a sip of his drink. _"I swear to God, if you're planning something, I'll bury that hatchet right in your-"_

Everyone stared at each other, confused as the connections in their minds broke. They all turned to see Angela stroll into the room with The Haitian by her side. She smiled as she watched her children standing together, her eyes narrowing slightly as she spotted Gabriel standing beside Olivia, her hand in his. She turned to her grandsons.

"Simon, Monty, why don't you two run along to the kitchen and ask the cook when dinner will be ready?" She turned as the children left the room, squaring back her shoulders. "I've been waiting for twenty-eight years for this moment: all three of my children in the same room together." She smiled softly as she turned to Heidi. "Nathan DID inform you of Olivia's identity, no?"

Heidi frowned. "Yes, just now. I haven't gotten the whole logistics-"

"-Oh it's simple, really. I had an extramarital affair with Linderman, Dallas didn't want to keep her, so I gave up for adoption to some old family friends. Peter was born two years later."

"Linderman." Heidi nodded. "Okay, then."

"Exactly." Angela smiled. "Okay then!" Heidi rolled her eyes as Angela turned back to her children. "I see you've brought your," she frowned. "friend, Olivia. I was hoping he was joking about coming here."

Olivia pulled back her shoulders as she let go of Gabriel's hand, wrapping her arm around his waist instead. "As you can see, he wasn't joking."

"And that's why I brought MY friend." Angela nodded at The Haitian. "I don't want any shenanigans at dinner."

Gabriel glared slightly at Angela. "I'm as peaceful as a dove."

Angela snorted as she turned towards the dining room. "Right. Dinner?" She walked out of the room beside Heidi and Nathan. "Peaceful my ass," she muttered. "that's why he tried to blow up the damn city last month."

"Excuse me?" Heidi's eyes widened.

"I'll explain later, Honey." Nathan cringed as Heidi glared at him.

"Yeah, you've got a LOT to explain later."

* * *

Dinner was tense and quiet, with Heidi trying to break the tension by occasionally asking questions to Olivia about her life and work, while giving terrified glances at Gabriel. Finally, Peter stood, raising his wine glass.

"I'd like to make a toast tonight." He smiled softly at Olivia. "To my sister Olivia and to Gabriel. Here's to peace, family and friendship. You two have my blessing and I'm honored to have you here tonight."

Olivia and Gabriel glanced at each other as Angela's eyes widened. "Excuse me Peter, but are you on DRUGS?"

Nathan stood, raising his glass. "I'd like to agree with Peter's toast. Here's to family, welcome to ours, BOTH of you."

"What in the HELL-" Angela started to speak.

"-Mother." Nathan gave her a warning look before turning to his sons. "Boys, are you full?" Simon and Monty quickly nodded. "You are excused from the table." As the boys bolted from the room, unnerved by the tension in the room, Nathan turned to Angela. "We have decided to accept Olivia's decision, Mother. We are not going to fight her over Gabriel."

"Oh WE aren't?" Angela's eyes snapped at the couple in question as they drained their wine glasses, Olivia diving for the bottle to refill them as quickly as possible. "Nathan, I don't know what has gotten into you, or YOU, Peter! Lest we forget, 'Gabriel' is a serial killer who goes by the name Sylar!"

"What?" Heidi asked weakly. "S-s-serial killer?" She closed her eyes. "Someone please pass me the wine."

"Heidi-" Nathan started to speak.

"FUCKING WINE NOW!" Heidi pounded her fist on the table. Olivia quickly passed her sister-in-law the bottle. As she filled her glass with a shaking hand she looked at everyone at the table, her bright blue eyes blazing. "I want answers, all of them, NOW!"

For the next hour, everyone quietly explained everything to Heidi, interjecting their sides occasionally. After she'd heard everything, she closed her eyes for a moment. "So everyone at this table has powers?" She glanced at Angela. "Do YOU have powers?"

"Yes." Angela said softly.

"What is it?"

Angela shifted in her seat, nervously glancing at Gabriel. "I don't care to discuss it right now."

"Fine." Heidi waved a tired hand at her dismissively as she turned to Gabriel. "And you used to be a serial killer?"

"Relax, you're safe." Gabriel sighed. "I'm attempting to reform." He glared at Angela as she snorted in derision. "Of course, if you want me to demonstrate what I used to do-" He nodded at Heidi's mother-in-law.

Heidi covered a smile. "If you marry Olivia, I think I'll enjoy having you for a brother-in-law. It'll be nice to have a fellow outsider to make fun of everyone with, for once. I thought this family was weird before." She sighed. "What about the boys? Do they have powers?"

Nathan shook his head. "I honestly don't know. Some people's powers manifest as children, others as teens, others as adults. I didn't manifest until eight months ago."

"Same here, but I didn't really realize it until about two months ago." Peter nodded.

"I manifested nine years ago." Olivia shrugged.

"Okay." Heidi nodded. "Well, this has been a strange night. Informative, but strange." She slowly stood. "I'm tired and if you don't mind, I'm going to turn in for the night." She smiled softly, but warily at Olivia and Gabriel. "It was interesting to meet you both. Maybe the next time won't be so tense." She left the room as everyone slowly stood up.

"I'm pretty tired too." Gabriel touched Olivia's arm. "You?"

"I could use some serious decompression time." Olivia nodded. She went to Peter and hugged him. "Thank you." She whispered.

"I'll call in a while. We need to talk." He looked at her and then glanced at his mother and The Haitian over Olivia's shoulder. "It's important."

"Can't we just-"

"-Important." Peter nodded.

"Okay." Olivia turned to Nathan and hugged him as Peter and Gabriel shook hands, staring at each other with steely expressions.

"You'd better not be bullshitting me." Gabriel muttered.

"It'll all become clear very soon what's going on. I'm not bullshitting you."

"Not if you don't want to be tossed off of another roof."

"What?" Olivia turned, overhearing that last comment.

Gabriel closed his eyes as Peter looked away, smirking. "I'll explain in the cab."

"Yeah you will." Olivia closed her eyes wearily. "Let's go." She walked past Angela. "Angela." She said coolly.

"Olivia." She answered in an equally cool voice.

"It was a pleasure, Mom." Gabriel grinned as he quickly hugged Angela.

Peter and Nathan tried not to laugh as Angela struggled to pull away from Gabriel. "I told you NOT to call me that!" She hissed as Gabriel let her go and left the house with Olivia. She turned to her sons and glared as they stared at the floor, biting their lips to keep from laughing. She turned to leave and saw a similarly amused expression on The Haitian's face as well. "It wasn't funny, dammit!" She swept out of the room and left the house with her companion, slamming the door behind her.

Peter and Nathan turned to each other. "So what now, Little Brother?" Nathan asked.

Peter checked his watch. "I'll call Olivia and Gabriel in about thirty minutes. You call Mom and warn her-"

"-no Haitians, I've got it. The Deveaux rooftop. What time?"

"Midnight. Our futures depend on this, Nate."

"So you said." Nathan sighed. "Sounds like fun." He muttered.


	20. Chapter 20

Chapter Twenty-A Glimpse Into the Future, Gabriel's Fears

Olivia shivered, wrapping her heavy coat around herself for warmth as Gabriel paced the rooftop on Charles Deveaux's rooftop. As she stomped her feet to keep the blood moving in them, Gabriel walked to her, wrapping his arms around her. She could feel him shivering, just as cold as he was.

"You're freezing too, huh?" She asked.

Gabriel tightened his arms around Olivia. "It's almost midnight. Peter had better have a damn good reason for calling. It had better truly be the end of the world, or something just as major. It's too damn cold up here. I'd rather be home."

"Me too." Olivia closed her eyes as she leaned against him. "I'd love to be home right now."

"What would you be doing there?"

"You." Olivia turned in Gabriel's arms, kissing him passionately. She unbuttoned his coat, sliding her hands inside. "Do you know what medical experts suggest to stave of hypothermia?"

"Are you asking me this as a medical expert?" Gabriel asked her teasingly as he unbuttoned her coat, wrapping his hands around her waist.

"Maybe."

"So what do they suggest? Sex?"

"Well, I'm sure that can come into play eventually, but they suggest body heat being transferred, preferably through bare skin."

Gabriel glanced behind his shoulder and saw a greenhouse. "It might be warmer in there."

"A little, maybe."

They kissed and slowly began to make their way to the greenhouse. Just as they reached the door, Peter, Nathan and Heidi arrived.

"Looks like we got here just in time." Nathan grumbled. "Thank God we didn't show up five minutes later."

"Oh leave them alone." Heidi laughed softly as Gabriel and Olivia pulled apart, buttoning their coats. "I think they're cute. They've obviously just started seeing each other." She grasped Nathan's hand, winking at him. "Remember when we first started getting hot and heavy with each other?"

Nathan looked down at her, beaming. He glanced over at Olivia as she giggled softly, holding Gabriel's hand. "Yeah, I remember."

Peter looked at the couples sadly, then nodded towards the greenhouse. "It's warmer in there. It won't be so uncomfortable, talking in there. Mom said she was coming too, right Nate?"

Nathan nodded. "I told her to be here and to NOT bring The Haitian. Hopefully she'll listen for once."

Everyone walked into the greenhouse. It was quite warmer inside, so they shed their coats and turned expectantly to Peter as Angela swept into the building.

"This had better not be a trap." She snapped at them as she tugged off her gloves and then shrugged off her mink coat, folding it over her arms. "So, out with it. What was so terribly pressing that we had to meet in secret here at Charles' old home?"

Peter looked at the group and jammed his hands in his pockets. "I had a visitor this morning, Hiro Nakamura."

"How's he doing?" Nathan asked.

"This Hiro was pretty sad, Nate. He came from the future, just as he did once before. This was a very different Hiro than the one that met me in the subway with Mohinder. We changed the future in Kirby Plaza, but we may have created an even worse future than the one that Hiro came from." He took a deep breath and told the story that Hiro had told him. He told of Linderman faking his death and going into hiding. Olivia gasped at that news, and gasped even louder as he told about Project Athena, sharing a frightened look with Gabriel. Finally, Peter told about how everyone came together and built an army. He told about how he had helped everyone run off Gabriel. "You snapped. You tried to kill us, all of us, starting with Olivia. Something stopped you though, and you ran off on your own, turning back into Sylar and killing anyone on The List who had refused to help us."

"What stopped me?" Gabriel shook his head. "I tried to KILL Olivia?"

"I'll get to that in a minute." Peter told about how the armies clashed in the desert and how Linderman killed Olivia first of all of them, just as Gabriel returned to join the fight on their side. Olivia stared at the floor, biting her lip as Gabriel shoved his hands in his pockets, his expression unreadable. Peter told about how The Haitian had been sent to kill the children that were put into hiding, along with the Bennets, Janice Parkman and Heidi. At the mention of Heidi's name, Nathan reached out and squeezed her hand protectively. Peter told about how Hiro returned to the battle after finding about the fate of the children and their protectors and how the last two men standing were himself and Gabriel. "He said we scared Linderman. We were close to beating him, so he ran and left what was left of his army to finish us off. He said we were fighting together like brothers. Everyone else was dead."

"Define 'everyone'." Nathan's voice was thick with emotion as Heidi leaned against him, tears streaming down her face.

"You, Claire, Mom, Hiro's dad, The Sanders couple, Matt, Claude, some others whose names I didn't recognize. You were all dead."

"Shit." Nathan muttered softly under his breath.

"So we just end this project now, that's all." Olivia nodded quickly. "I'll pull the plug."

"You can't." Peter shook his head. "You have to continue this. Even if YOU end the project, Linderman will still continue it and HE'LL be the only one with the capabilities to collect new powers. We'll be killed even faster in the desert, OR he'll just decide to pick us off, one by one before we make it there. The project continues, Olivia."

Olivia closed her eyes as Gabriel's head snapped up. "So Hiro just left us there? He ran to fight another day while you and I died? While Olivia died? While EVERYONE died?"

Peter shook his head. "You made him leave."

"Why?"

"Hiro wasn't alone at my apartment this morning. He had someone else with him, someone you and Olivia entrusted to raise and protect from Linderman."

"Who?"

Peter looked up at Olivia and Gabriel as he wiped away tears. "Your daughter, Faith." He reached out and handed Olivia the envelope that was in his pocket, the envelope that Faith had left for him and asked him to give to her parents.

* * *

"This is wild." Olivia sat on a table, going through the papers that were in the envelope. There was a letter from Faith, her birth certificate, a lock of her hair, and photographs of her growing up, apparently taken when she and Hiro had gone on "vacations" through time. "She's eighteen?" She looked up at Peter as he nodded.

Nathan leaned over Olivia's shoulder, staring at pictures of Faith. "She looks kind of like Claire."

"I know." Peter nodded. "I thought she was Claire for a moment."

"Her hair is so long and curly. It's so red!" Olivia laughed softly as she twined the red ringlet around her finger. "She's so beautiful."

"My mom's hair was red." Gabriel said softly. Everyone turned to look at him. The moment Peter handed Olivia the envelope, he'd backed away from the contents and turned away from the group, staring at the city through the windows of the greenhouse, his hands balled up into fists by his sides. "It was auburn."

"Do you want to see what she looks like? Do you want to read what she says to us?" Olivia held out the letter and the photos. Gabriel shook his head, not looking at anyone. Olivia's hand dropped as she looked at him sadly.

"Gabriel-"

"-I'm okay." His voice was choked. "I'm not ready to look at a daughter I abandoned in the future. I'm not ready to look at a child I almost killed before she was born, that I never got to see before I died."

"You didn't abandon her." Peter stepped towards him. "You left because I led the charge in pushing you out. We didn't trust you."

"I'm a serial killer, what's to trust?" Gabriel continued to stare out the window. "I'm a sick, twisted murderer, that's all I'll ever be. I'm a selfish dick. I leave a pregnant wife and start murdering again. I leave her to give birth to a daughter we'll never get to see grow up, a daughter who is sent to 18th century Japan to learn how to be a samurai. I leave my wife to die at her father's hands. He cuts off her head, right in front of me."

"That's why Hiro told me all of this. We know what happens now, Gabriel. We know how to change it, all of it. We can change the future, we can all live if we stick together."

"And what future will we change it to this time, Peter?" Gabriel whispered.

"A better one."

"You probably thought that when you saved the cheerleader to save the world, right? Yeah, you saved the world alright."

Peter turned to Olivia as she stared at Gabriel, tears brimming in her eyes. "We'll be able to fight against Linderman and win this time." She whispered. "We'll be able to watch Faith grow up, maybe even give her brothers and sisters."

"Yeah." Gabriel muttered.

Olivia and Peter stared at each other for a moment, shrugging sadly. Nathan flipped through the photographs of his niece before looking at her birth certificate. "August 3rd. That's her birthday."

"At least I'll know when I go into labor." Olivia laughs softly. "Six pounds, five ounces, twenty inches long. She was long and skinny, huh? Look at that teeny footprint." She sat back for a moment. "If she was born on August 3rd and was full-term, her conception date will be-" She smiled softly, laughing.

"What?" Nathan asked.

"I conceive her on or around November 15th of next year." She looked at Gabriel. "A year to the day that I finally was able to get him to talk back to me while he was in a coma. I guess the day we finally met, you could say."

"Happy anniversary." Gabriel whispered.

Peter turned to Angela, who had been leaning against a wall, staring at the ceiling as he'd told everything. "Mom? What do you have to say to all of this? You die there too, you know."

"I know." Angela straightened up, her expression steely. "That son of a bitch." She whispered. "That power-hungry, mother-fucking, lying, hateful, son of a BITCH!" Everyone except Gabriel turned to her, their eyes wide as she began to pace the room. "I'll kill him for this. He played me once almost thirty years ago and now-"

"-Angela, did you KNOW he was still alive?" Olivia's eyes widened.

Angela turned to her. "No. I thought he was dead, just like the rest of you. He was the one who convinced me to continue with Project Athena if anything 'happened' to him. He wanted me to reach out to you, Olivia and bring you into my family if anything went wrong. He's been orchestrating this, all of THIS for years and I'm tired of being his puppet." She turned to everyone, her expression determined. "We will build an army, we will accept everyone, including Gabriel, and we WILL train and fight! If that bastard thinks he can dominate this world and kill us all, he's going to have a major fight on his hands." She whipped out her phone and started speaking in Japanese as everyone stared at her, only recognizing one word as she spoke: Hiro. As her conversation continued, everyone stared at each other, confused and excited over her determination. After a few minutes, she snapped her phone shut. "Kaito Nakamura is an old friend of mine. He was part of the original organization. He's calling some more old friends. I want all of you to start making calls as well. This starts now, do you understand me?" Everyone nodded. "We will all meet in Las Vegas on New Year's Eve. We have less than a week to get this in motion. Move it!"

* * *

They moved together on Olivia's bed, Gabriel sitting up as Olivia straddled him, rocking slowly back and forth. He closed his eyes, savoring the feeling of being inside her as she moved on top of him, feeling her lips on his cheeks, lips, and neck as he wrapped his arms around her, pillowing his face against her breasts. He was troubled, unable to fully enjoy the feelings of pleasure that were coursing through his body. His mind kept traveling back to Peter's speech, his words about the battle looming ahead in less than two years.

"_She dies in front of me. Linderman kills her in front me, he cuts off her head. I try to kill her myself months earlier, only stopped when I hear our daughter's heartbeat inside of her. We have a daughter, Faith. Of course she names her Faith. Gabrielle Faith Gray, she names her after me. She's an orphan. Somewhere in a future or past is a daughter of mine without parents. We're both dead. She grew up without us, raised by the same man who tried to kill me just six weeks ago, a man I would have just as easily killed myself if I'd had the chance. He takes her and raises her, I beg him to before I die beside Peter. We fight side-by-side like brothers. I die beside Peter, probably beside Olivia's body. Do I have a chance to say goodbye to her? Do I have a chance to get near her before I die, to touch her hand? Why did I come here? Why did I have to come here and fall deeper in love with her if I'm only going to lose her? I'd be better off alone. Everyone would be better off if I left. Olivia would be able to concentrate on building that army. Everyone will get along better. I don't care what Peter says, no one will accept me, I've done too much that can never be forgiven and I'll be damned if I'll ever ask for forgiveness anyway. We won't have a daughter that we'll leave parentless. We'll all be better off-"_

"Gabriel?" He was interrupted from his thoughts to realize Olivia had stopped moving on top of him. He lifted his eyes to hers, noting how troubled they seemed, and wondered if his were so obviously troubled. She ran her fingers through her hair. "Talk to me."

"I'm okay." He whispered.

She shook her head. "No, you're not." She touched his forehead, smoothing back his hair. "You're really not into this, you just-" She glanced down as he realized he'd gone flaccid. "We have to talk about what we learned tonight, Baby."

"I don't want to talk about it." He gently pushed her off of him, climbing out of bed as he grabbed his pants. "I can't talk about this, okay?"

"Gabriel-"

"-I heard a quote one time, it's always stuck with me. 'A man with nothing to fear, has nothing to lose'. I lived by that quote, Olivia. I won't stay with you just to watch you die-"

"-I'm not GOING to die now! We know what happens, we can change it-"

"-and I refuse to stay with you to have a daughter who is going to end up an orphan. What kind of life is that kid gonna have, huh? She lives in Japan, 200 years in the past, learning to throw knives and swing swords. I heard that letter as you read it out loud. She wants us, she yearns for parents that she's never gonna get! I won't bring a child into this world that's just going to end up with that as a future!" He headed out of the bedroom.

"Where are you GOING?" Olivia scrambled out of bed, grabbing her robe as she followed Gabriel.

"I'm leaving!" He stomped into his apartment, pulling out a suitcase and throwing clothes into it. "I'm not staying here, waiting for the inevitable. I won't watch you die."

"Have you listened to a word we talked about tonight?" Olivia pulled clothes out of the suitcase, throwing them back into the closet as quickly as Gabriel packed them. "We're going to fight together, all of us! NO ONE is going to die but Linderman and anyone he throws at us. We are all going to live, do you hear me?"

Gabriel threw his suitcase away, frustrated. "NO ONE is going to ACCEPT me! I'm a killer, Olivia. They all know it. No one will ever trust me, no one will ever want to work with me. You might survive, maybe. You'll have a better chance of that with me out of the picture."

"Where will you go?"

"I don't know and I don't care." He grabbed his coat, and headed for the elevator, shrugging off Olivia's hands as she tried to stop him.

"Don't leave, Gabriel. Don't leave me. I need you with me. I need you."

He looked at her sadly. "You don't need me, Baby. You need your family and you need to build an army. If you love me, you'll let me go."

"And if you love me, you'll stay and fight on our side, dammit!"

Gabriel looked at Olivia as the elevator doors opened. Tears were streaming down her face as she looked at him, her eyes pleading with his. He swallowed a lump in his throat. "I don't love you, then." He stepped into the elevator and hit the button for the lobby as he heard Olivia crying his name.

"That's not true! Gabriel!"

As the doors closed and the elevator began to descend, Gabriel leaned against the wall, gulping air as he fought tears. "It's better this way, it's better." He whispered to himself as he entered the lobby. He hailed a cab and went to the bus station, thankful he'd remembered his wallet. He dug through it, pulling out the wad of money still inside it before tossing the wallet, including his driver's license and credit cards in the trash. He paid for a ticket to Savannah, Georgia with cash and sat on a bench, waiting for his bus to leave. As he sat down, he wrapped his coat around himself, smelling Olivia's perfume on it. He closed his eyes, burying his nose in his coat, inhaling her scent as the tears finally came, his body shaking with sobs.

* * *

Peter woke up to hear someone pounding on the door to his apartment. "What I wouldn't give for a decent night of sleep." He muttered as he stumbled to his door, opening it. Olivia swept into his apartment. Peter could see she was a mess, her hair tumbling down her shoulders in tangles, her eyes red and swollen.

"We're going to Odessa in the morning to meet with Bennet, right?" She asked.

"Yeah, what's going on?"

"Molly Walker can find anyone?" Peter nodded. "Good. She can find Gabriel."

Peter's eyes widened. "What happened?"

Olivia turned to him. "He left." She started smacking Peter, hysterical. "He freaked out over what you talked about! You drove him away with your story about our daughter and Linderman and-" She stopped hitting her brother and started sobbing, sinking to the floor. Peter reached out, kneeling beside her to gather his sister into his arms, hugging her tightly. "-he left! HE LEFT!"

Peter closed his eyes, resting his cheek on Olivia's head as she sobbed, clinging to him. "We'll find him, Sis. We'll find everyone." He whispered.


	21. Chapter 21

Chapter Twenty-One: Uncomfortable Truths

Peter glanced sideways at Olivia as she sat beside him on the plane. She had calmed down in his apartment after a few minutes of crying and left to get ready to fly to Odessa. Her eyes were still red and swollen, but she had pulled herself together for the most part, her hair pulled up into a bun, dressed conservatively for her meeting with Mohinder, Molly, and the Bennet/Sanders families. Peter had called Nathan to let him know the latest development.

"What a jackass! So he just left her?" As Peter had sat on the phone in his apartment, he could imagine Nathan stomping back and forth in his house. "He'd better stay gone after hurting her like that! If he shows up again, I'll pull off HIS skull!"

"He was just scared, Nate."

"And the rest of us aren't? He's not the only one with something to lose here, Pete. We're ALL going to die if we don't find a way to fix this! Running away from everything is not the answer! Jackass!"

"I don't think he's used to caring about someone. You've got to remember, for at least six months, he's been a loner. He probably didn't know how to deal with the prospect of falling for someone and then possibly losing them. You saw him last night, he was freaked out!"

"We were ALL freaked out! You don't see the rest of us running like pussies!"

Peter shook his head, turning back to Olivia as she stared ahead, her expression blank. "Everything's going to be okay, Liv." He reached out and gently patted her hand.

"I know." She blinked back tears for a moment. "I'm not thinking about HIM, right now, I can't. I'm thinking about how I'm going to explain everything to Noah Bennet and Mohinder Suresh. I lied to them, Peter. I knew the researchers in Vegas were funneling Mohinder's work through the network. I'm the one who came UP with that brilliant plan, for crying out loud. They're going to be angry and I don't blame them."

"You're telling the truth now, though. That counts for something, right?"

"Does it?" Olivia turned to her brother. "If you hadn't come to me with your story, I would have just kept on, keeping Mohinder and Noah in the dark. It was selfishness, really. I did want to start that organization back up, but I wanted to spring it on everyone later, once the project has been perfected. I wanted to be all like 'hey, check out what I've come up with, isn't it cool?' and have everyone think I was so wonderful and great. I wanted to have Linderman's power to be this phenomenal doctor and I wanted to show Gabriel-" She stared at her hands, picking at her cuticles "-I wanted to show him that he didn't have to kill people to get powers. He was so desperate to be special, Peter. I wanted to show him that he was special to me, no matter what he did. He killed someone in front of me a few weeks ago, before he was discharged. It was a fellow doctor, a man who had become obsessed with me because of something I did to him. When he got jealous of Gabriel and tried to kill him, they fought. Gabriel took his powers and I let him. I could have turned Devon in to security for attacking us, but I didn't. I let Gabriel kill him. I wanted Gabriel to kill him. I wanted Gabriel."

"Whoa." Peter whispered.

"I know." Olivia shook her head as she sat up, squaring back her shoulders. "I loved him, but maybe he has a point in leaving."

"He's supposed to fight beside us, Olivia."

"Is he?" She turned to Peter. "He said something this morning, and the more I think about it, the more I think he's right. You can accept him and try to get everyone else to do the same, but they never really will. He's hurt too many people, he's killed too many people. No one in our group will ever trust him or accept him. He said we'd all work together better without him in the picture. Maybe he's right."

"You're not going to look for him, are you?"

Olivia closed her eyes, tears starting to stream down her cheeks. "No. He said if I loved him, I'd let him go. I told him if he loved me, he'd stay. He said he didn't love me, but he was lying. I know he was lying. He does love me, he loves me too much to stay and put me in the middle of a conflict. I need to love him the same way. He wants acceptance, no matter what he's done. It would destroy him to have to eat shit for everyone every day for his past. I love him too much to put him through that." She wiped away tears quickly. "So I'm not looking for him. If he wants to come back, if he wants to find me and be with me when this is over, I'll probably fall all over myself to let him back in, but I'm not going to track him down and drag him back. That's not love, that's possession. I don't own him."

"What about Faith?"

"If she's meant to be conceived and born, then it'll happen, one way or another." She turned to Peter, smiling sadly. "Who knows? Maybe we run into each other next November and have a really hot night together before going our separate ways again. Or maybe we don't. Maybe the future we're trying to build, the good future, doesn't include a child who may or may not be orphaned. Maybe that changes too."

Peter looked away, remembering his niece and hating the idea of her never existing. "Maybe." He whispered.

They landed in Odessa and made their way to the Bennet home. Noah greeted them at the front door, his expression concerned. "Peter, Olivia. It's good to see the both of you again, but I got the impression from the phone call that this isn't a social visit."

Peter shook Noah's hand. "No, it's really not." They walked into the house. "Is Mohinder here?"

Noah nodded. "He's in the kitchen with Molly and Sandra. D.L., Niki and Micah are here too." He led them into the house. "Are you sure you want Sandra and Lyle to hear this too, whatever it is?"

"Yeah, it concerns them, too. How much have you told them about different people's abilities?"

"Everything." Noah showed them to the living room. "We had a big talk when Claire and I came back from New York. They know everything about what I do, what I did and what people like Claire can do." He looked over at Olivia. "So how do you and Peter know each other?"

"He's my brother." Olivia smiled at Peter. "You could say I've been acquainting myself with my brothers."

"Brothers?" Noah's eyes widened. "How did that happen?"

"Angela Petrelli and Linderman had a fling, I was born and put up for adoption. It was after Nathan was born and before Peter was born."

"I see." Noah's eyes narrowed. "So Linderman wasn't your GODFATHER."

Olivia shook her head. "No, he wasn't. He told me the truth when I was eighteen, after my parents died and he made himself my guardian." She sat down on the couch. "That's one lie I told you. I have to come clean about a few other things too. Mohinder needs to hear it as well."

"What do I need to hear?" They turned to see Mohinder walk into the room, Molly by his side. He smiled as he spotted Olivia and Peter. Smiling, he walked to both of them to shake their hands. "Peter, Dr. Greene, it's a pleasure to see both of you again!"

"That remains to be seen." Olivia sat back down, her expression grim. "We need to get everyone in here. There's a lot to tell."

* * *

Noah paced the room as Sandra wrapped her arms protectively around Lyle and Claire, Mr. Muggles sitting quietly in her lap. Molly shrank beside Niki as D.L. hugged Micah to him, his eyes closing as he pressed his forehead against the back of his son's curly head. Olivia sat in a chair, staring at the floor as Mohinder glared at her. Peter took a deep breath. "That's the gist of it, anyway." He said as he finished his story.

"You've been allowing this secret facility to steal my research." Mohinder whispered angrily.

"Yes." Olivia said softly.

Noah whirled around on her. "You told me, you PROMISED me that there would be NO MORE SECRETS in this organization."

"I know."

"And because of Linderman stealing Mohinder's research, we all die in two years!"

"Whoa!" Peter stood up, raising his hands. "You didn't hear me, man. Linderman's been doing this for years, Mohinder's research helps them along, but he probably would have cracked a way to do this without him."

"It doesn't excuse HER!" Noah pointed angrily at Olivia.

"I know. I'm sorry." Olivia looked up at everyone, cringing for a moment at the angry faces staring back at her.

"You're SORRY?" Noah stomped around the room, angrily. "You're sorry. Thanks to you, we ALL die! My wife, my kids-" He shook his head. "Get the hell out of my house! You'll get my letter of resignation faxed to you first thing in the morning."

Olivia nodded and stood, heading towards the door.

"Hang on a moment." Olivia stopped as Mohinder stood. "We have to be rational about this, Noah."

"Rational?" Noah whirled around on Mohinder. "Did you just HEAR what happens to us?"

"Yes, I did. I also realize that Peter is right. Linderman has been using her just as he's used the rest of us. He's been doing this research for years. If he hadn't stolen from me, he'd have found another way. Fighting and getting angry isn't going to help us. You heard Peter, we have to put aside our differences and start working together."

"I'm not working with HER." Noah shook his head. "I swore when I broke from OWI that I would not deal with secrets and lies anymore. She promised me that the organization would be open and honest." He glared at Olivia. "You lied to me."

"I know." Olivia looked down at her feet. "That's not the only thing I've been keeping from you."

"Olivia-" Peter shook his head.

"-No. I need to tell the truth about EVERYTHING." She took a deep breath. "I'm sure you know who Gabriel Gray is."

Noah's eyes narrowed. "Sylar."

"I had my people find him after Kirby Plaza. I treated him, saved his life. I fell in love with him. Until last night, we were lovers. He was living with me after he was released from the hospital."

"What do you mean, 'until last night'?" Noah growled.

"After he heard what Peter had to say, he took off."

"So a serial killer who has targeted my family is now healthy, and running loose because of YOU?" Noah started towards Olivia. D.L., Mohinder and Peter jumped up to grab him and hold him back. "You stupid BITCH!"

"Calm down." Peter held onto Noah. "He's not going to come after us, I really believe that."

"You do, do you?" Noah glared at Peter. "And why do you think that?"

"He fell in love too." Peter loosened his grip on Noah. "I've seen the two of them together. He loved Olivia, I mean he LOVED her."

"I saw them too." Niki looked around as everyone stared at her. "In Las Vegas. They were together there. Olivia hired me to be the head of security of the casino and I saw her with Sylar, or Gabriel, as you keep calling him. He was obviously crazy about her. It was weird."

"You saw them together and you didn't tell me?" D.L. turned to his wife. "You told me we were both going to be working at the casino, but you didn't tell me that she had that freak with her."

"I asked her not to." Olivia bit her lower lip. "I was planning on letting everyone know after we were closer."

Peter nodded. "He freaked out last night. The daughter that Linderman wanted? She was Olivia's with Gabriel. They got married and had a daughter. He wanted to work WITH us, turn over a new leaf, but I led the charge against him. I got everyone to give him shit until he left. He was the one that arrived as the fight in the desert started. He arrived to see Olivia die. According to Hiro, he fought by my side after everyone else had died. We died together. He came through in the end, but it was too late for him to do anything but watch his wife die and fight beside me before he asked Hiro to take their daughter and hide her before he was killed with me. When he found out that he may have to watch the woman he loves die and leave their daughter an orphan, he decided to leave." He walked to Olivia, grabbing her hand. "He left her."

"This is insane." Noah shook his head as he slumped into a chair. "So you got him to fall in love with you and channel his instincts into something besides murder?"

"Yeah." Olivia nodded. "I know he's gone now, but I really don't think he's going to kill us. He may revert back to Sylar, but I think we are all safe."

"If he tries to attack us, I'll kill you. Take that as a promise."

"I will." She nodded.

Claire stood up. "I agree with Peter and Mohinder. We need to start working together to change this future." She smiled softly at Peter. "He changed it once before, I think with all of us working together, we can change it again."

"So what do we do first?" Sandra asked. Everyone looked at her. "Oh, I'm in this now too. I'm not going to sit on my hands as crackpot looney-tune tries to kill my family and friends." She looked up at Peter. "What do you suggest we do first?"

Peter grinned at her. "First, we need to find a way to bamboozle the researchers in Las Vegas. We need to find a way to maybe send them a virus to their system to slow them down and start feeding them misinformation while Mohinder gets on a non-networked computer and starts the research from scratch." He reached into his coat and pulled out an envelope, handing it to Mohinder. "Keep this safe and don't let it fall into their hands."

"What is it?" Mohinder stared at the envelope.

"It's the research. YOUR research from the future. It's the perfected project." Peter grinned at Olivia. "Faith left that for me with the letter from you."

"Good girl." Olivia smiled sadly. "I really do hope that fate intervenes and finds a way to bring her into my life, one way or another."

"She's pretty spunky, that's for sure." Peter laughed as he turned back to the group. "The second thing we need to do is start finding more people with abilities." He looked at Molly. "There's someone I want you to find for me, his name is Claude Raines. Can you do that?"

Molly nodded. "I'll try."

Noah shook his head, resigned. "I'll contact Hana Gitelman and see if I can get her on board with this."

"Mom's in on it too. She called Kaito Nakamura last night, Hiro's father. He'll be meeting us on New Year's Eve in Las Vegas. He's going to try and track down Hiro to see if he can make it too. I called Matt Parkman early this morning. He and Janice will be meeting us there as well. I want all of you there too. We've got to get started on this as soon as possible. We need to change the future and we don't have much time to do it in." Peter shrugged. "We've got an army to build."

Mohinder raised his hand. "If we disconnect from the network, won't they realize we're onto them?"

"Yeah." Peter nodded. "That's why we're not disconnecting. We're going to slow them down and while you work on the real project, you're going to send them disinformation to slow them down further."

Micah looked around the room. "You've got to send them a virus?" Peter nodded at him as a sly smile crept on the young boy's face. "I can do that."

* * *

At the former Primatech site, everyone gathered around as Micah placed his hand on the computer screen. "This is networked to the place in Las Vegas, right?" Olivia nodded at him. "Cool." He closed his eyes, then opened them. "One of them is logged on now, a Doctor Cooper?"

"Yeah, he's the head of the project." Olivia frowned. "What's he doing?"

Micah giggled. "Looking at porn!"

"Don't you DARE look at that, Micah!" Niki's eyes widened.

Micah turned to look at her, shaking his head. "I won't." He turned to Olivia. "Want me to send a virus through that page to corrupt their entire network?"

"Oh, absolutely." Olivia nodded, grinning at Micah.

Micah closed his eyes for a moment again, then opened them. "It's done. Everything on their network should be crashing before long. Think that'll slow them down?"

"Definitely." Olivia turned to Mohinder as he sat at a computer. "Is that one off of the network?"

"Yes." Mohinder stared at the paperwork Peter had given him at the Bennet house. "I came up with this. Fascinating. I can't wait to see what I came up with in the future." He smiled softly at Olivia. "It took a lot for you to own up to what you did."

"I never should have done it. I really am sorry about everything."

"I know. You are forgiven." He glanced over his shoulder to see Noah glaring at Olivia. "Well, at least you're forgiven by me. Noah is another story."

Olivia turned to see Noah still glowering at her. "I wouldn't blame him if he never forgave me or trusted me again."

"Everyone deserves a second chance. Noah said that you told him that. Perhaps he should remember that as well and apply it to you."

"I applied that to Gabriel too." Olivia looked down sadly.

"You really loved him? Did he know about your powers?"

"Yes."

Mohinder's eyes widened. "And you survived? You lived with him?"

"I slept beside him every night. He could have killed me many times, but he didn't." She looked up as Peter walked out of a room that he was in with Molly and Claire, pulling on his coat. "Did you find Claude?"

Peter turned to her, his eyes widening for a moment. "Yeah, I'm going to see if I can catch him now."

"I'll go with you." She reached for her coat.

"NO!" Peter shook his head. He shrugged as Olivia stared at him. "Claude's kind of twitchy. It's going to be hard enough as it is to talk to him alone, he'll probably freak if you're there too."

"Okay." Olivia's brows furrowed. "Stay in touch and let us know how it's going, okay?"

"Yeah, I will." He nodded quickly. "I'm borrowing the private plane, I'll try and be back in a day or two. I'll pick you up before we go to Las Vegas." He smiled and walked out of the building.


	22. Chapter 22

Chapter Twenty-Two: Tybee Island Detour, Recruiting Claude

Peter stepped off of the plane in Savannah, Georgia, hoping that Gabriel hadn't wandered too far from where Molly had found him four hours earlier. He checked the address he'd written down on a piece of paper as he made his way to the car rental kiosk to get the car he'd reserved over the phone. After getting the car, he drove out of town to the address, checking it again as he got out. He doubted Gabriel had moved from this spot after seeing where they were. It was a small bar on Tybee Island, set on the beach. Shaking his head, he walked inside.

Gabriel sat in a corner of the bar, drunk, asking himself for the millionth time what he was doing here. Savannah was the first bus that was leaving as he'd arrived at the bus station. As he looked around the room blearily, he realized that he should have waited for the second destination. Closing his eyes as he poured himself another shot of tequila from the now almost empty bottle he'd bought a few hours earlier, he cursed himself for not taking another bus out of town the minute he'd arrived. He wanted to FORGET Olivia, not have a constant reminder of her. Everyone here spoke with her accent, that soft Southern drawl that drove him crazy in a good way. Everyone here addressed him as "Honey" and "Sugar", just like she did. He drank his shot and leaned back, remembering against his will the nights he and Olivia had lain in bed together, talking about everything and nothing. Savannah, Tybee Island in particular, had been one of her favorite subjects. Her parents had owned a home here when she was a child, this was where she'd mainly grown up. She had inherited the home after her parents had died, along with various vacation homes around the country. She'd sold all of those homes, except the one here. She often talked about bringing Gabriel here, showing him where her happiest childhood memories had been. He glanced at the beach out of the window, looking at the way the light sparkled on the water. He remembered her talking about swimming in the water, how dolphins would sometimes come near swimmers and play with them. He looked away from the water, wiping at his eyes for a moment, before pouring himself another shot, intending on getting drunk enough to forget Olivia ever existed.

"Care to pour one for me too, while you're at it?" Gabriel raised his eyes to the person who was speaking to him, narrowing them as Peter sat down at the table across from him. "So this is where you've gone to, huh? No goodbyes, no fuck-you's, you didn't even give us a chance to throw you a going-away party."

"Big Sister send you?" Gabriel drank his shot down with a gulp, glowering at Peter with red-rimmed eyes.

"She doesn't know I'm here."

"Then I guess if I kill you, she won't know who did it."

Peter rolled his eyes. "Promises, promises. When are you going to figure out that I can't be killed by you? You've already tried, what, two, three times already? Give it up." He turned to a waitress as she walked past. "Could I order a basket of fried shrimp and a shot glass please? My friend here wants someone to share his bottle with him."

"Comin' right up, Sugar!" The waitress sauntered off as Gabriel glared at her.

"The next person who calls someone 'Sugar' around here is going to die a very painful death." He muttered drunkenly.

Peter shook his head. "So you wussed out and ran off."

"Shut up."

"Pussy."

"I said SHUT UP!" Gabriel pounded his fist on the table, then poured himself another shot of tequila. "It just wasn't working out for me, that's all. I was her lap dog, you see. I was her widdle poochie-woochie on a leash. 'Sit up, stay, learn to be a businessman, don't kill other people, give me a happy in the bedroom, Good boy!' That's all I was to her."

"That's bullshit and you know it, Gabriel."

"My name is Sylar now. It always was, you know. My mother named me Gabriel, but I'm really Sylar."

"If you were really Sylar, you'd have killed Olivia, me, Nathan, Mom the first chance you got." Peter leaned towards Gabriel. "Admit it, you stopped being Sylar the minute my sister turned those big, pretty baby blues your way."

"Fuck you." Gabriel looked away.

"You wanted to be a better person for Olivia. You love her."

"I never loved her. She was a good lay, that's all." Gabriel nodded to himself as he stared out the window, staring at the ocean again. "Who'd want to kill someone who could rock a bed like she could?"

"You were in love with her, you still are. All your life, you wanted to be special, that's why you went on that killing spree. Then you met Olivia and saw that she knew you were special no matter what. She made you feel more special than all of the powers in the world and now look at you. You're sitting in a bar in Georgia, near the place where she grew up, getting piss drunk on cheap tequila because you were too much of a pussy to stand up and fight for her."

"FUCK OFF!" Gabriel and Peter looked around as people in the bar stopped their conversations to stare at them. The waitress brought Peter's food and shot glass over, then scurried away quickly as Gabriel glared at Peter. "You don't know what you're talking about."

"Don't I? You never had anything in your life truly worth losing before my sister came into it, did you? If you didn't love her, you would have killed her the first chance you got. You wouldn't have run away like a fucking pussy the minute you realized that she could die."

"Go to hell." Gabriel poured another shot, downing it quickly. "You don't know me. I left because I didn't feel like fighting with everyone, which I would have had to do if I'd gone with you assholes to Vegas to put together this stupid-ass army. I'm not going to eat shit for them. I'm not going to do that for anyone."

"You're right, I don't know you. I thought I did. I thought you were a bad-ass. I thought you were someone who would fight for what you wanted. You fought me for Claire's powers, you fought me for my own powers, but when it comes to fighting for love, you run away. You had my word that I wasn't going to push you away from Olivia, you had Nathan's word. We had your back in case anyone decided to give you shit. You didn't run because you were scared of conflict, you ran because you were scared of losing Olivia. Look around you, Gabe. Do you see Olivia anywhere? You're not too bright, are you? What kind of pansy-ass, crybaby pussy runs from the woman he loves because he's scared of losing her? That's like cutting off your arm because you have a hangnail." Peter finished his shrimp and stood up. "Olivia was wrong about you. She thought you were special. You're nothing but a scared, whiny piece of shit. You're not special at all."

Gabriel glared at him. "Take that back."

Peter smirked. "Make me, if you're not too drunk to stand." Peter stood up and walked to the cashier, paying for his meal before heading for the door. He stopped by Gabriel's table on the way out. "Have fun drinking away the rest of your non-special days here. I hope knowing that Olivia might die because you didn't have the balls to stand up and fight beside us is worth it." He smirked and left the bar. As he headed to his car, he smiled to himself as he heard the door to the bar open again and thought of his niece, Faith, just as bolt of lightning flew at his back. A flash of red blocked the bolt as Peter turned. "I see you weren't too drunk to stand."

Gabriel stared at Peter his eyes widening. "How the hell did you do that? Who'd you meet with that power?"

"Why? Wanna kill 'em, Sylar?"

"Noooo." Gabriel stumbled towards Peter. "I wanna kill you."

"Here's a better idea. We fight, really fight. No powers, no dirty tricks, we fight like real men." Peter stepped towards Gabriel. "Think you could kick my ass without all those powers?"

Gabriel laughed. "Yeah, I think I could take your ass." He swung at Peter, cursing as the smaller man ducked and tackled him across his mid-section. They stumbled together across the parking lot towards the beach, throwing punches at each other. After a few minutes, Gabriel got the upper hand, wrapping his hand around Peter's shirt while he punched him in the face with the other hand until Peter punched him in the throat. As Gabriel sank to his knees near the surf, choking, Peter stood over him, his fists raised. Gabriel waved his hands, shaking his head. "Where did you get that force field?" He croaked.

Peter glared at him, sniffling at the blood pouring out of his nose. "I got it from your daughter, asshole!" He reached in his pocket and pulled out a picture of Faith, along with a note. He leaned over Gabriel as the man coughed and retched into the surf on all fours. "Sober the fuck up, will you? And if you decided to stop being a fucking pussy, join our team and fight for what you really and truly want, we'll be at this address on New Year's Eve!" He stuck the picture and note in Gabriel's back pocket, then walked away, leaving the man behind him to stumble to his feet at stare after him angrily.

After Peter drove away, Gabriel reached into his pocket, pulling out the address and reading it before tucking it away again. He stumbled drunkenly to a picnic table near the bar, the photograph of the daughter he'd never known clutched in his hand. He stared at the ocean for a moment, then finally looked down at the photo. His eyes welled up with tears again as he shook his head before burying his head in his arms, sad and exhausted.

* * *

"How in the bloody hell did you find me and what in the bloody hell got a hold of you?" Claude glared at Peter as the younger man stood in his doorway. Peter looked like a mess, his nose swollen and still bloody, a bruise forming on his right cheek and eye.

"Long story for both questions." Peter sighed as he stepped past Claude, looking at the makeshift apartment the man had made for himself in Alabama. Molly had tracked him to an old abandoned warehouse in Phenix City, on the Georgia/Alabama border. After he'd driven to the Savannah airport, it took less than two hours to fly to Columbus, Georgia, rent another car and find Claude where Molly had sensed him.

"I see you didn't blow up New York City. It's a shame really, I was trying to grab every paper I could to see if that cesspool had gone up in a mushroom cloud." Claude stared at Peter. "Guess I trained you right, eh?"

"Sort of." Peter sat down on a beat-up sofa beside Claude. "I still blew up, but Nathan showed up at the last minute and flew me up in the air to blow up in the sky instead."

"Nathan, your brother." Claude nodded. "Bit of an arse, as I recall."

"Yeah." Peter nodded. "He came through in the end, though."

"So how is it you blew up and yet you're here, talking to me?"

"I remembered Claire and regenerated."

Claude nodded. "So what brings you to Phenix bloody City?"

"We need your help. It's a long story, but I'll just put it to you like this, ever hear of Linderman?"

"Yeah, stupid ponce. He ran that bloody company that Noah Bennet works for. Heard he kicked off recently."

"Reports of his death were greatly exaggerated. He's building an army to dominate the world."

"So?"

"We're building one too to stop him and we want you to join with us."

"Define 'we', Peter."

"My sister is Linderman's daughter. Since he's legally dead, she owns everything now. We found out that he's been doing some research, the same research she's started doing as well. He's going to use it to build an army to kill everyone with superpowers who stands in his way."

"So what if I don't want to stand in his way?" Claude stretched out on the couch, putting his feet up on a milk crate in front of him. "What if I decide to just sit on the sidelines and let you all fight it out?"

"If you're not with him, you're against him, he'll come after you, no matter what."

"Fine, so what's to stop me from joining HIS bloody army?"

Peter grinned at him. "Because we're gonna win."

"You really think so?"

Peter nodded. "I know so." He stood up. "I've got a private plane waiting, we're all meeting in Las Vegas on New Year's Eve to start going over the battle plan. Are you in or out?"

Claude stared at Peter for a moment, then shrugged. "This place was starting to get boring. What the hell, I'm in!" He stood up, shaking Peter's hand. "It's been a while since I was in a good fight."

"We'll be glad to have you on our side, Claude." Peter shook his hand. "Let's go."

* * *

"You didn't bloody tell me that THIS bastard was part of it!" Everyone turned as Peter walked into the former Primatech building with Claude. Claude glared at Noah Bennet as everyone watched them. "You shot me, you bloody sod!"

Noah nodded. "I know. I'm sorry."

"Hurt like hell!" He looked around the room. "So you're with the 'good guys'?"

Noah shrugged. "We're trying to be."

"Can't be that good if you're involved." He grumbled as he walked over to a chair. "Place still looks the same, a bit less sinister I guess, but it still looks like a load of shit."

Olivia walked over to Peter, staring at his face. "What happened to you?"

Peter shrugged. "Hit some turbulence, I wasn't wearing my seat belt."

"Yeah, right." Olivia shook her head as she walked away.

Claude watched her for a moment, whistling. He turned to Peter. "Your sister?" Peter nodded as Claude wiggled his eyebrows. "Now I know where all the good genes went."

Claire rolled her eyes as she pulled Peter aside. "Did you find him?" She whispered.

Peter nodded. "Yeah." He pointed out his bruises. "Can't you tell?"

"Who won?"

"I did technically, but it was more like a draw. Remind me not to get into a fight with him when he's sober."

Claire sighed. "So he didn't come with you?"

"Nope."

"I don't know whether to be sorry or relieved." She glanced over her shoulder at Olivia. "I've been getting to know her while you were gone today. She's pretty cool."

"Yeah." Peter shrugged. "Craptastic taste in men, but other than that-"

Claire giggled. "I know!" She turned and looked around the room at everyone. Noah and Claude were sitting together, glaring while taking verbal potshots at each other. Mohinder worked on the project while Micah studied one of the network computers. Niki and D.L. leaned against a table, talking with Olivia. "It's starting to come together, isn't it?"

"It really is." Peter smiled at Claire. "I told Claude something today and for the first time, I really and truly believed it."

"What did you tell him?"

"We're going to win."


	23. Chapter 23

Chapter Twenty-Three: A Meeting of Heroes

"Parkman said he was meeting us there, right?" Olivia turned to Peter, her eyebrows raised.

Peter nodded. "Yep. He and Janice should be there by the time we get there."

Peter looked around the cabin of the plane as they flew towards Las Vegas. The small private jet was filled to capacity. The Bennet family (including Mr. Muggles), the Sanders family, Claude, Mohinder, Molly Walker, and Hana Gitelman were in attendance and ready to meet up with the Parkmans and Nathan's family in Las Vegas.

"Nathan, Heidi and the boys are on their way too, right?"

"They arrived a couple of hours ago, along with Mom. Kaito Nakamura is also there already, according to Mom."

"Everyone's showing up for the party." Olivia nodded as she studied the paperwork in her lap. "Almost everyone, that is."

"He might show up." Peter shrugged. "You never know."

Olivia rolled her eyes. "I doubt it. He doesn't even know where we're meeting. We're not going to be at any Linderman-owned properties."

"He might surprise you." Peter mumbled.

Olivia turned to him. "What aren't you telling me? How did you get those bruises I saw last week? I mean, they'd almost totally healed by the time you got back to Texas, once you used Claire's powers, but you obviously got into it with someone, who was it? And don't give me that bullshit turbulence story again."

Peter shrugged. "Claude took some convincing to get here."

"No he didn't." Olivia shook her head. "He said you were banged up like that before you showed up at his place, I already asked him. I talked to the pilot and he said you took a detour to Tybee Island before you went to Phenix City. Where did you go and what happened?"

Peter sighed. "I was curious about your background, so I went to Savannah and Tybee to do some asking about what you were like as a child. Someone took exception to my asking questions and started a fight with me."

"That doesn't sound like the truth to me." Olivia returned to her papers. "Fine, don't tell me."

Peter nodded at the paperwork. "The research?"

"Yeah, the 'adjusted' research. I thought I'd swing it by the facility on my way. They called and asked me to bring it to them if I was coming out to check on my businesses there. I guess that little virus Micah cooked up for them has messed them up a bit. I told them I'd sneak into the old Primatech building and print it out for them."

Peter laughed softly. "Did Dr. Cooper 'fess up to accidentally getting the virus through internet porn?"

Olivia snorted. "No. He said it must have come through someone's e-mail. I told him I wanted a copy of everyone's internet logs when I got there to find out who's been looking at what. You could hear him shitting himself over the phone. He's a little scared of me."

"Scared? Of you?"

Olivia glanced over at her brother for a moment. "I sort of had a little temper control problem the last time I was there. If Gabriel-" She paused for a moment "-if he hadn't been there, I probably would have slapped Cooper somewhat. They've been testing the serum on subjects, human subjects with powers. Both of the times they've tested it so far, the subject died."

Peter whistled under his breath. "Died?"

"One melted and the other one exploded. It wasn't one of my finer hours as a doctor. So much for 'first do no harm', huh?"

"So when Mohinder perfects this serum from his future paperwork, who is going to test it out first?" Peter's eyes widened as Olivia glanced at him again, then started stuffing papers into her briefcase. "No, huh-uh, no way. You will not-" His voice began to rise.

"-Will you lower your voice?" Olivia hissed. "I stood by and let two people DIE for those stupid tests, Peter. Who else should do this, huh? It was my father's bright idea to start this crap in the first place and it was MY bright idea to continue it. Do you think anyone else should put their ass on the line for this?"

"I'll do it." Peter nodded.

"You can't." Olivia shook her head. "I've already talked to Mohinder about my doing this. D.L. has offered to be the first donor and you've already been in contact with him. You can probably already phase, you just haven't tried it yet. We wouldn't know if it was the serum working, or your own power. I need to do this, Pete. If it works, great."

"And if you melt or explode?"

Olivia smiled wryly. "Then it'll be Karmic justice for what happened to those first two test subjects."

Peter shook his head and started to argue more. He was interrupted by the pilot, ordering everyone to buckle up and prepare for their landing in Las Vegas. He glared at his sister for a moment. "We're not finished with this discussion."

"Yes, we are." Olivia buckled her seat belt.

* * *

The group entered the convention room at the Bellagio Hotel and Casino. Peter grinned at Matt and Janice Parkman, walking over to them to talk for a moment as everyone began to take their seats at the round table in the middle of the room. 

"Matt, you look great." Peter nodded.

"It's good to be up and around." Matt looked around the room. "So there's something big about to happen, huh?"

"You could say that." Peter turned to Janice, hugging her. "How are you?"

"Good." She sighed. "I'm just glad to have Matt up and around again."

"I know." Peter smiled. He'd met Janice in the hospital when he'd visited with Nathan to check on Matt after he was shot in Kirby Plaza. "How's the baby?"

"Great!" Janice touched the slight bump that had replaced her previously flat stomach. "We had an ultrasound yesterday. It's a boy!"

"Congratulations!"

"I got to hear the heartbeat." Matt smiled softly. "It was such an incredible thing to listen to."

"I'll bet." Peter turned to see Nathan walk into the room with his family and Angela.

Nathan spotted Matt and walked over to him, hugging him. "It's good to see you again!" He turned to Janice. "And how are you and the baby?"

"We're great! It's going to be a boy." Janice beamed. "As a father of two boys, any advice?"

Nathan nodded his head over to his two sons as they sat at the table beside their mother. "Prepare for anything. They can be a handful."

Peter grinned as Kaito Nakamura entered the room, followed by Hiro and Ando. Hiro was dressed in his usual outfit of black khakis, white button down shirt and black cardigan, but his hair was longer and tied back into a ponytail. He walked over to them, bowing to them before hugging Hiro. "It's good to see you. What happened to you after you stabbed Sylar?"

Hiro smiled his trademark smile as he pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose. "I teleported to Japan! It was during the 17th century. I was trained in the true art of the Samurai sword by Takezo Kensei. I was there for two years before I teleported home to Father. After I arrived home, Father told me that we had to come here, to meet with you. He said you had a very important quest for us, so we came."

"It's going to be very important." Peter nodded. "Ando, welcome back."

"It's good to be here. Hiro told me that he was coming here with Mr. Nakamura and I volunteered to come with them. Hiro shouldn't go on a quest without me." Ando smiled. "He needs someone to keep him out of trouble."

Peter grinned. "Everyone needs some backup once in a while." He looked around the room, realizing that everyone that had been called had arrived and was starting to take their seats at the round table. "I guess it's time for the meeting to begin."

He sat down in a chair between Nathan and Olivia, noticing with a quick smile that Mohinder was sitting on Olivia's other side. For the past week, Peter had noticed how much Mohinder had followed Olivia around, constantly asking her to check on any research he was doing, and inviting her to the lab to work on research with him. Peter approved the possibility of his sister and Mohinder becoming a couple. As he turned to smile at Nathan, he noticed how his brother stared at the two of them and realized that he approved as well.

Everyone sat around the table, staring at each other until finally Claude cleared his throat. "Well, we're all here. Anyone planning on actually starting this bloody meeting?"

Peter nodded and started to stand as the door to the meeting room opened. Everyone turned and gasped as Gabriel walked into the room, his face purple and yellow with healing bruises. Hiro and Ando began to babble in Japanese, staring at Gabriel in terror as Matt glared at him, placing a protective arm around his wife. Claire's eyes widened in shock while Noah glowered at him.

"It's The Boogeyman." Molly whispered as she shrank against Sandra Bennet.

Peter glanced at the angry expressions on Nathan and Angela's faces, then looked at Olivia. She stared at the table, her expression cool. The only betrayal of emotion she showed was in her knuckles as she clutched a pen tightly. Peter sighed and walked over to Gabriel, shaking his hand. "I see you decided to show up after all."

Gabriel refused to meet his eye for a moment, then finally looked at him. "You ever call me a pussy again-"

"-Glad you decided to join the fight." Peter nodded towards the table. "We were just getting ready to begin." He turned and walked back to the table, taking his seat beside Olivia.

Gabriel walked towards the table as everyone except Olivia continued to stare at him in shock and horror. He stood beside Olivia for a moment, glaring down at Mohinder before finally clearing his throat. Mohinder stared up at him, terrified. Gabriel rolled his eyes. "Move."

"What?" Mohinder looked over at Olivia, who stared straight ahead, expressionless, her knuckles turning even whiter.

Gabriel leaned down to Mohinder, their faces inches apart. "You need to take another seat, Dr. Suresh." He whispered menacingly.

Mohinder swallowed and nodded, leaping out of his seat and quickly walking around to the other side, taking a seat beside Molly. Gabriel glanced at Olivia as he sat down.

"_Are you even going to look at me?"_

Olivia turned to him, her eyes dark blue, almost black. "Did you run into some turbulence too?" She turned her face away, her lips thinning out as muscles in her jaw started to jump.

"_So that's how you're going to play this?" _Gabriel asked her, using her telepathy.

_"Why are you here?"_

Gabriel looked around the table, noticing how intensely Matt and Peter were staring at them, listening to their 'conversation'. He shrugged.

_"Because I love you."_

_"Really? I thought you said you didn't love me. That IS what you told me right before you walked out on me, you son of a bitch."_

_"I lied. I love you, Olivia Greene. I've been in love with you pretty much from the moment I opened my eyes and saw you and I'm not running away from you or anyone else anymore."_

_"I really don't care why you're here. You can stay here, you can fight on our side, but as far as you and I are concerned, we're done. I don't want someone who runs the first moment things get to be too hard or scary for him."_

_"I admit I ran. I got scared at the idea of watching you die, but I'm here now and I'm ready to fight. I'm ready to fight anything your father, your family, your friends, or even YOU have to throw at me. I'm not going anywhere." _

_"Fine. So you're here. WE'RE still over."_

"Olivia-" Gabriel spoke out loud.

Olivia turned away from him to Peter. "Please continue with the meeting."

Peter stared at the two of them for a moment before turning back to the table. "I think the first thing we should do is go around the table and introduce ourselves. If we have any powers, we need to put them on the table, so to speak. I'll start. My name is Peter Petrelli and I'm from New York City. My main power is empathetic power mimicry. If I'm in the vicinity of someone with powers, I can absorb those powers and use them myself. I can also use them again later, if I concentrate hard enough. I'm learning to control them now." He turned to Olivia.

"My name is Olivia Greene and I'm originally from Tybee Island, Georgia. Until two days ago, I was a surgical resident in New York City, where I reside-"

"-You gave up your residency?" Gabriel's eyes widened. "Olivia-"

"-This is more important right now." Olivia refused to look at him. "If I'm still standing when this is over, I've already been told by Dr. Carpenter that I can pick up where I left off." She shook her head. "I have two powers. One is telepathy, or the ability to hold conversations with people without speaking. My other power is pheromone manipulation. Using pheromones, I can control someone's emotions and physical needs or drives. Basically I can tap into your basic instincts such as fear, lust, anger or happiness and use them. I've really only managed to master one of them very well. I have a feeling I'm going to have to work to get fear, anger and happiness control working better."

Gabriel looked around the room at everyone. "My name is Gabriel Gray and I'm from Queens, New York. Most of you know me from the name I called myself, Sylar. My main power was intuitive aptitude. I can look at something and see how it works or how to fix it. Through my criminal past which everyone at this table is aware of, I've also acquired other abilities which are telekinesis, cryokinesis, super-powered hearing, molecular manipulation, eidetic memory, precognition, nuclear manipulation and electric manipulation." He glared as everyone continued to stare at him in terror. "I have something else to say here. I have done terrible things either to everyone in this room, or to people they care about and I'm not apologizing for one bit of it, except for one thing." He looked at Molly. "I killed your parents, I tried to kill you and I'm very sorry for that. If I could take that back, I would. I have been thinking about a lot of things lately, and one of the biggest realizations I've had is that no child should be orphaned the way I orphaned you." He looked around the rest of group. "The rest of you can kiss my ass. I'm in the same boat everyone else is and as Peter will be telling you soon, it's a pretty rocky boat. We're going to have to work together to survive, we're going to have to start trusting each other. I know that no one here wants to trust me, but if you want to live, you're going to have to because I'M not the danger you're all facing now. I'm not the boogeyman anymore, there's a bigger one out there. Want to keep fighting with me? Fine, but he's going to win. Want to defeat him? Then I guess you're going to have to suck it up like big boys and girls and accept me because I'm not going ANYWHERE. Anyone have a problem with that?" He looked around the room as everyone lowered their eyes. "Good. Next person?"

They went around the room, introducing themselves and telling why there were there until they finally got back around to Peter, who stood back up. He told the story of how future Hiro visited him, and related Future Hiro's story to the group. When he was finished, Claude shook his head.

"Bloody bastard Linderman. Killing us all isn't good enough, is it? He's gotta go after civilians and children." He whispered. "So what are we going to do next to change this dismal future, eh?"

"We've already started the wheels in motion by slowing Linderman's group down. Thanks to Micah Sanders, they're already scrambling to recover information that a computer virus has destroyed on their main system. Dr. Suresh and Dr. Greene have continued research on our end through a non-networked computer while sending incorrect information to Linderman's group." He nodded to Mohinder, who stood up to address the group.

"Dr. Greene and I have been making strides with the research, thanks to a helping hand from Future Hiro through Peter. We should have a serum ready to test soon to see if it works. D.L. Sanders has offered to donate his DNA for the first serum and Dr. Greene has agreed to be the test subject for the first trial run."

Gabriel turned to Olivia. "Are you insane? You saw what happened to the last guy who got that stuff!"

Olivia refused to look at Gabriel. "I trust Mohinder. I think this serum will work just fine."

Mohinder stared for a moment at Olivia and Gabriel. "Along with perfecting the serum, we've got to start recruiting other people with abilities to our side and soon. I can assure you all that Mr. Linderman has almost certainly started doing the same." He turned to Noah, nodding to him.

Noah stood. "I have a copy of The List. This is a list of everyone that at one time or another, agreed to allow their DNA to be donated to the Human Genome Project and has shown the genetic mutations that are indicative to having the abilities that you have. I think The List should be divided among everyone here. We should break into groups and go to different regions of the world to find recruits. Any volunteers?"

Claude raised his hand. "I'll take Europe."

Noah nodded. "I'll volunteer to go with you."

"Not without your family you won't." Sandra sat back. "I think the Bennet family and Mr. Raines can handle Europe without much of a problem."

"My wife, mother and I will take the Eastern United States." Nathan nodded. "I can do that when I'm not in Congress."

Gabriel glared at Nathan. "Why do you get to still be a Congressman after Olivia has quit her job?"

"Because we're going to need someone with an inside track in the government, dumbass." Olivia quipped.

"I'll recruit in the Middle East and Africa." Hana volunteered. "I don't need anyone with me. I work better and faster alone, thank you."

"Hiro, Ando and I will take care of Asia, including Russia, India and Pakistan." Kaito nodded towards Mohinder. "Unless you'd rather have India and Pakistan?"

"Oh, that's fine. You three will do well." Mohinder nodded.

Noah glanced at his paperwork. "That leaves the Western United States, Canada, Australia, the Caribbean, Mexico and Central and South America."

"We can take the Western U.S. and Canada." D.L. shrugged at Niki. "Sound good?" He grinned as Niki and Micah nodded back at him.

"Janice and I will take Australia." Matt spoke up. "Until she gets too pregnant to travel, that is."

Peter turned to Olivia. "What do you say, Sis? Want to visit the Caribbean?"

"She's going to Mexico, Central and South America with me." Gabriel glared at Peter.

Olivia turned to Gabriel, her eyes narrowing. "Oh I am? I think YOU should go there with Mohinder."

"I don't think Mohinder wants to travel with me. Our last road trip didn't end so well."

Peter sighed. "Okay, Gabriel you can recruit in the Caribbean with me. Mohinder and Olivia can take the rest."

"I don't think so." Gabriel shook his head. "I think Olivia and I will be traveling together and you and Mohinder can travel together." He grinned at Olivia. "Do you speak Spanish and Portuguese? You're going to need it."

"I speak Spanish and Portuguese." Mohinder looked around. "I can take her."

Gabriel turned around to glare at Mohinder. "Fine. You and Peter can take the southern Americas and Olivia and I will tackle the Caribbean." He smiled at Noah. "I think everyone's been assigned."

"Wait just a minute-" Mohinder shook his head.

"-It's fine." Olivia rolled her eyes. "The Caribbean and Cuba with Gabriel, whatever. Can we please move on now?"

"Yes, let's do that." Noah took off his glasses for a moment. "So we've all got our assignments and we're happy with them?" Everyone nodded except Mohinder. "Olivia has satellite phones for everyone. This is how we're going to keep in contact with each other. After the good doctors Suresh and Greene perfect the serum, we'll head to our assigned destinations with copies of The List to start recruiting anyone we can. We are to stay in contact with each other daily, with everyone reporting to me on your progress. You will all have three months to travel and get anyone you can to secure visas and return here when you're done. Is that all for now?" He looked at Peter.

Peter nodded. "Yeah, I think that covers the bases for this first step."

"Good. Meeting adjourned." Noah shrugged as Olivia stood and started passing out satellite phones to everyone. "God I need a drink." He muttered as everyone took their phones and started to file out of the room.

Olivia glanced at D.L. and Peter. "I need help with a little project tonight if you're both interested."

"What are we going to do?" D.L. asked.

"How does a little breaking and entering sound?"

D.L. grinned. "Sounds like fun. Count me in." He turned to Peter. "Well?"

Peter shrugged. "Sounds cool."

"Good." Olivia turned to see that everyone else had left except for Gabriel. She rolled her eyes and turned back to them. "I'll met you guys in the bar in a moment to go over everything."

"Sure." Peter headed towards the door, stopping for a moment to turn to Gabriel. "If you're planning on hurting her again-"

Gabriel glared at him. "-get out of here before I smack you down again. I'm sober now, so that'll be one advantage you won't have this time."

"Which one of us is bruised to hell and back?"

"Only because I haven't inherited your niece's healing abilities." Gabriel stepped past him to where Olivia stood, stuffing papers into a briefcase. "I meant what I said earlier. I'm not going anywhere."

"Good for you." Olivia started to step past him, glaring at Gabriel when he blocked her way. "WHAT?" She snapped.

"I'm not going to beg you to take me back, Olivia. It's not my style. I'm here, I've told you what I want and the ball is now in your court. What's your decision?"

Olivia raised an eyebrow. "What part of 'we're over' didn't you understand?" She shoved past him, glaring as Gabriel grabbed her arm, pulling her close to him. She lowered her eyes, blushing. "Let me go." She whispered.

"Yeah, we're over." Gabriel grinned. "That's why your heart started racing the minute I walked into the room and why it started pounding even harder when I touched your arm." He leaned down, their faces inches apart. "And I thought YOU were the one who was supposed to have the power to do that to others, not me." He kissed her softly before letting her go and walking past her. "Like I said, I'm not begging and I'm not going anywhere. I got over myself, when you do the same, let me know." He stepped out of the room as Olivia glared at him.

"Jackass!" She muttered under her breath, grabbing her briefcase and stomping out of the room.

* * *

A quick note from the author 

Sorry about the deleting and reposting of this chapter. I've been having techincal difficulties in making sure that ALL of Gabriel and Olivia's little "conversation" was posted. (This happens a lot when they start talking telepathically, unfortunately. I think they're not going to be talking that way quite so much anymore, something to do with the italics, I think) Anyway, hopefully this version will contain all of it.

Thanks to everyone for reading and thanks so much to everyone who has been reviewing this. You guys totally rock!

TMM1205


	24. Chapter 24

Chapter Twenty-Four-Plans and Reconciliations

Olivia left the meeting room at the Bellagio Hotel and Casino and headed towards the bar. She spotted her brother Peter as she walked in, sitting with Mohinder, Matt, Niki and D.L. Smiling, she headed towards their table, noting with trepidation that Gabriel was sitting at the bar alone, a few feet from her friends' table. Ignoring Gabriel, she sat down beside Peter, who cocked an eyebrow at her.

"Any trouble after we left?" He asked.

Olivia shook her head and ordered a drink. "No trouble at all. I just had to reiterate the fact that he and I are over. Completely, totally and irreparably over." She noted the smirks that Peter, Matt, Niki and D.L. gave each other. "What?"

D.L. laughed softly. "Nothing, really. It's just-" he grinned at Niki "if I had a dollar for every time this crazy blonde threw my ass out and said we were through, we wouldn't have needed to take that little monetary gift you left us at the hospital the night after I got shot."

"She paid your medical bills?" Matt stared at Olivia. "I had an 'anonymous beneficiary' pay mine. Was that you?" Olivia nodded. "Why didn't you come to my room to meet me?"

Olivia stared at the martini that had just been delivered to her, stirring the drink. "I was keeping a lot of secrets at the time that I didn't want you hearing about."

"You mean about Gabriel." Matt nodded to himself. "Yeah, that would have probably sent me flying out of my hospital bed, four bullets in my torso or not." He glanced over at Gabriel, who sat with his back to them and leaned towards Olivia, whispering. "I can hear what you're thinking now, as a matter of fact."

"Me too." Peter nodded. "You know, the more you try NOT to think about him, the more you ARE going to think about him."

"Especially when you start thinking about the way he kisses or-" Matt grimaced "-other things. Seriously, stop thinking about THAT! I don't need to know that much about the asshole who shot me."

"Amen." Peter shuddered. "You think that's bad, try sneaking into their apartment while being invisible and having to watch the two of them macking on each other, or listening to other stuff." He turned to Olivia. "I still owe him for throwing me off of your roof, by the way."

"Sorry about that." Olivia grinned. "But from what Gabriel told me, you sort of had it coming. I mean, honestly Peter, sneaking into my apartment to spy on us? Granted, I would have shown you the door, not the alley beside the apartment from several stories up, but still."

"I had just met you, you weren't exactly forthcoming with information about yourself and you were shacking up with the guy who had spent the previous six months stalking and killing people with super powers. Excuse me for being an overprotective brother." Peter rolled his eyes.

Olivia laughed and threw her martini olive at him. "You're excused!"

D.L. cleared his throat. "So what's this big B & E you want me and Sponge Bob here to pull off?"

Peter mock-glared at D.L. "Will you guys STOP calling me that?"

"Sponge Bob. Good one." Olivia smirked at her brother. "Okay, here's the deal. I have to meet with the researchers for Project Athena tonight to give them the 'research' that Mohinder here has been doing since that little virus ate up all of their records. I'll stall for time searching through their internet logs while you two sneak in and steal something very important."

"What?" Peter asked.

Olivia dug into her briefcase and pulled out blueprints to the facility, pointing to a room deep within the building. "This is their storage area. They've been keeping blood samples they've been collecting from people with special powers. I want you guys to get in there using D.L.'s phasing abilities and Peter's invisibility and steal the samples, all of them."

D.L. nodded. "How heavily guarded is this place?"

"Very heavily."

He whistled softly. "Sounds dangerous."

"It is." Olivia nodded. "Like I said, I'll try and keep them busy asking for stuff and basically having to show my bratty, spoiled-rotten ass there if I have to. Trust me, it'll be the norm for them when it comes to me. Just get in there as quickly as you can, try not to be detected and get out with the samples as soon as you can."

"And if we're detected?"

Niki shrugged. "That's when I come in very angry. They won't like me when I'm angry." She grinned at Olivia. "If my husband's in, so am I."

"How will you know if we're in trouble, Baby?" D.L. asked her.

Niki glanced at Peter. "It seems Sponge Bob here-"

"-Seriously, STOP with that, please-" Peter interjected.

"-Sorry, PETER has picked up big sister's little mental walkie-talkie trick. He's been trying it out on me, Claire and Molly for the last week. It can get a little annoying sometimes, but it's interesting. We realized that he can stay in contact with us within a square mile radius. I'll be parked just outside the facility in Olivia's car. If you boys get into trouble, Peter will give me a little shout-out."

"He needs to give me a yell too then, so I can get even brattier, give you time to get out as quickly as possible." Olivia nodded. "So this sounds like a plan."

"I feel a little left out." Matt mock-frowned. "It makes me so sad."

Peter grinned. "We could use a wheel man, someone to keep the engine running so when we haul ass out of the facility, we can instantly take off."

"Cool." Matt laughed. "So now I'm in too! It seems like just yesterday I was an L.A.P.D. traffic cop and now I'm a law-breaking wheel man. Feels good."

"It sounds like you will all be finished in time to celebrate New Year's Eve." Mohinder looked at Olivia nervously. "You know, there are going to be parties all over this city tonight. From what I understand, Las Vegas is basically going to be one huge New Year's Eve party. I was wondering if you might be interested in maybe-" He quickly closed his mouth as Gabriel approached the table and sat down beside Olivia.

Gabriel ignored Olivia's glare as he grinned at Olivia. "Please, finish that question, Dr. Suresh." He waited for a moment, raising his eyebrows as Mohinder glared at him. "Olivia, I couldn't help overhearing your little plan. It's a good one, but you forgot something."

"What's that?" Olivia asked, her voice tight.

"_You are such an asshole." _She mentally told him.

"_I love you too, Baby."_ Gabriel grinned. "You forgot that while you're acting like a spoiled brat, you've got to have someone standing by to help reign you in. Well, that or someone to threaten to literally open a few skulls if things get too hairy in there."

"_I really hate you right now." _Olivia rolled her eyes. "I think I can handle this alone."

"True, but don't you think the researchers will be expecting your business partner? Last time I checked, I was still your partner, in that at least." Gabriel grinned at Olivia. _"You've always liked me best when I'm being a bad, bad boy. Remember the last time we were here in Vegas, at your casino? Remember how hot things got in that abandoned office after we interrogated that thief? I can't stop thinking about how you clawed at my back when I shoved you against that wall while we were-"_

"-Peter and I can totally HEAR THAT!" Matt shook his head as Peter cringed. "God, I need bleach for my brain now. Damn that untrustworthy Haitian. If there was any time I needed something erased."

Niki giggled as Olivia blushed and looked away. "Oh my GOD! What were they saying to each other?"

Matt gulped down his drink. "Something you normally have to pay $1.99 a minute to hear. Get a room, you two. Get a room, work this problem out and leave us out of it, for God's sakes!"

Peter chugged down his own drink as Mohinder sulked across the table from him. "And now you've gotten a gist of what I saw in Olivia's apartment."

Gabriel ignored the two of them, staring at Olivia. "You know I'm right."

"Fine." Olivia finished her martini and stood up. "I'm going to the hotel to take a nap and get ready for tonight."

"You're not staying in a room here?" Mohinder asked, giving Gabriel a wary look.

"No." Olivia shook her head. "The Linderman Group knows I'm in town to deliver the research. If I'm not staying at the Corinthian, they'll know something hinkey is up." She glanced at Mohinder. "Care to walk me out?"

"Oh, of course!" He stood up quickly as Gabriel stood.

"I didn't ask YOU!" Olivia snapped at him.

Gabriel laughed softly. "You think way too much of yourself, Olivia. If you want to talk privately with Dr. Suresh, go ahead. I'm going to my room to rest for tonight as well." He winked at her and left the bar.

Olivia stared at the floor for a moment, controlling her anger before turning to Mohinder and nodding towards the door. As they left the bar, Peter, Niki, D.L. and Matt started laughing.

"Twenty bucks says that Gabriel and Olivia will be knocking boots by the end of the night." D.L. smirked.

"I'm not taking that bet." Matt shook his head. "I heard what he was thinking and I heard what she was thinking."

"And what were they thinking?" Niki asked.

"Well, let's just say that I think they'll be rattling windows much earlier than tonight. That poor bastard Mohinder doesn't have a chance with her. Especially since, if I was reading both of their thoughts correctly, Olivia's about to discover that she and Gabriel have the same hotel room at the Corinthian."

"I know." Peter frowned. "Mohinder's too nice. I hate to say this, but apparently Big Sis has a jones for bad boys."

* * *

Olivia nodded at the employees of the Corinthian as she made her way to the elevators, followed by the bellhop with her luggage. She entered the Presidential Suite and tipped the bellhop after he placed her luggage in the master bedroom of the suite. After the bellhop left, she stretched out on the bed, resting her arm across her eyes as she tried to will herself to stop thinking about Gabriel and the way her heart pounded every time he came near her. She thought about how nice Mohinder was and wondered why she wasn't more receptive to his sweet, if bumbling, advances and flirtations. He'd been so nice as he'd hailed her cab, turning to her nervously as they waited for it to pull up to the curb.

"I was wondering Olivia, since we were interrupted back in the bar, if you would like to have dinner tonight? Maybe we could take in one of the many parties here in town?"

Olivia smiled softly and shrugged. "It's been a pretty stressful couple of months, Mohinder. I think I'm going to spend tonight relaxing and decompressing a bit after I leave the facility. Thanks for the offer though."

Mohinder nodded, looking away thoughtfully. "I was also wondering about something else. Your power, not the telepathy, but the other one." He glanced at her. "You haven't used that one on me, have you?"

Olivia shook her head. "No. Why?"

Mohinder blushed. "Just wondering."

"You wonder about a lot of things."

"Yes I do." Mohinder smiled softly at her. "I wonder what an intelligent, beautiful woman like yourself is doing pining away for a murdering brute like Sylar."

"It's complicated." Olivia looked away. "I love him, but it's just so complicated."

"You're not over, are you? No matter what you tell him, you're not over."

"I don't think so." Olivia closed her eyes as the cab parked on the curb and Mohinder opened the door for her. "As much as I hate to admit it, we really aren't over. I don't know that we'll ever be, as long as one of us is still alive." She looked at Mohinder's sad expression, mirroring it with her own before she climbed into the cab and drove away.

In the hotel, Olivia raised her arm from her eyes, not too surprised to notice that she was crying. "Damn him." She sat up and went to the bathroom to wash her face. She'd been crying so much in private since Gabriel had walked out on her less than a week ago. She wanted to get over him and move on with her life, but now that he was back, she realized that she could never move on from him. He'd gotten under her skin from the moment she'd spotted him in Kirby Plaza and he would never get out. Judging from the way he'd been behaving since he'd returned, it was obvious that she was just as deeply under his skin as well. She stared at herself in the mirror. Since Gabriel had awakened, she'd started gaining weight again. She was still too skinny, even she could see that, but her face was starting to fill back out again. The stress of the last week was showing though. Dark circles had started to form under her eyes again and lines were starting to etch around her mouth and across her forehead. Sighing, she smoothed out her forehead and went back to the bedroom to lie down. She reached out and turned on the radio.

"A love like ours is love that's hard to find

How could we let it slip away?

We've come to far to leave it all behind

How could we end it all this way?

When tomorrow comes and we both regret

The things we said today."

Olivia glared at the radio, snapping it off with a quick motion as she lay back on the bed with a huff, grabbing a pillow and placing it on her face, screaming into it with frustration.

"Aw! Why'd you turn that off? I like that song. It's sentimental tripe, but I've always had a soft spot for Chicago. I think it's the string arrangement in the song that gets to me. It's very moving."

Olivia sat up, tossing the pillow aside as she spotted Gabriel standing in the doorway to the bedroom. "What in the fucking fuck are you doing here?"

Gabriel leaned against the doorjamb, smirking. "Like I said back at the Bellagio Bar, the last time I checked, I was still your business partner. Apparently the desk clerk assumed we were still together and didn't bat an eyelash when I showed up early this morning and asked to be in the same suite with you." He raised an eyebrow. "You're in my room, by the way."

"There are two bedrooms. You can take the other one."

"I picked this one out this morning. Early bird gets the worm, Sweetie." Gabriel slowly walked into the room and stretched out on the bed beside her. "Unless you'd rather share the bed with me." He purred as he reached out with his mind, slowly unbuttoning her shirt."

"I'll sleep alone, thanks!" Olivia leapt off of the bed, buttoning her shirt back up as she grabbed her luggage. She started to storm out of the room as Gabriel laughed softly.

"When you get lonely, Baby, you know where I am."

Olivia turned to Gabriel as he smiled sexily from the bed. "Yeah." She smirked. "I know where Mohinder is too." As Gabriel's smile vanished, she grinned evilly and walked out of the room, heading towards the second bedroom.

"Get back in here!" Olivia kept walking as Gabriel jumped off of the bed and followed her across the living room. "Don't you DARE try and threaten me with that insipid do-gooder!"

"Jealous?" Olivia opened the door to the second bedroom, then frowned as it slammed shut again. She turned to Gabriel. "What's the matter? Don't like competition?"

Gabriel laughed dangerously as he slowly started walking towards her. "Competition? Please. The only thing that Mohinder is competing for is to see who the biggest chump in the world is. He's no competition for me when it comes to you, that's for sure. I just don't like you trying to use him to piss me off."

"What makes you think I'm not interested in Mohinder?"

"He's too nice, not like me. I'm a bad boy. You like bad boys. As I told you earlier, you especially like ME when I'm being bad, very, very bad."

"Maybe I've moved on from bad boys." Olivia turned to open the door again, yelling in anger when it was pulled out of her grasp to slam again. "STOP THAT YOU JACKASS!"

"You're pissed at me. I don't blame you. I walked out on you, told you a bullshit lie that you saw right through and didn't listen to you when you begged me to stay. I'm back. I'm in this for the long haul now. I'm going to be in your face every time you turn around until you agree to sit down, talk with me and hash this out."

"I'm not in the mood to talk to you." Olivia shook her head. "You said all you needed to say the night you walked out on me."

"I got scared." Gabriel started to walk towards her. "I had just been told that the one thing in this world that I wanted more than anything, more than all the powers I'd been collecting, would be taken away from me in less than two years. I was told that I would watch your father slice your head off before killing everyone that means anything to you, and apparently end up meaning anything to me. I was told that you and I would have a daughter, a daughter that I would abandon with you before she is ever born. I would never get to see what she looked like before we orphaned her and left her to a life of learning to be a samurai in the past, instead of growing up to be a giggly, boy-crazy teenager in the here and now. I got scared at the idea of all of that, so I left. I took the first bus I could get on. The only problem was that bus led me to Savannah, Georgia, your hometown. I spent the first day getting drunk on tequila in a little dive bar on the beach at Tybee Island before Peter showed up and literally knocked some sense into me. He made me see that I could either lose you by leaving you, lose you by letting the future take place by watching you die, or fight for the future and hopefully never lose you at all. After I got a hotel room in Tybee and spent a couple of days arguing with myself while I stared out at the ocean you were always talking about, I grabbed a bus for Las Vegas and now here I am, ready to fight beside you, with you, whatever it takes to keep you in my life. I decided to have faith and I decided that I want to have Faith." He smiled softly. "Peter left me a picture of her. She's beautiful. I don't want her to not exist."

"Me neither." Olivia looked away, tears falling down her cheeks. Gabriel reached out, gently wiping away the tears. Olivia sobbed as he caressed her cheek. "You hurt me."

"I know." Gabriel moved in closer to her, pulling her into his arms. "I hurt myself too. I was stupid."

"Yeah, you were." Olivia wrapped her arms around him, clinging to him. "If you ever do that again-"

"I won't. I meant what I said. I'm going to fight beside you, beside all of you and give Linderman a fight he'll never forget. If he thinks that he can take on Sylar and live, he's got another thing coming."

"Do you really want to have Faith?"

Gabriel smiled as he buried his face in Olivia's hair, breathing in her perfume. "God I missed that smell." He groaned. "Yes, I want to have Faith. I want to have Faith, and anyone else who decides to come along for the ride. Do we have to name her Gabrielle Faith though?"

"Yes." Olivia whispered.

"Fine, but the first boy is going to be named Oliver." He laughed softly. "If a daughter named Gabrielle is non-negotiable, so is a son named Oliver." He kissed her. "Do you really feel like sleeping right now?"

Olivia looked up at him, smiling teasingly. "What did you have in mind?"

"Can't you guess?" He kissed her passionately, opening the bedroom door behind Olivia with his mind as he lifted her up and carried her into the room.


	25. Chapter 25

Chapter Twenty-Five-Breaking and Entering

Olivia rolled over in bed, stretching for a moment as she smiled, remembering the afternoon she and Gabriel had spent in bed together. She reached out for him, her eyes opening as her hands struck bare sheets where he had been lying when she'd dozed off. Sitting up, she looked around the room, and smiled again as she heard his voice in the living room. He was on the phone. Wrapping the bed sheet around her naked body, she tiptoed to the doorway, listening as he talked.

"-Okay, so that'll be faxed to me, right? And you have our sizes, you'll send those up. It's a surprise, so I don't want Olivia to see. Well, I don't know, ask the doorman to our building to let you up to the penthouse for a moment so you can see what size she wears in that. Her jewelry box is on the vanity in the dressing room, it's off the bathroom in her side of the penthouse. Yes, the side that's all pastel and girly." He turned, seeing Olivia standing in the doorway watching and listening. "Take care of that right away and have the staff here send up what I've asked for, okay? I have to go." He hung up the phone and smiled sheepishly at her. "You were supposed to still be sleeping."

"What kind of surprise are you planning for me?" Olivia walked into the room and sat in Gabriel's lap. "And who are you sending to our penthouse to rifle through my jewelry?"

"Her name is Susan, she's Mr. Koontz's personal assistant and she's trustworthy. As for what I'm planning, if I tell you, it won't be a surprise." He kissed Olivia softly. "How did you sleep?"

"Like a baby." Olivia rested her head on his shoulder. "I missed you."

"I could tell." Gabriel wrapped his arms around her. "I missed you too."

"I could tell." She closed her eyes, reveling in the feeling of having his arms around her again. "I don't want to have to go the facility. I want to stay here with you and just shut out everything."

"I agree, but we need to get this done." Gabriel kissed her forehead. "We're meeting Peter and the gang at sundown, right?" Olivia nodded as Gabriel glanced out the window. "It won't be sundown for a few more hours. How ever will we spend that time?"

Olivia grinned. "I honestly have no idea."

* * *

When they went to meet their car at sundown, Niki was waiting for them. The moment she spotted them, leaning on each other and smiling, their hands twined together, she shook her head. "Matt was right." She mused. 

"Right about what?" Gabriel asked as he nuzzled Olivia's neck.

"D.L. said that you two would be back together by the end of the night, Matt said that it would be as soon as you both arrived here and found out you were in the same hotel room." She looked at them. "So you've hashed everything out?"

"You could say that." Olivia swatted Gabriel's hands away from her hips as they walked towards the car. "Cut that out, we're supposed to have our game faces on when we get to the facility."

"This IS my game face." Gabriel wrapped his arms around her waist as they walked to the car. "I'm your business partner who's hopelessly infatuated with you."

"You're just hopeless." Olivia laughed as they climbed into the car. She turned to Niki once they were inside. "The guys on their way?"

Niki nodded. "Yep. Last time I checked, they were all headed towards the desert in my jeep."

* * *

"I'll serve your ass like John McEnroe 

If your girl steps up I'm smacking her hump

Word to your moms I came to drop bombs

I got more rhymes than a bottles got songs

And just like the prodigal son I've returned

Anyone stepping to me you'll get burned. . . "

D.L. glanced over at Peter and then at Matt in the rearview mirror as the two jumped around in their seats. "I swear to God you are the two whitest men in the world!" He rolled his eyes. "This ain't rap! This doesn't even come close! It's the white boy's version of rap!" He reached towards the radio, snapping it off. "House of Pain my ass. Punks! That's what they were."

"Oh come on!" Matt laughed. "I was getting into that song. It reminds me of my college days." He leaned back in his seat. "I met Janice there. We were both at a fraternity party. I spilled a beer on her. She forgave me and married me a few years later."

"Was it your fraternity's party?" Peter asked.

Matt nodded. "Yeah, I was one of those loud-mouthed frat boys, swilling beer and chasing girls until I met Janice. She changed everything for me. She was so cute, I didn't know how to act around her. I was a nervous wreck, hence the beer-spillage."

D.L. pulled off the side of the road, a half-mile from the facility and turned off the jeep's lights. "Now we just have to wait for Doc to show up with Niki and Sylar." He scanned the road, looking for headlights. "This is going to go pretty easy, right?"

Peter nodded. "Why shouldn't it? We just have to remember to stay close together, so you can stay invisible. It shouldn't be too much of a problem."

"Yeah." D.L. shifted nervously in his seat. "I'm just worried about those guards. Last thing I need is to get shot again. I didn't especially like it the last time."

"Heads up, here comes a car." Matt pointed to headlights coming down the road. They watched as the car slowed down to a stop beside them and Niki climbed out.

"Change of plans." She jumped into the back of the jeep with Matt. "I'm riding with you boys."

"I'm still wheel-man though, right?" Matt looked around at everyone.

Niki laughed. "Yes, GOD! You're still the wheel-man. I've never in all of my life seen someone get so excited about breaking the law, not even Jessica got this nutty. Is it an ex-cop thing or something?"

Matt shrugged. "I don't know. It just sounded like fun. It's kind of rebellious. I like that feeling."

"So do I." Niki grinned. "Anyway, we realized that if there's trouble and I come charging in there from their car, Linderman will know I was acting with them instead of just acting on my own, or something like that. Honestly though, I think they just needed some 'alone time' together."

Peter turned around, making a face. "They're back together already?" He rolled his eyes as Niki nodded. "Sid and Nancy redux, man."

"I should have taken that bet this morning." Matt sighed. "I would totally have your money right now!"

"The hell you would!" D.L. started the jeep. "**I** said they would be knocking boots by the end of the night. The night hasn't even begun and they're-"

"-Don't say it." Peter groaned.

"Yeah, but I said they would be hitting the sheets as soon as they got back to the hotel and realized they were in the same room." Matt turned to Niki. "When did they reconcile?"

Niki gave Matt a lopsided grin as she glanced at D.L. in the rearview. "Pretty much as soon as they got back to the hotel."

"AHA!" Matt nodded.

"You can take that 'AHA' and shove it where the sun doesn't shine, mindreader!" D.L. laughed softly as they drove towards the facility.

A mile before they reached it, they pulled off of the road and drove into the desert, parking a half mile from the facility. Niki sat up, grabbing a pair of night-vision binoculars from under the seat, scanning the area.

"Okay, you've got barbed wire and razor wire with dogs and guards on the outside." She turned the binoculars towards the door, watching Olivia and Gabriel walk inside. "They're in. It's time for you guys to get to work."

"Man, I hate dogs." D.L. started to climb out of the car and turned as Matt tapped him on the shoulder, handing him a can of shoe polish. "What's that for?"

"Disguise." Matt nodded.

Niki started to laugh as D.L. stared at Matt. "Excuse me? We're gonna be invisible. Disguise." He scoffed as he and Peter started to head towards the facility. "If I come back here and the two of you are in blackface, you're both walking back to the damn city!" As he and Peter made their way towards the facility D.L. muttered under his breath. "Disguise. What does he think this is, a movie?"

"He's trying." Peter laughed softly.

"I know, but damn." D.L. whistled under his breath. "Shoe polish. Fool."

As they got closer to the gates, Peter turned to D.L. "Get closer."

"Why?"

"So you can be invisible too."

D.L. rolled his eyes, moving close enough to Peter. "This close enough, baby?" He said, jokingly.

Suddenly, they both disappeared. From the jeep, Niki grinned. "It's working."

"You can't see them?" Matt stared out towards the facility.

Niki shook her head. "Only if I switch these things to infrared." Switching her binoculars, she watched as D.L. and Peter approached the fence and walked through it. "Uh-oh." She muttered.

"What?"

"Dogs."

Peter and D.L. froze in their tracks, hearing the rumbling growl of the guard dog behind them. They slowly turned as D.L. shook his head. "Fucking dogs."

"Hang on. Just calm down."

"Calm down? That's a fucking Doberman Pinscher and you want me to calm down?" He looked around for a moment, suddenly relaxing, his heartbeat slowing. "What the hell?"

"A gift from Olivia. She said she has trouble controlling pheromones for calming, but I've been able to figure it out." Peter took a deep breath and glared at the dog. "And controlling fear." He continued to glare at the dog until it began to whine, then turned and ran away, yelping.

"Damn. I want that power." D.L. grinned as he turned to Peter. "That was cool as shit, man!"

"Tell me about it." They turned and walked through the walls of the facility, remembering the blueprints that Olivia had given them. They made their way to the storage room and opened refrigerators, pulling out vials of blood and putting them in the cooler that Peter had carried with him. They stared at the labels, reading off the names.

"Linderman, Wilmer, Simmons, D.L. Hawkins?" D.L. looked up. "They got my damn blood? Mother fuckers!"

"They've also got a sample of Niki's and Micah's. There's also one in here for O. Greene, G. Gray, T. Sprague, M. Parkman, C. Bennet and M. Walker." Peter shook his head. "Let's hope these are the only samples." He looked around. "There isn't one with my name on it, is there, or Hiro's?"

D.L. searched through the blood vials. "Nope, no H. Nakamura or P. Petrelli. There's an A. Petrelli, but no P. Petrelli." He cocked his head to the side. "What does your mom DO?"

"She won't tell us." Peter tucked the blood vials away into the cooler and looked around. "Any more samples in here?"

"Nope, we got them all." He lifted up one vial. "J. Francoise? Who's that?"

"Dunno, but we need to take it." Peter closed the cooler. "Okay, let's go." He closed his eyes and reached out to Olivia. _"How's it going?"_

"_Great. They're buying my Paris Hilton on PMS act without any problem." _

_"Good. We've got the samples and we're on our way out."_

"Be careful." 

Peter opened his eyes and headed down the halls with D.L. On their way out, his borrowed super hearing picked up a feminine voice behind a door.

"So when am I going to get to see YOU!" The voice sounded sulky. "I miss you."

"Don't worry, my dear." The voice was canned sounding, like it was coming from a telephone. It had a slick sound to it, the accent refined. "My darling Candice, you are doing such a wonderful job there. We'll see each other soon. I miss you too."

"Not as much as I miss you. I hate pretending to be out of it whenever your daughter comes around for those tests. Apparently she's also a first-rate bitch, by the way. When can I take her out? My hand itches to slap her whenever I hear that stupid accent of hers!"

"Soon, my dear. As soon as she and Suresh deliver the research I need and she and Gabriel Gray give me a few little heirs to carry on my empire and work when I'm gone, you can torture and kill her to your heart's desire."

"Why wait for her to pop out little grand-ankle biters? I could give you all the children you want and I doubt they'd be anywhere near as whiny and bitchy as anything that redneck would create. You know you told me I was even better than your great love Angela."

D.L. turned to Peter, who stood at the door, listening intently. "Peter!" He hissed. "Come ON!"

Peter glanced at D.L. and then at the door, torn. He nodded and headed out of the facility. As soon as they passed the fence, Peter handed D.L. the cooler. "Wait fifteen minutes. If I'm not back out, leave me."

"What?" D.L. grabbed his arm. "What in the hell is going on? We got what we came for?"

"I heard something. I have to go back and hear the rest." Peter phased through the fence and ran back into the building, making his way down the hall. He phased through the door and stood in the middle of the room, invisible as he watched the petite brunette pace the floor, a cell phone to her ear. She was cute, Peter noticed, dressed like a schoolgirl. He realized this was Candice Wilmer. He'd heard about her from Micah. She could make herself look like anyone she wanted, and could alter your perceptions to confuse your surroundings. He listened as she talked on the phone to Linderman.

"Okay, fine." She pouted. "I have to go. Apparently 'Her Nibs' is here tonight to give the doctors the research that disappeared when that virus infected everything and she wants to meet me." She rolled her eyes. "You know Cooper was looking at porn online. When Princess finds out, I actually hope she takes his head off, or gets her psycho killer boyfriend to do it."

"I'll talk to you tomorrow Candice. Be good."

"I'd be better if I were in your arms." Candice sighed as Peter shuddered. Why in the hell did he have to keep walking in on people's private discussions like this? "Goodbye." She hung up the phone with a snap and headed towards the door. Peter tried to get out of her way, but she brushed past him on her way out the door. Gasping, she stepped back, reaching her hand out. Peter dodged her, but she grabbed his shirt on another pass-through. "Gotcha! Show yourself!" Peter groaned as he made himself visible. Her eyes widened. "Peter Petrelli. I know you." She walked around him, checking him out. "You're cuter in person, but not cute enough to keep me from calling security." She pulled her cell phone out and began to dial.

Peter thought of Olivia's powers and closed his eyes for a moment, then opened them again. "Wait."

Candice stopped dialing, her eyes widening as she stared at him, smiling softly. "What is it?"

"Don't call security." He could hear her heart starting to pound as she looked him over. "I just need to go. You'll let me go, won't you?"

Candice tucked her phone into the holder on her waistband as she reached out and pulled him close. "No. I don't think I will let you go." Peter struggled as she planted her lips on his, kissing him passionately.

* * *

Olivia paced around the lab, staring at the equipment. "So this is where the 'magic' happens." She said haughtily as Dr. Cooper cowered beside her. "You know, as much money as I pay you, you'd think I'd be seeing more results than exploding and melting people, wouldn't you?" 

Dr. Cooper nodded nervously, eyeing Gabriel out of the corner of his eye. "Yes, but these things take time-"

"-I'm SICK of your excuses. Do you KNOW how close I am to shutting this whole operation down and leaving you unemployed? Do you THINK you're gonna get anything that resembles a decent reference from me?"

As Dr. Cooper began to stammer excuses, Peter's voice entered Olivia's head as Gabriel started giggling hysterically behind her. _"Olivia? I NEED HELP NOW!" _

_"Why aren't you out of the building? I thought you said you were out!"_

"I was, but I had to go back. I'll explain later but now, you have GOT to get them to send for Candice now!" 

_"Why?" _

"_I used your little whammy trick. It went overboard and now she's about to go downtown. I don't want her going downtown, if you know what I mean."_

Olivia covered a grin and turned to Gabriel. _"Little brother's in trouble."_

"I know, I've been listening to everything. He overheard Candice on the phone to your father and went back to listen more. She caught him and now she's GOT him. I was going to tell you all about her phone conversation at the hotel, but he had to be nosy."

"Olivia PLEASE GET THIS CRAZY BITCH OFF OF ME!" 

Olivia looked around the room. "Did I or did I NOT ask to meet Candice Wilmer?"

Dr. Cooper looked around. "I sent for her fifteen minutes ago."

"Send someone to get her now." Olivia stomped her foot. "NOW!"

"Easy Veruca Salt." Gabriel winked at Olivia. "I'm sure that Miss Wilmer is on her way."

Olivia stared at Gabriel. _"What are you doing?"_

"Giving Peter a good time."

Olivia giggled and covered it quickly as she looked angrily at Cooper. "Get her in here now, please."

Dr. Cooper nodded and went to the phone. Olivia turned to Gabriel. "You are so bad." She hissed.

"And you love me that way."

* * *

Peter struggled to get away from Candice as she snaked her hands under his shirt. "Really, don't you want to get to know each other better first?" 

"Conversation is seriously overrated." Candice unbuttoned his shirt. "What's the matter? Am I not your type?"

Peter nodded quickly. "That's it! I'm just not into you, sorry."

Candice grinned. "I can be anyone you want me to be." She morphed into Simone. "I can be a lost love." She morphed into Niki. "A friend's hot wife." She morphed into Heidi. "Your sister-in-law that I know you probably crushed on as a teen, or if you're into something really twisted-" She morphed into Claire "-I could be your cutie-pie niece or-" she morphed into Olivia "-your newly discovered bitchy sister that you probably checked out in a not-so-brotherly way before you realized you came from the same womb."

Peter shuddered. "The original look works best for you, really."

Candice morphed back into her normal visage. "Prefer the naughty schoolgirl over the 'Flowers in the Attic' motif, good." She started to kiss Peter again as he struggled against her. She rolled her eyes as her cell phone rang. "Dammit! Just when things were getting good." She snapped open her phone. "Yes? WHAT? Fine, whatever, GOD!" She snapped her phone shut. "Your sister is a serious bitch, you do realize that right?" She turned and headed for the door. "You're not going anywhere while I'm gone, by the way."

As she walked out the door, Peter rubbed his eyes, realizing that the door disappeared. He phased through it and realized as he walked through the wall that he was in the same room.

"Shit." He muttered. _"Olivia?"_

"What now?"

"I'm still in trouble here." 

_"Are you KIDDING me?"_

"She altered the perception of the room. I keep phasing into the same damn room. I'm trapped."

"Hang on." 

Olivia turned as Candice strutted into the lab, a surly expression on her face. Olivia smiled sweetly at her. "You must be Miss Wilmer. It's a pleasure to meet you."

Candice's eyes narrowed. "Yeah. Nice to meet you too." She looked around the room. "Well, you've met me, gotta motor."

"Wait!" Olivia smiled. "You haven't met my business partner, Gabriel Gray." As Olivia turned to Gabriel, a message passed between them and he nodded, leading Candice away to talk as Olivia got Dr. Cooper's attention.

"Miss Wilmer, it's so nice to meet you." Gabriel smiled at her as he twitched his fingers. Unseen by anyone, a syringe flew over to a bottle of tranquilizers and filled up. "I have to say, what you have been doing here is so wonderful."

Candice rolled her eyes impatiently. "Yeah, whatever. Giving up a sample of my blood so poor bastards can turn to goo is always such a hard job."

"It's the thought that counts." With a twitch of his fingers, the syringe flew across the room, striking Candice in the neck, the plunger depressing and filling her veins with the sedative before flying across the room to a trash can. Candice's eyes rolled back in her head. Gabriel reached out and caught her as she crumpled to the ground. "MISS WILMER?" He looked at Dr. Cooper. "I could use your help here. It seems that she's collapsed."

Dr. Cooper ran to Candice's side as Olivia reached out to Peter. _"RUN NOW!" _She helped Dr. Cooper and Gabriel carry Candice to a bed and then shook her head. "I think we'll leave you to her. Take care of her."

"Of course." Dr. Cooper shrugged. "I don't know what happened to her."

Olivia and Gabriel quickly left the building, trying not to laugh as they entered their car.

* * *

Peter sighed with relief as the door reappeared. He concentrated on being invisible and phased through the walls, running as fast as he could as he reached out to Niki. _"I'm on the way! Don't leave!"_ He ran through the desert, becoming visible again as he reached the jeep. Matt sat at the wheel, gunning the engine. As Peter jumped into the jeep, he revved up and drove the jeep away, tires spinning in the sand. 

"What in the HELL were you doing?" D.L. asked.

"Getting information." Peter shook his head. "And fighting off horny, bitch-crazy in a school girl skirt!"

"That 'ho that kidnapped Micah?" Niki's eyes narrowed. "I'm halfway tempted to go back and kick her ass again!"

"I think she's been taken care of for the time being." Peter sank back in his seat, taking a deep breath. "That was too damn close!"


	26. Chapter 26

Chapter Twenty-Six: Happy Event, Bad News

Gabriel nudged Olivia awake as their car arrived back at the Corinthian. "We're back."

Olivia lifted her head from his shoulder, opening her eyes. "Already?" She rubbed her eyes sleepily.

Gabriel stroked her cheek as their door was opened by the hotel doorman. "You dozed off almost as soon as we got into the car. Are you feeling okay?"

Olivia laughed softly as they climbed out of the car. "I think I'm just catching up on all of the sleep I've lost since I was an intern."

"You haven't been sleeping well this past week." Gabriel wrapped an arm around her waist as they entered the hotel. "I wonder why."

Olivia rubbed his back gently, smiling at the dry tone of his voice. "It's just stress."

Gabriel winked at her as they walked to the desk. "Well, I'm here now to help you de-stress and decompress as well as I can." He nodded towards the elevator. "Wait over there, I'll be there in a moment."

Olivia stared at him for a moment. "You don't want me to see any messages you have? Does this have something to do with that little surprise you have planned for me?"

"Maybe." Gabriel's voice was teasing. "Elevator. Wait by it please."

Olivia gave him a sidelong glance as she walked to the elevator. She watched as he was handed an envelope and a package. Turning his back to her, he opened the package. Craning her neck, she saw him slip a small box into his coat pocket before turning and walking to her. "What's in the box?" She asked.

"Patience-"

"-Isn't my strong suit. It's something we have in common." Her eyes lowered to his coat pocket. "What's in the box?"

Gabriel smiled softly before he leaned down and kissed her softly on the lips. "What part of 'surprise' don't you get?" He pressed the button for the elevator and led her inside. As the doors closed, he pulled Olivia into his arms. "So did that little nap in the car reenergize you or do you still need some down time before this big surprise?"

"Are you kidding me?" Olivia tried to reach into Gabriel's coat pocket. "I'm wide awake and ready for surprises." She frowned as Gabriel backed away, blocking his pocket with his hand. "Oh COME ON!"

"Give me a minute, damn!" Gabriel laughed as their elevator opened and he led her to a room.

Olivia stopped at the room, staring at the name on the door. "Um, we were in the Presidential Suite, not the-" She turned to Gabriel as he grinned back. "Okay, WHY have we been moved to the Honeymoon Suite?" Gabriel shrugged and handed her a keycard for the room. Raising an eyebrow, she walked inside and looked around. Her luggage had been moved into the room, set in a corner. Champagne and dinner was set out on a table on the balcony, candles burning on the table. Olivia heard Gabriel moving behind her, pulling off his coat. As she turned to him, she gasped as he knelt in front of her, opening a jewelry box in his hands. "Oh my God." She whispered. "Are you about to ask what I think you're about to ask?"

Gabriel smirked. "Well I don't know, let me ask." He finished opening the box and Olivia started to cry as she stared at the diamond ring. "I had it sent for this afternoon. That's why I wanted Mr. Koontz's secretary to go into the apartment, to find out your ring size." He smiled softly. "Olivia MacKenzie Greene, will you-?"

"-YES!" Olivia started laughing as she knelt beside Gabriel, throwing her arms around him and kissing his cheek. "YES! YES! YES!"

"Will you at least let me finish the question?" Gabriel laughed as he hugged Olivia. "What if I wanted to ask you if you wanted to jump off of the balcony, huh?"

"If you were asking, I probably would." Olivia sat back on her heels, composing herself. "But I'll be good. Ask away, even though you already know the answer."

Gabriel shook his head. "You're exasperating, you do realize that." He took a deep breath, holding out the box again. "Olivia, will you marry me?"

Olivia nodded. "Yes." She giggled and held out her left hand. "Well?"

Gabriel slid the ring on her finger. "The diamond's bigger than I thought it would be." He studied her hand for a moment. "Good lord, I think you can see that thing from outer space. I didn't realize how big three carats was."

"Seriously?" Olivia shook her head. "Three carats?" She stared at the ring. "Damn that's huge."

"I know." Gabriel leaned over and kissed her. "If you want something smaller, so you don't end up spraining your delicate little wrists-"

Olivia pulled her hand back. "You'll take this thing back over my dead body." She grinned. "I love you so much." She kissed him back. "However will we celebrate our engagement?"

Gabriel grinned. "Engagement? Baby, we're about to celebrate our MARRIAGE!" His smile faded as Olivia frowned at him. "I had a dress sent up a while ago. It's not a traditional dress or anything, but it's pretty and white and I ordered a tux for myself. A minister is supposed to be here in" he checked his watch "an hour. I can send him away though if you're not ready-"

"-Don't you dare." Olivia nodded as she started to smile again. "What better way to ring in the New Year? You planned this today? This afternoon?"

Gabriel nodded. "When I decided to come back for you, I knew that I was going to make you Olivia Gray as soon as I could. I thought about having a huge wedding, since every woman wants that, apparently, but I also thought about all of the objections we'd probably have to deal with during the wedding-"

"-I know." Olivia shook her head. "I don't want anyone here when I marry you. When we met, I was alone, WE were alone. We didn't have family, we didn't have friends, we just had each other. That's how I want it when we get married." She giggled. "When we get married in an HOUR!" She stood up, looking around the room. "I know I've got this family now, but I barely know them. I know I love them and that I want them around, but I don't want them here for this. This is OUR moment, I don't want to share it with anyone but you."

Gabriel stood up, sighing with relief. "Thank God." He hugged Olivia. "Now, get dressed and let's have dinner before the minister arrives, okay?"

Olivia smiled. "Okay."

* * *

Peter walked into the meeting room at the Bellagio, looking at everyone who had quickly assembled there after he called. "Sorry to alert everyone on such short notice, but there's something I had to tell everyone." He looked around the room. "Where are Olivia and Sy-" He shrugged "-Gabriel?" Everyone glanced at everyone else around the table and shook their heads. "Great." Peter sighed. He pulled out his cell phone, calling Olivia's, frowning as it went directly to voice mail. Rolling his eyes, he called the Corinthian. "Presidential Suite please, I need to speak to Olivia Greene." He frowned again. "What room has she been moved to? EXCUSE ME?"

Nathan sat up, glaring at Peter's shocked expression. "What?"

"Honeymoon Suite?" Matt looked around, confused. "Why would she be moved to the Honeymoon-" His eyes widened. "-Damn he moves fast!"

Peter hung up the phone. "Apparently Gabriel had them moved to the Honeymoon Suite this evening while they were at the facility." He shook his head. "You don't think-"

"-That lunatic is going to marry her?" Nathan groaned. "God help us all, now that jackass really IS going to be a member of my family."

"We have to stop them." Angela stood up.

"Why?" Peter shrugged, taking a chair and slumping into it. "We're all supposed to start trying to get along and work together to keep Linderman from killing us all, right? The only thing going over to that hotel and busting up their wedding will do is drive them further from us. We can't have that."

"Well, I can't have my daughter rushing into a wedding with someone who less than two months ago was trying to kill my son and granddaughter!" She stormed out of the room. Nathan looked around the room for a moment before grabbing his coat and following his mother.

"Wait!" Peter shook his head. "We need to talk about what I overheard at the facility." He sighed as he pulled out his cell phone. "Olivia is going to need some warning about what's headed her way."

As Peter talked on the phone to the Corinthian staff, Bennet shook his head, looking around the room. "Why do I get the feeling that all of these plans are going to end up falling to shit because of two overly horny people?"

"Don't worry, Dad." Claire grabbed his hand, squeezing it softly. "I have a lot of misgivings about that man being a part of all this, but we all have to remember something."

"What?" Hiro stared at her.

Claire shrugged. "Gabriel has something to lose now too. I don't trust him, I probably never will, but I really do think he's sincere about his feelings for Olivia." She looked around, confused. "Should I call her 'Aunt Olivia' now?"

"Do you call me 'Uncle Peter'?" Peter laughed at her softly as he hung up the phone.

"You've got a point." Claire grinned. "Anyway, I think he's sincere about Olivia and I think that, as long as he's got her, we're not in danger. At least, we're not in danger from him. I know he killed Jackie. I SAW him kill Jackie after he threw me into a wall of lockers, but like I said, he has something to lose now too, just like the rest of us. Maybe we should remember that when we start pointing fingers at him. Maybe we should give him the benefit of the doubt that he is willing to help us and keep us all alive."

"Maybe." Hiro shook his head. "I don't trust him though. I never will. He killed Charlie. He tried to kill Ando. He will have a lot to make up for."

"He seems to be trying." Niki shrugged. "I've seen the two of them together. I remember what he was in Kirby Plaza, I remember how maniacal he looked and acted. I don't see that anymore. Well, there was that time when they were interrogating that thief at the Corinthian, but other than that-"

"-He's had the opportunity to kill plenty of times since Kirby Plaza, the opportunity to go after any one of us, he hasn't taken it." Peter shook his head. "I just keep remembering when Future Hiro told me about the battle in the desert, how we fought side-by-side. I can't stop thinking about that."

Bennet nodded. "Let's table this discussion for later. What did you hear at the facility tonight?"

Peter brushed his bangs back from his face. "It's not huge, but it's something. It's also making my skin crawl remembering it." He took a breath and started talking.

* * *

Olivia whistled as Gabriel stepped out of the bathroom, dressed in his tuxedo. "I have to say, Baby. When you clean up, you clean up so well." She walked to him, running her hands up and down the lapels of the front of the tux. "You should wear this every day."

"Look who's talking about cleaning up." Gabriel took Olivia's hands, holding them out as he stared at her dress. It was a white silk halter dress with a plunging neckline and full floor length skirt. "I have such good taste."

"So do I." Olivia stepped towards him. "God you are such a sexy man." She nibbled on his neck, shivering as his hands stroked her bare back. They started to kiss passionately, then Gabriel stopped her.

"Let's save it for the honeymoon." He winked as he stepped away from her.

"TEASE!" Olivia shook her head as she turned to a mirror.

"I'm only a tease until after the minister leaves, then we're hanging a 'Do Not Disturb' sign on the door and making the New Year's Eve fireworks pale in comparison."

"Ooooh." Olivia glanced at Gabriel in the mirror. "Sounds promising."

"It's more than a promise, it's a vow." Gabriel watched as Olivia tamed her curls, pulling them up into a chignon. "I like that. Leave some ringlets hanging down though. I like to pull them and watch them bounce back."

"You must have really enjoyed Slinkys as a child."

Gabriel laughed. "Yeah, I did." He walked out of the bedroom and sat on the chair in the suite's living room, staring at the door. "Come on minister!"

* * *

Angela and Nathan stormed into the Corinthian and hit a button for an elevator. She glared as a security guard approached them. "May I help you?" She snapped.

"Mrs. Petrelli, Congressman Petrelli, we were warned you may be on the way here."

"By whom?" She glowered.

"Your son, Ma'am." He nodded towards the door. "If you don't mind, I'm going to have to ask you to leave the premises."

"You can ask all you want, we're not leaving." Angela stared at the security officer for a moment as he started to back away.

Suddenly, the officer straightened his spine. "You're right, you're both free to go."

Angela looked around, confused. "What? What did you just say?" She looked at her feet, then held her hands up. "What the hell? How did I?"

Nathan stared at his mother. "Mom, are you feeling okay?" He looked concerned as Angela stared at him, confused.

"How did I end up here?" She looked at the guard. "But that's me, how did I-?"

The guard quickly looked around, pushing them towards the elevator as the door opened. "In you two go. Have a good day." As the doors closed, Angela took a deep breath.

"That was close." She shook her head. "He had a wedgie, I think he was wearing women's underwear. ILL-FITTING women's underwear."

Nathan's eyes widened. "What in the hell did you JUST DO?"

Angela winked. "I got us away from the security guard, so hush."

* * *

Gabriel practically ran to the door as the doorbell rang, smiling as the minister walked into the room. "I'm glad you could come tonight. My fiancée is in the next room getting ready."

"Do you have the documents necessary?" The minister looked pointedly at Gabriel.

"Yep!" He reached into the envelope that he'd picked up at the front desk. "This is my birth certificate and my fiancée's. This is the marriage license, it just needs our signatures and yours."

"Very well." The minister rocked back and forth on his feet for a moment. Gabriel stared at him, then nodded, digging into his coat pocket before handing him a wad of bills. "Excellent." The minister grinned. "Let's get this show on the road."

Gabriel walked over to the bedroom and knocked on the bedroom door. Olivia stepped out, grinning. "Ready?" Olivia nodded and Gabriel took her hand. They walked over to the balcony with the minister and held hands in front of him.

* * *

"Seriously Mom, what happened back there?" Nathan and Angela stepped out of the elevator. Nathan stared at his mother as she scanned the hallway, looking for the honeymoon suite. "Did you just do what I think you just did?"

"Now is not the time for sharing, now is the time for stopping that abortion of a wedding." Angela swept past him, finding the Honeymoon Suite. She knocked on the door insistently. "Answer the damn door you two!"

"They probably went to a wedding chapel down the street. Vegas is crawling with them."

"Then why did the staff want to keep us away from this room?" Angela knocked again, then shook her head. "Break down the door."

"What? No." Nathan shook his head, then gasped as felt a pulling sensation. Suddenly, he realized he was staring at himself. "WHAT IN THE HELL?"

"Nathan" turned to "Angela", rolling his eyes. "We'll discuss this later." He started to throw himself against the door, cursing and grabbing his shoulder. "I thought you were supposed to be tougher than this! GOD! I could knock this door down easier than you, probably!"

Nathan stared at his feet, realizing they were dressed in his mother's pumps. He held out his hands, staring at her own. He widened his eyes. "You can switch bodies! HOLY SHIT!"

"Watch your language." The door flew open and Nathan gasped as he felt another pulling sensation. He looked down and saw his own shoes again. He stared at his mother. "That was sick, even for you."

"Oh hush!" Angela walked into the room, looking around. Her face fell as she noticed the balcony. Olivia and Gabriel were kissing, a man standing in front of them.

"Well you two, you are now Mr. and Mrs. Gabriel Gray." The minister announced. "You sort of jumped the gun on the 'now you may kiss your bride' part, but oh well." He smiled. "Congratulations."

"We're too late." Angela slumped against the couch as Olivia and Gabriel walked back into the room, beaming, the minister following them. "You two got married?"

Olivia smiled. "We did." She leaned against Gabriel as she held out her hand, Gabriel following suit. Each of their ring fingers on their left hands were now adorned with platinum wedding bands.

"God help us." Angela shook her head as the minister left the room. "What were you two thinking?"

"That we're in love, I'm not leaving her and if we can't change the future and only live for less than two years, we're going to spend those next two years as husband and wife." Gabriel winked at her. "So can I start calling you 'Mom' now?"

Nathan shook his head, trying to overcome the shock of realizing his mother's power. He stepped forward, offering his hand to Gabriel. "Welcome to the family." He muttered. He glanced at Olivia as she looked at him, her eyes pleading with his. He mustered up a smile. "Was it too much to ask for her family to be here at least?"

"We didn't want anyone objecting." Gabriel glanced at Angela. "And given her reaction, I think we would have had a lot of that."

"True." Nathan sighed and hugged Olivia, kissing her cheek. "Congratulations."

"Thank you." She whispered. "You two want to stay for champagne?"

"No, that's okay." Nathan stared at his mother, his mind still reeling from the hijacking she'd just performed a few moments earlier. "I think you two should be left alone. Mother?"

Angela stared at him a moment, then turned back to Olivia. She cocked her head to the side, regarding her daughter. "Is this really what you want, to be married to this lunatic?"

Olivia leaned against Gabriel. "Please, our whole family is full of lunatics, what's one more?"

Angela's lips pressed together. "Fine." She glared at Gabriel. "No, I'm not your 'Mom' and I refuse to be called that. You will call me what Olivia calls me."

"Okay, Bitch-Crazy, I think I can do that." Gabriel smiled as Olivia snorted, trying not to laugh. Nathan covered a grin, looking away.

"I hope you two will at least join us at the Bellagio later on. Your brother has some news regarding what he overheard in the facility."

"Actually," Gabriel motioned for everyone to sit. "I overheard it too. Super hearing is a fun thing sometimes. It's interesting the things you overhear." He leaned towards Angela. "Such as overhearing what someone's power is? You try that on me or Olivia, and you'll find yourself scalped."

Angela glared. "What did you hear at the facility?"

"You've been replaced, for one."

"Excuse me?"

"Candice Wilmer is Linderman's new toy, so to speak. They're lovers."

"EW!" Olivia shuddered. "She's younger than I am!"

"That's not all." Gabriel looked at Angela and Nathan. "Peter's story from Future Hiro is right on the money. Linderman's waiting for Olivia to get pregnant and have children before he strikes us all down. After she's had a couple, he's going to send Candice to kill us both and take the children to bring to him. I also overheard something Peter didn't get a chance to."

"What?" Nathan asked.

Gabriel frowned, staring at the floor. "The facility is a ruse. He's already figured out the serum through some lab wherever he is. He was going to have the blood that was in storage at the lab brought to him tomorrow so he could start recruiting people on The List and empowering them."

"So he didn't get a chance to get anyone's blood that was in storage?"

Gabriel shook his head. "Not yet. Peter and D.L. stole it in time. He did say though, that he had a couple of samples already sent to him, but he didn't say whose."

"Oh man." Olivia slumped on the couch. "This isn't good."

"No, it's not." Angela shook her head. "We haven't slowed him down a bit."

Olivia turned to Gabriel. "So much for our honeymoon. We have to get back to Odessa first thing in the morning and perfect our serum right away. They're already ahead of us." Groaning, she leaned forward, resting her forehead against her hands. "If we don't get that serum ready as soon as possible, we're all screwed."

* * *

Coming up in the following chapters:

Mohinder and Gabriel clash as the serum is tested

The Heroes travel the world, recruiting others to their cause, while making horrifying discoveries of how far Linderman is willing to go to stop their recruitments.

Gabriel and Olivia hear heartbreaking and confusing prophesies

Linderman hears a disturbing prophesy as well

New "Heroes" are discovered, with interesting powers (any suggestions? I've thought of a few, but I can always use more ideas!)

The Heroes try to overcome hindrances as they attempt to build an army


	27. Chapter 27

Chapter Twenty-Seven: Last Party, Doubts

Everyone sat around the table at the meeting room in the Bellagio Hotel, their expressions grim as Gabriel repeated his story about what he overheard at the facility. Noah Bennet took off his glasses, regarding the man sitting across from him. Gabriel was slumped in his seat, his tuxedo rumpled as he reached out and took Olivia's hand, studying her wedding and engagement rings. Noah turned to Matt, raising an eyebrow.

"He's telling the truth." Matt nodded.

"Of course I'm telling the truth." Gabriel rolled his eyes. "That's everything I heard, besides Candice trying to rape Peter, of course." He smirked. "That part was entertaining, actually."

"Not for me it wasn't." Peter shook his head. "Olivia, my hat's off to you. I don't know how you put up with that stupid power."

"Not all of it was stupid." D.L. nodded at Olivia. "Peter's learned to control the calming and fear aspects of that power. It got our ass out of a sling with one of the guard dogs. Tell you what, girl. When Mohinder gets that serum up and running, I'll trade you, power for power."

"And what do you intend to do with that power?" Niki raised an eyebrow at her husband.

D.L. grinned. "I could have used it when Jessica was around."

"Back to the matter at hand." Noah sighed. "So Linderman's actually ahead of us. Setting that virus on the facility didn't do anything to slow them down."

"Nope." Gabriel shrugged. "He had it running to get Mohinder's research and make Olivia chase her tail. He has his own lab hidden somewhere and they've got the serum perfected thanks to the research that was sent to them from Mohinder. He's supposed to start trial runs tomorrow and he's already sending out recruiters for the people on The List. We're the one's lagging now."

"So the first thing we need to do is return to Texas tomorrow morning and work day and night in the labs and get our serum ready." Mohinder glanced at Olivia. "Can I count on you to help?"

"I'll do everything I can." Olivia nodded.

Noah turned to Matt. "Would you and Janice mind going ahead to Australia now to start looking for people there?"

Matt turned to his wife. "What do you say?"

Janice nodded. "Sounds good." She rubbed her stomach for a moment. "It's better to do what we have to do before I get too pregnant to travel anywhere."

"That's settled." Noah looked around at the group. "Hiro, Kaito, Ando? Would you three mind going ahead as well? Actually, I think all of the groups, with the exception of Mohinder, Peter, Olivia and Gabriel should go ahead now and start visiting as many people as they can. Document their powers. If they're over eighteen, try and see if they're willing to join with us in stopping Linderman. If they're not willing, at least warn them that Linderman's people may be arriving as well. Warn them that those people may not be as kind in their request."

"You think he'll kill anyone who refuses to join him?" Ando asked.

Bennet nodded. "Yeah, I do. If they're not for him, they're against him." He turned to Claire. "Claire-Bear, I think you, Molly and Lyle need to stay in Texas. You're practically an adult now, do you think you can hold down the fort until your mother and I return from Europe?"

Claire smiled. "I think we can manage."

"Good. Mohinder and Peter will be in town if you need anything."

"And we'll be checking in on you daily." Peter winked. "So no big parties, unless we're invited too."

"No big parties, period." Noah put his glasses back on and mock-glared at Peter. "Everyone at first will need to check in daily with Mohinder. Let him know what's going on, who they've recruited, basically any news you have to report. The first group to finish will return here and then Olivia and Gabriel will go to the Caribbean and Cuba and then when Sandra, Claude and I return, Mohinder and Peter will head down to Mexico and work their way south from there. Any questions?" No one answered. "Then let's get started first thing in the morning."

"I'll go ahead and make the calls for different flights." Olivia rubbed her temples.

"You can do that in the morning." Hiro stood up and walked to a window, looking out onto the street. "I think that tonight, we should party."

"What?" Olivia stared at him, smiling softly.

Hiro turned. "One last big party, for New Year's, your wedding reception and-" he cocked his head to the side for a moment "-to blow off steam."

"One last big hurrah before we have to put our noses to the grindstone for the next two years." Peter grinned. "Sounds like fun."

"What party do we go to?" Mohinder looked around at everyone.

"Bloody hell, are you serious?" Claude stood up and joined Hiro at the window. "Just look at what's going on out there, Las Vegas is one BIG party!" He clapped the smaller man on the shoulder. "Great idea!"

"Thank you." Hiro bowed to him.

Everyone looked at everyone else around the table, their eyes meeting as they all began to smile.

* * *

"Well, this wasn't exactly the way I imagined us spending the night we got married, but it'll do." Gabriel smiled as he and Olivia danced together in the Bellagio ballroom. 

Olivia glanced around the room at everyone. Among other party revelers, Noah and Sandra were slow dancing together, along with Niki and D.L., Matt and Janice, and Heidi and Nathan. Peter was leaning against a wall, talking to Claire and Lyle while Angela and Kaito sat at a table with Monty, Simon, Molly and Micah. Angela and Kaito appeared to be deep in conversation, remembering old times. Ando and Hiro were at the bar, drinking with Mohinder. "Everyone else looks like they're having a good time." Olivia mused.

"Weren't there a couple of other people around here somewhere?" Gabriel looked around the room. "The Israeli woman and that British guy who turns invisible?"

"Yeah." Olivia glanced around the room again. "Where did they-?" She turned to Gabriel, giggling. "You don't think-?"

"-Ya think?" Gabriel shrugged. "If so, good for them." He leaned down and kissed his wife.

Suddenly, they both looked up at a cracking sound. Hana and Claude materialized a few feet away as Hana stomped away, cursing in her native tongue. Claude rubbed his cheek, a red mark appearing on it as he called after Hana. "So I got a LITTLE handsy! You can't blame a bloke for tryin'!" He glanced over at Peter, grinning before he strolled over to the bar, sitting beside Hiro as he ordered a beer.

"That one's going to be trouble." Gabriel laughed softly as he looked down at Olivia. "Don't spend too much time alone with him."

"I already have. My ass was black and blue from his pinching until I finally turned around and kicked him in the shins. For someone who claims to enjoy being alone, he seems pretty fired up about finding someone to be 'alone' with."

"Even the biggest loners get tired of it after a while." Gabriel rested his forehead against Olivia's. "God knows I got sick of it, no matter how many times I told myself that I was better off."

"You're not going to start singing about people needing people and how they're the luckiest people, are you?" Olivia cocked an eyebrow at him. "I'd hate to think how I'd explain that in the annulment papers that I'd file after you pulled that."

"You think you're so cute." Gabriel teased.

"I KNOW I am." Olivia rested her head on her husband's shoulder. "I really do think it's time for us to slip away. We've had our hands shaken, I've had my cheeks kissed and Claude tried to pinch another cheek before I slapped his hand, we've been given champagne and toasted, albeit reluctantly by most of the group. I think we should find a way to quietly leave, head back to our honeymoon suite at the Corinthian and ring in the New Year, just the two of us."

"I love the way you think." Gabriel took Olivia's hand and they quickly exited the ballroom, unseen by anyone. As they hailed a cab, they could hear everyone counting down the new year in the ballroom and around the city. As everyone started cheering, Olivia curled up against her new husband in the taxi, resting her head on his shoulder.

"Happy New Year." She whispered.

"Happy New Year." Gabriel wrapped his arms around her and kissed her.

* * *

The next week flew by as all of the adults, with the exception of Mohinder, Peter, Olivia and Gabriel planned their trips. Matt and Janice were flown to Sydney to start looking for people on The List from Australia. Hiro, Kaito, and Ando returned to Japan to start traveling Asia. Hana flew to Israel to start looking for people in the Middle East. Nathan, Angela, Heidi and the boys flew back to New York. While Nathan was in session in Washington, Angela and Heidi planned on covering the eastern U.S. Niki and D.L. agreed that, during the week, they'd take turns traveling the western U.S., with the entire family searching on weekends. With a lot of hugs and "be carefuls" from their children, Noah and Sandra boarded a plane with Claude to start searching Europe. 

Gabriel arrived late in the afternoon at the former Primatech building, grimacing as he remembered his imprisonment there. He touched the back of his head, where a shunt had once been, injecting chemicals into his brain. It always gave him the creeps when he came here now, even though he was now allowed access in and out of the place.

"At least I was never a prisoner here." Peter climbed out of the passenger side of the car, carrying two cups of coffee from the Burnt Toast Diner. "I don't even want to know what that was like."

Gabriel turned to Peter. "You do realize how irritating that mind reading can be sometimes, right?"

Peter laughed softly. "So I've been told." He looked at the cups that Gabriel had been carrying, now resting on the hood of the car. "So are we going to take this in?"

Gabriel nodded, grabbing the coffee. "They're the scientists-"

"-And we're the gophers, for now." Peter grinned. "I don't know about you, but I'll be glad when they get this serum finished. Then we can start our own searches. I have a feeling that you and Liv will probably use your time in the Caribbean as a honeymoon as well as a search."

"Maybe." Gabriel shrugged. "It will be nice to have some alone time with her. She's been working here more than she did at St. Ignacious, if that's even possible." He and Peter started walking towards the building. "I showed up here at 2 a.m. because she hadn't come home. She was asleep at the damn computer."

"Once they get this serum perfected-"

"-She'll test it on herself." Gabriel's jaw tightened.

"She'll be okay. Mohinder's not going to let her test herself on something that he isn't sure is completely ready."

"Why do you think that?"

Peter shrugged uncomfortably. "He's too ethical to do something that he knows will end up hurting her."

"Even if it's to get back at me?" Gabriel glared at Peter.

Peter stopped in his tracks. "You know, we're trying, okay? We're trying to accept you and put the things you've done in the back of our minds. You have to meet us halfway, though. Mohinder's a good man. He's not going to put Olivia in jeopardy just to get back at you for killing his father. He-"

"-He's in love with her." Gabriel walked down the hall of the building. "Go ahead, say it. I've seen the way he looks at her too."

"He's not going to try anything. She's married."

"Yeah, to me." Gabriel nodded. "He tries anything-"

"-He won't." Peter rolled his eyes. "I knew you were psychotic, but I didn't realize that you were paranoid and overly jealous on top of everything else. Besides, what IF he tries anything. You trust Olivia, don't you? Even if Mohinder hits on her, you know she'll put him in his place. In case you've been too busy watching Mohinder watch Olivia, perhaps you haven't noticed the way she looks at YOU. As far as she's concerned, everyone else around here is either a girl, her brother or neutered."

Gabriel shrugged. "I wouldn't say neutered."

"Really? Mohinder might as well be a sexless Ken doll, for all the interest she shows him."

"They've got a lot in common. They're both doctors."

"Yeah, she's an M.D., he's a PhD. It's not like they're going to bond over whipples or appendectomies or anything. They're just working together to figure out how to get this stupid-ass serum ready to go. You've really got to get a grip. She wants YOU, Gabe. Not Mohinder, not Claude, not Matt or D.L. or Noah, YOU. What's with you?"

"Nothing." Gabriel nodded at Olivia and Mohinder as they walked into the computer lab. Olivia was standing behind Mohinder as he worked on the computer, leaning over him as they stared at the display screen. Gabriel's eyes narrowed as he noticed Olivia's hand resting on Mohinder's shoulder. He cleared his throat as Peter rolled his eyes. "We're back with the coffee."

Olivia turned, her face lighting up as her eyes met Gabriel's. She half-ran to him, taking the coffee out of his hands and setting it on a table before throwing her arms around his neck, kissing him. "Who cares about the coffee? I'm just glad you came back." She placed her palms against his chest, smiling up at him. "I'm sorry about dozing off last night again."

"I know." Gabriel took her hands, kissing them both before stepping past her. "So how's the research going?" He walked to Mohinder, standing behind him.

Mohinder glanced over at Gabriel nervously. "It's going very well. I think we may be ready to test the serum soon."

"Okay." Gabriel glanced at Olivia as she walked over to him, drinking her coffee. "It'll be great to have this finished so I can have my wife back."

"You'll always have me." Olivia rested her head on his shoulder as she handed him one of the cups of coffee.

"Coffee?" Peter handed Mohinder one of the cups he was holding, a look passing between the two of them. _"It might be wise if you convince her to leave at a decent time tonight. Someone's getting jealous. I don't think we'll like him when he's jealous."_

Mohinder nodded. "Coffee is always good." He began to sip it as he glanced again at Peter. _"YOU try convincing her to get out of here at a decent hour. She's obsessed with getting this done. I thought I was dogged about this."_ He turned back to his computer screen. "I think with my paperwork that you were given from the future, we should be ready to test the serum in just a few days." He glanced at Peter again. _"Actually, it's ready now. Olivia is planning to tell Gabriel that we're testing it first thing tomorrow morning."_

Peter nodded. "Good news." He sipped his coffee, his eyes meeting his sister's. Olivia winked at him as she snuggled up to her husband. "Very good news."

Mohinder turned to Olivia and Gabriel. "Actually, if you two would rather spend some time alone tonight, I can finish up here before Peter and I go to check on everything at the Bennet house."

Olivia looked up at Gabriel. "That is a wonderful idea. It's actually the best you've had in a while." She wiggled her eyebrows suggestively. "How's that sound to you, Hubby? I know I've been neglecting you since our wedding night. Want to relive it the way you originally had planned?"

Gabriel stared down at her, his tension slowly easing as he saw the look on her face that Peter had been describing. He smiled and turned to Mohinder. "You don't mind if steal Dr. Gray away for a while?"

"Not at all." Mohinder shook his head.

"Good. Because I think I would, even if you DID mind." Gabriel kissed his wife's forehead. "Let's head out for the night."

"Great." Olivia winked at Mohinder and Peter. "I'll see you both tomorrow, bright and early." She took her husband's hand and let him lead her out of the building.

* * *

Gabriel sat in a chair, staring out of the window of their small hotel room in Odessa, Texas. It was late at night. He and Olivia had spent most of the evening in bed together, making love. After she'd finally gone to sleep, he had climbed out of bed into the chair, where he sat now. He turned to his wife as she stirred in bed, sitting up to see him. "You're out of bed." 

"Yeah." Gabriel shrugged and looked out of the window again.

"Something's wrong." Olivia grabbed her ratty UGA tee shirt, pulling it on before she climbed out of bed and climbed into Gabriel's lap. "What is it?"

"Nothing." Gabriel lied.

"Don't tell me that." Olivia reached out, taking his hand in hers. She studied his wedding ring and stretched her hand out until they were palm to palm. "You've been distant the last few days."

"You're one to talk."

"I know. I get obsessive over stuff. I'm obsessed with getting this serum ready. I want to catch up to Linderman and surpass him. I don't want him to have an advantage over us for any longer than we can help it. I haven't been here with you much, I know this. Please don't shut me out though."

"If there were no such thing as super powers, if nobody had them and we ran into each other on the street or came into your E.R., who would you have fallen for, me or Mohinder?"

Olivia sat up, staring at Gabriel in shock. "What?"

"You heard me."

"Fine." Olivia sighed. "I would have fallen for you."

"I doubt that."

"Why?"

"Mohinder is a doctor, like you are. I was just a watchmaker in Brooklyn. What would a surgical resident in Queens, with a pedigree like yours want in a mutt like me?" Gabriel looked at her, his eyes dark. "You told me, the reason you fell for me was because you saw me in Kirby Plaza, fighting with Peter. You were attracted to me because I was dark and dangerous. Before I became Sylar, I was boring Gabriel Gray. I lived alone in Brooklyn, working on timepieces. I didn't go out, I didn't have any close friends, I occasionally visited my mother in Queens, but only when I had to-"

"-Okay, stop right there." Olivia turned in Gabriel's lap, straddling him. She cradled his face in her hands, shaking her head. "First of all, my 'pedigree' is shit, okay? I was the adopted daughter of two wealthy people with a lot of money that I only got because they were killed. I am the bastard of a lunatic with serious power hunger issues and a control-freak mother. I didn't have any close friends either and until just a few weeks ago, I didn't have any family that I acknowledged. Yes, the thing that first attracted me to you was your dark and dangerous nature, but what keeps me around is what's underneath that. You have a good heart, and you have good intentions, you are just as starved for love and attention as I am. I think if we didn't have powers and you showed up in my E.R. and I ended up treating you, I would have been just as drawn to you then as I was at Kirby Plaza, but for totally different reasons. I would have recognized a lot of myself in you, I think. If Mohinder had come into my E.R., I would have flirted and sent him home. The only thing that Mohinder and I have in common is this project. You and I might as well have been made for each other." She leaned down, kissing him softly. "I probably would have slipped you my number and hoped you'd call me after you were treated and discharged."

"I probably wouldn't have called." Gabriel kissed her back. "I wasn't very good with women. If I'd shown up in your E.R. and you flirted with me, I would have just thought you were being nice."

"Even if I slipped you my phone number?" Olivia nibbled on his neck.

"Well." Gabriel began to breathe hard, his hands sliding under her tee shirt. "I would have thought you were kidding around or something."

Olivia pulled her shirt off. "What if I stopped by your shop a few days later, just to make sure you were okay after your visit and urged you to call me personally if there was anything you needed?"

Gabriel kissed her breasts. "I would have thought you were a caring doctor, going above and beyond for a patient."

"And if I continued to stop by, suddenly breaking my watch all the time?"

"I would have thought you were seriously accident-prone." Gabriel stood up with Olivia in his arms, carrying her towards the bed.

"Fine." Olivia rolled her eyes as Gabriel lay her back on the bed, climbing on top of her. "What if I finally got tired of dropping hints that you weren't picking up on and just asked you out?"

"I would have turned you down." Gabriel kissed her. "I would have wondered what a pretty doctor saw in an insignificant watchmaker."

Olivia ran her fingers through his hair. "Then I guess it's a good thing we met how we did, because I would have been terribly hurt at being turned down, I would have left your shop and never returned, pining away for the adorable watchmaker for the rest of my life."

"That would have been very tragic." Gabriel nuzzled her neck as he entered her, moaning softly as Olivia dug her nails into his back. "God, I love you." He whispered.

"I love you too." Olivia touched his face, making him look into her eyes as they moved together. "I can't imagine not being with you."

"Me either." He kissed her. "I love you so much."

They moved together, their bodies rocking slowly until they finally moaned, reaching their climaxes. Olivia curled up beside him after he rolled off of her, his breath coming in gasps. "I have to tell you something."

"What?" He pulled her closer, kissing her.

"The serum's ready. I'm getting injected with it first thing in the morning."

Gabriel sat up, staring at Olivia. "No."

"Yes." Olivia nodded. "We have to see if this works. I have to do this."

"WHY YOU?" Gabriel climbed out of the bed, pacing the floor. "Why can't someone else do it?"

"Why should I subject someone else to this?" Olivia sat up. "Honey, please listen to me-"

"-No." Gabriel shook his head. "I saw what happens when that serum goes wrong." He turned to his wife. "You're going to die."

"No I'm not." Olivia shook her head. "Mohinder wouldn't let me do this unless he was absolutely certain that it was ready."

"You two have been rushing this, it's not ready."

"It IS!"

"How do you know?"

"I just do." Olivia smiled softly. "I have faith."

Gabriel closed his eyes, leaning against a wall. "You and your damn faith." He opened his eyes, glaring at his wife. "Promise me that you won't explode or melt."

"I promise." Olivia crossed her heart and kissed her pinky, holding it up. "See? I crossed my heart AND pinky-swore on it." She rubbed the mattress beside her. "Please come to bed. I need to rest for the morning and I want you to get some rest too. I want you there when it happens."

Gabriel sighed and climbed into bed beside her. He wrapped his arms around her, burying his face in her hair. "If anything happens to you-"

"-The only thing that's going to happen is that I'm going to start walking through walls after tomorrow morning, that's all." She looked up at him. "Everything is going to be okay."

* * *

Ready to meet some new "Heroes"? Apparently some of you had very similar ideas to mine, you'll see what I mean. In the upcoming chapters, you're going to meet seven interesting individuals: Sherry Bombano (guess what that power is? Look at the name) from Newark, Herbert Osgood II (Another hint: look at his initials) from Dover, Russ Parkins from Melbourne, and the Urovitch family: Viktor and his children Nikolai, Nathalia and Tatiana from Prague. (Don't get too attached to some of them) 


	28. Chapter 28

Chapter Twenty-Eight: The Australian Dr. Doolittle, The Serum is Tested

Matt and Janice pulled up at the address they'd written down on a piece of paper and stared at the building. "Dr. Russ Parkins, DVM." Matt nodded. "Apparently this is the guy."

"And he's a vet." Janice and Matt climbed out of their rental car and headed up the steps leading to Dr. Parkins' office. They knocked on the door and walked in.

"Sorry, I'm closed!" They heard a man's voice with a thick Australian accent calling to them from another room over the din of dogs barking and cats meowing. Janice and Matt looked at each other for a moment as they heard the man speaking to the animals in the other room. "There, there now Roxie, yer stitches'll come out in a week or two. No need for all this fuss, just relax in yer cage for the night. Yer mum and dad'll be on their way by in the morning to pick you up and you'll be sittin' in the lap of luxury, gettin' spoiled rotten until yer feelin' betta. And the upshot is Babe, you don't have'ta worry about all those rotten bastard boy dogs tryin' to get a little from you. Charlie, Charlie, stop that yowlin'. I know yer paws hurt, but think on it this way, now yer mum won't be threatenin' to send you to the pound for clawin' up her furniture." The looked towards the door as a man walked through it, dressed in a white coat. He was short and attractive, with curly sandy blond hair and pale blue eyes that twinkled as he smiled at the couple. "G'day. I'm Dr. Parkins. Sorry, but I'm closed." He looked around the room. "But you didn't bring a pet in, did'ja?"

"No, sorry." Matt shook his head as he held out his hand. "I'm Matthew Parkman and this is my wife Janice. We're from Greene Technologies in the United States."

"Oh?" Russ shook Matt's hand. "Long way from home aint'cha?"

"Yes, we are." Matt smiled. "Could we have a moment of your time."

"I guess. I've just got to finish up the back an' I'll be with you two in just a sec." Russ nodded at Janice as he walked into the back of his offices again. "Missus."

"So what do you think his power is?" Janice asked her husband.

Matt strained, listening to Russ' mind. "I know what it is." He laughed softly. "He's talking to the animals."

"What?" Janice grinned at him.

"Yeah!" Matt nodded. "He's talking out loud to them, but at the same time, he's having mental conversations with them, kind of like what Olivia and Peter can do, only with animals instead of humans. I'm getting gibberish from the animals' ends, but he apparently understands them very well and they seem to understand him."

"Interesting." Janice sat in a chair in the waiting room. "An Australian Dr. Doolittle."

* * *

Olivia and Gabriel climbed out of their car at the old Primatech building. Olivia smiled nervously at Gabriel. "It's now or never." She grabbed her purse and walked inside, Gabriel following her.

"Are you SURE that no one else can be tested with this first?" Gabriel caught up to Olivia, grabbing her hand and squeezing it tightly.

"I'm sure." Olivia squeezed his hand back as they walked into the building. "Who else would we test it on?"

"I'll do it." Gabriel nodded as Olivia stared at him. "I mean it. I'd rather take this bullet than let you do it. Besides, YOU'RE the damn doctor! What if something goes wrong and they NEED a doctor?"

"Peter's a nurse-"

"-That's not the same as a doctor-"

"-and he can keep me stabilized in case something goes wrong long enough to get me to an emergency room if they have to. I've been going over this with him for a week. He's trained in ACLS." She looked at Gabriel's confused expression. "Advanced Cardiac Life Support. We've got all of the medical equipment in that lab that is necessary to keep me alive in case something happens."

"Do they have something to put you back together again if you explode or melt?"

"That's not going to happen." Olivia and Gabriel made their way down to the testing lab. Mohinder and Peter were waiting for them, their expressions nervous but excited. Olivia grinned at them. "It's show time!"

* * *

"So you talk to animals." Matt said to Russ as he returned to the waiting room.

Russ looked at him nervously for a moment, then laughed softly. "Who doesn't talk to animals? I mean, they're pretty good listeners, even if they don't talk back. Right?"

"No." Matt smiled. "You 'talk' to animals, with your mind."

Russ' eyes narrowed. "What's goin' on here? Who sent you?"

"Like I said, my wife and I are from Greene Technologies-"

"-Yeah, yeah, but what's this all about?"

Matt took a deep breath. "I have a special ability, like you do. I'm with a group of people who have special abilities. It's come to our attention that there is another man-"

"-Does he have special abilities too?" Russ' tone was mocking.

"Yes." Matt sighed. "Look, I know you think I'm nuts-"

"-Got that right, Mate-"

"-In fact, you were just thinking 'this bloody sod's got less than a minute before I throw him out on his arse, and his wifey along with him', so if you'd let me finish." He stared at Russ as Russ' eyes widened. "I read minds, okay? Anyway, there's another man with abilities as well. He's not a good man. He wants to control the world, basically, and he's going around the world, just like my wife, my colleagues and I are, trying to recruit people to help him do that. The group that my wife and I are with is trying to recruit people to our side to stop him. Are you in?"

Russ stared at him. "You bloody jokin'?" He looked at Janice. "Your husband on the drugs?"

Janice shook her head. "He's really not. You should meet the people we're with. We have telepaths, emopaths, telekinetics, a person who can regenerate tissue, another man who can make himself invisible, a woman with super strength-"

"-Interestin'." Russ sighed. "So how would a man who talks to animals fit in with a group like that, eh? Let me guess, when you got ready to fight this big bad special man, you'd expect me to what, call in a bunch of wolves to jump him?" He laughed softly. "Sorry Mates, you've got the wrong bloke. I don't SUMMON animals, I talk to 'em when they're in the vicinity, and I'd never get 'em hurt by tryin' to sic 'em on some stupid arse. That's what makes me a good vet. I can calm 'em down, find out what's wrong with 'em. That wouldn't help you in a fight and besides, I like me practice, I like helpin' animals and I'm not in the mood to drop everything, abandon me practice and move halfway across the world, even if it were for a good cause."

"If you'd just listen for a moment-"

"-I've listened and I've made up me mind. Thanks, but no thanks. I've got nothin' to offer you good people and you've got nothin' to offer me." He held out his hand. "Thanks for stoppin' by though."

Matt sighed and shook Russ' hand. "Thanks for listening. If you change your mind, just call this number." Matt pulled out a notepad and wrote the number for his satellite phone down on it. "I also think you should know, this man is traveling the world with his people as well. He may stop in here."

"I'll tell 'im same as I told you good people, I'm not interested."

"He may not take 'no' for an answer." Matt nodded sadly. "If you need us, please don't hesitate to call."

"Will do." Russ stared at the phone number for a moment, and folded it up, placing the note in his pocket. "Cheers, you two."

"Okay." Matt turned to Janice as she stood. "Ready to go?" Janice nodded and they headed towards the door. "Remember, if you need anything at all."

"I'll call you or yer mates straightaway." Russ nodded. "Mr. Parkman? Fight the good fight and kick that bad guy's arse when the time comes, eh?"

Matt grinned. "That's what we're planning on doing."

* * *

Olivia was lying on an exam table, dressed in a hospital gown with electrodes attached to her head and chest, monitoring her EEG and EKG. A blood pressure cuff was attached to her arm to monitor her blood pressure. She grimaced as Peter started an I.V. on her. "Sorry." Peter looked over at his sister. "It's been a few months since I've done this."

"It's okay." Olivia glanced over at Gabriel. Her husband was pacing in the observation room beside the lab. "He's so worried about me."

"He's not the only one." Peter brushed his bangs out of his eyes as he hooked her I.V. to a bag of saline fluid. "Liv, I really don't think this is the best idea. What if something goes wrong? You're the doctor, for crying out loud."

"And you're a nurse and I trust you to know what to do if something DOES go wrong." She smiled softly at her brother. "But I think everything is going to end up alright."

"I hope so, for your sake." He nodded over at Gabriel. "And for his." He grabbed a syringe. "Ready to get extremely relaxed?"

"That's the Versed?" Peter nodded as Olivia sighed. "Okay." Peter started to inject the drug into her I.V. "Wait." Peter stopped as Olivia turned to him, her eyes turning pale blue. "The two patients I saw receiving this treatment had seizures. Make sure you have Valium or Ativan ready, just in case. It would suck to survive this only to have brain damage from extensive seizure activity."

"You already told me and it's already here."

"And you have a crash cart?"

Peter nodded at the red cart behind him, a defibrillator resting on top of it. "Standing by."

"Okay." Olivia closed her eyes. "Go ahead."

Peter injected the drug and watched as Olivia's body went slack. Her eyes narrowed to slits as she sighed deeply. "How's that working for you?"

"Not bad." She slurred. "Not bad at all."

Peter stared at a monitor, watching her EEG. "Yeah, you're pretty damn relaxed alright." He nodded to Mohinder. "Ready to try this?"

"Yes." Mohinder turned to a video camera, set up on a tripod. He turned it on and took a deep breath. "It is January 9th, 2007 at 10:00 am. Subject is a twenty-eight year old Caucasian female. She has been consciously sedated with Versed and will be given the serum momentarily." He turned to Olivia. "Are you sure about this?"

"Mmmmm-hmmmm." Olivia sighed. "Sock it to me, Mo."

Mohinder laughed nervously, glancing behind his back at Gabriel for a moment. Gabriel had stopped pacing the room and was standing completely still behind the glass, his hands clenched into fists by his side as he watched the goings-on in the room intensely. "Let's do this." He took Olivia's I.V. and began to inject the serum into her, his eyes never leaving the monitors displaying her vital signs. As soon as the serum was in, he stepped back, watching nervously. After thirty seconds had passed, Mohinder released the breath he was holding. "Okay, it's going well so far."

No sooner had he spoken those words than Olivia's eyes flew open. Suddenly she arched her back on the table and started screaming before she began to seize. Mohinder, Gabriel and Peter all started screaming with her, clutching their heads as their minds were assaulted by painful images: flying glass in darkness, a car rolling over and over, heart-wrenching screams, hearing the sickening crunches of bones and metal before seeing a brilliant explosion of fire. "What in the hell is she doing?" Mohinder moaned as he dug his fingers into his temples, doubling over in pain.

Peter struggled against the pain to grab a syringe. "Reliving the worst moment of her life apparently and broadcasting it to us with her telepathy!" He moaned as he quickly injected her I.V. with another sedative to alleviate her seizures. The moment the drug kicked in, their minds cleared. "Oh thank God." Peter sighed as he shook his head. "I was expecting a lot of things, but I wasn't expecting that." He looked at his sister, his heart sinking to see that she was still in the throes of a seizure. "Oh come on, Olivia!" He grabbed another syringe, injecting her again as Gabriel came tearing into the room.

"WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING TO HER? WHAT IN THE FUCK WAS THAT?" Gabriel rushed to his wife's side as her body shook violently with seizure after seizure. "Stop her, dammit!"

"I'm trying!" Peter fought tears as he stared at Olivia's EEG and EKG, both were starting to flat line. "If I give her anything else for the seizures, she'll overdose and die."

"Olivia!" Gabriel stroked his wife's forehead, his expression desperate. "Olivia, please!"

"I'll try one more dose." Peter grabbed a syringe, just as Olivia's vital signs bottomed out and her monitors started beeping. "SHIT!"

"What did you do?" Gabriel looked up at Peter, his eyes blazing.

"NOTHING! She just went into cardiac arrest!" Peter started chest compressions on Olivia as Mohinder grabbed a portable ventilator, placing it over Olivia's mouth and nose to force oxygen into her lungs. "Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit." Peter chanted as he pushed on his sister's chest. Gabriel backed away from them, his eyes filling with tears. When he backed into the wall, his legs gave out. He slid down the wall, pulling his knees to his chest as he watched his brother-in-law perform CPR on his wife. Peter turned to the crash cart. "Gabriel, we're going to need your help. Please come over here and do chest compressions while I get the drugs ready." He turned to see his brother-in-law curled up on the floor, his face buried in his knees as he cried. "GABRIEL!" Gabriel looked up at him, tears streaming down his cheeks. "Get up here and help us save your wife, dammit!" Gabriel stared at him, his expression blank. Peter cursed under his breath and stomped over to the man, hauling him up and shoving him towards Olivia. "If you want her to live, you're going to have to help us." He placed Gabriel's hands on Olivia's chest. "Push down hard, not enough to crack her sternum, but enough to pump her heart, can you do that?" Gabriel nodded and started to do chest compressions as Peter began to rummage through the crash cart, pulling out a syringe. "Lidocaine." He injected it into Olivia's I.V. and then waited a moment as Gabriel continued to pump on her chest. "Hold on." He stopped Gabriel, watching Olivia's EKG. It was still flat lined. "Continue." Gabriel continued the compressions as Peter grabbed a syringe of nitroglycerine and injected it into the I.V. He waited a moment, then stopped Gabriel again, checking her EKG. He shook his head again and grabbed a defibrillator, placing it on his sister's chest. "Clear! Everyone off?" He looked at Mohinder and Gabriel as they backed away, then pushed the button on the paddles, sending electricity through Olivia's body. Olivia suddenly gasped, her eyes fluttering as the EKG machine began beat steadily with her heart. Peter and Mohinder breathed a sigh of relief as Peter checked her pulse. "It's going fast, but it's going strong." He leaned against the crash cart, pushing his bangs out of his eyes. "I don't want to do that again, EVER."

Gabriel stepped forward, taking Olivia's hand. "She's back?" He choked back a sob as Peter nodded and buried his face in his wife's chest. "Oh thank God." He whispered.

"So now we just have to wait and see if the serum worked." Mohinder whispered.

"WHAT?" Gabriel lifted his head, glaring at Mohinder. "My wife's heart just stopped fucking beating and you're worried about seeing if your stupid-ass serum WORKED?" Before Peter could stop him, Gabriel flew at Mohinder, tackling him. They fell to the ground together, Gabriel punching wildly at Mohinder. Peter jumped into the fray, trying to pull Gabriel off of the scientist. "You and your stupid serum! Damn you and Olivia! Both of you working day and night and then you ALLOWED her to do this! You couldn't stop her? WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL HER NO WHEN SHE VOLUNTEERED FOR THIS?" Finally, Peter summoned Niki's super-strength and pulled Gabriel away, holding him back as Mohinder slowly got to his feet, his face bruised and bleeding.

"This isn't helping!" Peter tightened his grip on Gabriel's arms as he struggled against him.

"Why didn't YOU try and stop her?" Gabriel looked over at his wife as she lay motionless on the table, her chest rising and falling with each breath. "Damn her stubborn streak! Damn her plans and her pride and her guilt! You could have stopped her, both of you?"

"No we couldn't have." Mohinder sniffled, wiping away the blood that was trickling from her nose. "If you couldn't stop her, what makes you think we could have?" He looked over at her. "I've spent all week begging her to find another volunteer, she wouldn't hear of it. You of all people know how she gets when she gets an idea in her head."

Gabriel sagged against Peter. "I know." He shrugged Peter's hands off of him and walked to the exam table, taking Olivia's hand in his. "As soon as she recovers, I'm kicking her ass."

"I'll help." Peter laughed softly. He studied her vital signs. "Everything looks good, including her EEG. Her vitals are strong. As soon as all of the sedatives wear off, she should come around."

"And then she'll wish she was still under." Gabriel looked up as Mohinder brought a stool for him. "Thanks. Sorry about that-" He nodded towards Mohinder's head.

"-At least you didn't staple me to the ceiling this time." Mohinder sighed. "I worry about her too."

"I know. You love her." Gabriel sat down, Olivia's hand still in his as he stroked her arm. "Come on, Baby. Wake up."

* * *

Olivia began to slowly come around a couple of hours later. Gabriel, Peter and Mohinder stood over her as her eyes fluttered open, closed, then opened wide to see everyone standing over her. She swallowed, grimacing. "I bit my tongue."

"You had a seizure." Peter looked at her sternly. "A few of them, actually."

"How are you feeling, Baby?" Gabriel squeezed her hand.

Olivia tried to sit up, then clutched her head. "Oh God."

"Headache?" Gabriel asked. Olivia nodded and he smirked. "Good, I hope it's a skull-splitter."

Olivia rolled over, clutching her head, then quickly began to try and scramble off of the bed. As the men tried to stop her, she crawled to the foot of the bed and started to vomit. When she was finished, she clung to the rails of the bed, moaning. "I feel like shit." She muttered.

"Now you know how we all felt when your damn heart stopped." Gabriel rubbed her back. "Come on, lie back down."

"My heart stopped?" Olivia stared at him, confused.

"Yeah. You had seizures, you used your telepathy to make the three of us wish we were having one too when you started reliving that car accident you were in and broadcasting it to us, then you stopped breathing and your heart stopped. Peter had to shock you to bring you back while Mohinder and I did CPR." Gabriel gently pushed Olivia back against the pillow on the bed. "I hope that phasing power works and I hope you enjoy it because this is the last time you're going through this. I personally would rather eat brains than do this myself."

"Holy shit." Olivia lay back against the pillows. "I did all that?"

"Yeah, along with taking at least ten years off of our lives in the process. You scared all of us, Olivia."

"Sorry." She closed her eyes. "So did it work?"

"Excuse me?" Gabriel stared at her.

"The serum. Did it work?"

"I don't know." Gabriel stared at Peter, exasperated. "Can you believe this woman? We tell her what happens and all she wants to know is did it work."

Olivia opened one eye and focused on her husband. "What happened sucked, but it would suck that much more if I did it for nothing." She sat back up, taking a deep breath. "Come on, let's test it out."

"You really should rest." Mohinder nodded at her.

"I've been resting long enough." She lowered the rails on one side of the bed and climbed off of it, with Gabriel holding her up. He led her to a wall and watched as she stared at it, then reached her hand out. Biting her lip nervously, she placed her hand against the wall and frowned as it rested against it. She frowned, concentrating on her hand and the wall and grinned as her hand slid through the wall. "HOT DAMN!"

Gabriel nodded. "Enjoy it. I meant what I said. I'm not going through this again with you."

"Right, okay." Olivia stepped away from Gabriel and walked towards the wall. Everyone heard her giggling as she walked through it, then returned to the room, grinning as she walked back and forth through the wall. Mohinder and Peter started clapping as Gabriel shook his head, his arms crossed in front of his chest. Olivia looked over at Gabriel, winking. "I'd say the serum's a success!"

"Say all you want, you're not getting another dose." Gabriel mock-glared at her.

"No one will until I figure out how to stop the seizure activity and cardiac arrest from happening." Mohinder nodded. "But I have to say, this is a very encouraging start."

* * *

The next day, Janice and Matt were packing in their hotel room, preparing for the next leg of their journey. Matt turned to his satellite phone as it began to ring. He picked it up. "Hello?"

"Hey! Parkman? Is that you?" Matt's eyes widened as he heard the familiar thick Aussie accent. "It's Dr. Parkins!"

"Dr. Parkins, hello!" Matt concentrated, trying to hear as Russ' voice began to fade in and out. "Where are you? What's happening?"

"I need help! Some men came to the clinic, not an hour after you and yer wife left, tryin' to get me to join that Linderman bloke's side! When I refused, they shot at me! I got away, but I got shot! It's not bad, just a flesh wound in the arm! They chased me, but I think I've got the drop on 'em for now! Anyway, I'm under a bridge, near the Yarra River! Any chance you can come'n find me? I've been runnin' all night, but they keep showin' up wherever I am! Please come and get me!"

"I'm on the way. Which side of the bridge are you on?" Matt's eyes widened as Russ started screaming, then gasped as he heard more gunshots and a gurgling sound. "RUSS? RUSS!" He glanced at Janice, his eyes filled with terror as he heard someone pick up the phone and listen. "Russ, is that you?"

"So sorry, Mr. Parkman." A girlish voice spoke into the phone. "I'm afraid Dr. Parkins isn't going to be joining your side. Goodbye now." Matt's heart began to pound as the voice giggled before the phone went dead.

Matt turned to Janice. "He's dead."

"What?" Janice stood up, her hands flying protectively to her stomach.

"Dr. Parkins is dead, I heard him get shot over the phone. It was Linderman's people." Matt grabbed the luggage and nodded towards the door. "Let's get the hell out of here before they decide to look for us too."


	29. Chapter 29

Chapter Twenty-Nine: Cherry Bomb and the Water Man

That afternoon, with Micah's help in Las Vegas, and Hana's help in Israel, the group was able to network a small group of computers together to teleconference together. Bennet listened to Mohinder's account of the serum test and Matt's revelation of Dr. Parkins' death, his expression grave. He took a deep breath, staring at the small faces from around the world showing up on his computer screen. "Has anyone else encountered a person on The List who was murdered either before you arrived or soon after?"

D.L. nodded. "There was a woman in Seattle, Grace Kirksey. When I arrived at her apartment, she didn't answer the door. I stuck my head in to see if she was home. She was dead on her living room floor. Two gunshot wounds to the head."

"Execution style." Bennet closed his eyes and leaned back in the chair in his hotel room in England. "Anyone else?"

Hana nodded. "Itzhak Shiffin here in Dimona. He was shot in his home as well, along with his wife Marni. I found them last night."

Hiro looked sad. "Chio Arakawa in Osaka. Father, Ando and I found her this morning. Her children Kazuo and Kei were also dead."

Bennet sighed sadly. "Claude, Sandra and I found Margaret Bunton and her husband Ralph yesterday as well. Their children Amelia and Charles are missing. I think they've been taken by Linderman's people. This is not good, people. Have we been able to get ANYONE to agree to come to Texas?" The faces on his computer were silent. "Damn. We have someone we're supposed to meet with tomorrow morning, hopefully they haven't gotten to him yet. Please, try and convince whoever you come across that this is a matter of life and death, mainly theirs. Show them police reports of the ones who have already been killed to convince them if you have to, but try and do anything possible to get these people to agree to leave and join us immediately. Put them on a plane yourselves if you can and keep your eyes open for Linderman's people. If you see anything suspicious or think you're being followed, don't confront anyone, just run like hell. These people are playing for keeps." He looked at Mohinder on his screen. "So the test went well?"

"Somewhat. Olivia did begin to have seizures during the experiment and she did suffer cardiac arrest for a couple of minutes. Peter, Gabriel and I performed CPR on her until she was revived through electric shock and drug therapy. There was another side-effect during the test as well."

"What kind of side effect?" Angela frowned into her camera.

"Her telepathy, it did something rather disturbing. During a seizure, one loses control of most bodily functions, bladder, bowels, et cetera. In Olivia's case, she lost control of her telepathy. She began to broadcast images to us, images from an accident she was involved in when she was seventeen. She had no control over the power, so the images were quite strong and painful to experience."

Peter nodded, sitting next to Mohinder. "It makes me never want to watch _Scanners_ again, that's for damn sure. I thought my head was about to explode."

Bennet took off his glasses for a moment to rub his eyes. "So you're telling me that, theoretically, whoever we use the serum on will briefly lose control of their powers, scattering them all over the place."

"In a way." Mohinder nodded. "It's actually quite fortunate that we used Olivia instead of Peter or Gabriel. Considering the arsenal of powers they have at their disposals, they could have frozen us, electrocuted us, or-"

"-Or they could have blown up half of Texas in a nuclear explosion." Bennet leaned back in his chair again, shaking his head.

"Exactly."

"Damn." D.L. whistled softly under his breath. "That's some freaky shit, man."

"I know." Mohinder took a deep breath. "Peter and I have sent Olivia home with Gabriel to recover for the day. She was pretty shaky when she left here, but excited. Once everything was over, the serum did indeed work."

"So she's walking through walls?" Matt asked.

Peter started laughing. "She's walking through everything she can! She even walked THROUGH Gabriel. He didn't like that very much, either. When we told her to go home and rest, she walked through all of the walls of the facility and then climbed into the car without opening the door."

"Show off." D.L. laughed.

"Damn foolish girl." Angela shook her head in her small corner of the computer screen. "She's lucky she didn't get herself killed."

"We're all lucky that we used someone who didn't have a lethal power to test it on first." Peter shrugged. "I'd hate to know that I blew up Texas testing that stuff out."

Mohinder sighed. "Until we can figure out a way to keep the subject from seizing and losing control of their powers, we're going to have to suspend testing."

"Good idea." Hana nodded. She cocked her head to the side. "We're going to have to sign off. I'm sensing someone trying to hack into our system."

"Okay." Bennet sat up. "Everyone needs to stay in contact through the satellite phones and report back to either me or Mohinder every day and remember, try and convince these people to get to Texas any way you can." He turned off his computer, breaking the connection as Micah touched his father's computer screen, severing all of the networked connections.

Micah turned to his parents. Niki sat beside D.L. on the couch in their living room. "Sounds like things are getting pretty hairy." He whispered.

Niki reached out, pulling Micah to her as she hugged him tightly. "I know they are, but we have to do this. Everyone's future is depending on it, especially yours."

* * *

Peter stared at the blank computer screen for a moment, then turned to see Claire standing behind him with Molly and Lyle. "I guess you guys heard all of that."

Claire frowned, looking sadly at her uncle. "Yeah. We heard everything."

* * *

Angela and Heidi drove towards Newark, New Jersey, Heidi glancing at a name and address. "So what do you think she does?" Heidi asked.

"Who knows?" Angela shrugged. "Considering what I've seen over the years, it could be just about anything."

They arrived at a body shop, staring at the sign: Bombano Brothers Body Works. Heidi frowned. "Why does the name Bombano sound so familiar?"

Angela nodded as she climbed out of their car. "Guido Bombano was a mobster with ties to New York. He was arrested, then disappeared about three years ago. This shop is owned by his son, Joey."

"I see." Heidi walked with Angela into the shop, looking around.

"May I help you?" They turned to see a young woman in her early twenties walking towards them. She was petite and curvy, with waist-length bleached-blonde hair and dark brown eyes. A ton of makeup didn't hide the fact that she was pretty, with small delicate features. She was dressed in skimpy clothes, a tight sweater showing off her midriff, a micro-mini skirt barely skimming her thighs with her feet strapped into six-inch stiletto heels. Angela stared at her with disdain, taking in the multiple hoop earrings working their way up the lobes of her ears, and the long, dragon-like nails on her hands, artistically airbrushed with multiple bright colors. The woman glared at Angela's expression, raising an eyebrow as she popped her gum. "YO POSH! I asked you a freakin' question, okay? This ain't no freak show. What do you want?"

Heidi rolled her eyes at Angela and stepped forward, holding out her hand as she beamed at the girl. "Hello, we're consultants from Greene Technologies and we're looking for a Sheryl Bombano."

The girl shook Heidi's hand, her wrist jangling as bangles on her arm bounced around. "Why you two looking for her? What's Greene Technologies want with a Mafia princess from Jersey?"

"We're part of an organization through Greene Technologies that is looking for people with special abilities. Many of the members of the organization have special abilities of their own."

"Huh?" The girl frowned at her. "What kind of special abilities?"

"Oh for God's sakes, this girl is hopeless." Angela smirked. "Could you just direct us to Miss Bombano please?"

"Shut up, Old Spice, I'm talking to the younger one here." Her eyes widened for a moment as she recognized Heidi. "Holy Shit! You're that Congressman's wife, aint'cha? You're that chick who was in a wheelchair for like, six freakin' months and then started walking after her husband was elected." Heidi blushed and stared at her feet. "Hot damn! It is a pleasure to meet YOU!" The girl jumped up and down excitedly, balancing precariously on her stilettos. "You're like, a total celebrity and shit!"

"Yes, that's me." Heidi nodded.

"So did someone with these special abilities that you're talking about heal your back or something? Is that what these people can do? Is that what you meant by 'special'?"

Heidi shrugged. "Among other things. One person can fly. There's one man who can read minds, two of them have telekinesis, where they move things with their minds-"

"-OH MY GOD!" The girl spun around in a circle, giddily. "I KNEW IT! I knew I wasn't a freak!" She nodded. "I'm Sheryl Bombano, but everyone calls me Sherry."

"You're Sheryl." Angela sighed. "Lovely."

"Yes, I am, thank you." Sherry put her hands on her hips and posed for a moment, rolling her eyes at Angela. "Anyways, I started doing this really cool thing about a year ago. My family thought I was nuts, my ex-boyfriend thought I should get into my grandfather's 'business' with it, but mostly people just thought I was a freak when I told them I could do it. Thank GOD I'm not the only one!"

"What can you do?" Heidi asked.

Sherry nodded excitedly and pointed to a steel drum in the corner. "Watch this shit!" She snapped her fingers and the drum exploded. Heidi stared at the remnants of the drum, then turned back to Sherry, smiling. Sherry grinned at her. "My ex-boyfriend started calling me 'Cherry Bomb' after he saw me do that." She nodded excitedly. "Cool, huh?"

"Very cool." Heidi nodded.

"So can I join this organization, or what?" Sherry asked, clapping her hands together.

* * *

Bennet, Sandra and Claude arrived at the small house in Dover, looking around nervously as they walked towards the house.

"God I hope this one's still alive." Claude muttered. "I'm sick of finding dead bodies everywhere."

"I know. Me too." Bennet knocked on the door and sighed with relief as a man answered the door.

He was in his late thirties, dark brown hair and bright blue eyes. He looked at the people standing on his doorstep and smiled kindly at them. "May I help you?" He asked, in a soft British accent.

"Are you Mr. Osgood?" Bennet asked.

"Yes, as a matter of fact I am. And you are?"

"My name is Noah Bennet and this is my wife Sandra and my colleague Claude Raines. We're consultants from Greene Technologies, could you spare a minute of your time to talk to us?"

"Of course." The man let them into his home. "Come right in." As everyone sat down he looked at them, cocking his head to the side. "So what brings you here?"

"We have reason to believe that you may have 'special abilities'. Many members of our organization also have special abilities as well-" Bennet started to speak.

"Oh, there's no reason to believe anything. It's the absolute truth!" The man put out his hand. "I'm Dr. Herbert Osgood II and I can manipulate my molecules."

"Manipulate them into what?" Claude asked.

"Water, of course." Herbert smiled. "Myself and anything I'm touching. We turn into water and back again. It's quite extraordinary, really, I've been able to do it for years. At first it was rather frightening, but soon I realized that it was probably genetic. My mother had special abilities of her own, you see. She could persuade people to do anything she wanted with her voice."

Bennet smiled sadly. "I knew someone like that myself."

"That was quite an interesting power. I was so interested in the genetics of it, I quite my practice as a medical doctor and became a genetic researcher. I have made a few discoveries, but not as many as a doctor I've been wanting to meet for some time." Herbert stood and pulled a book from a shelf beside his chair. He handed it to Bennet. It was a copy of _Activating Evolution_ by Chandra Suresh. "Are you familiar with Dr. Suresh's findings?"

"Yes, as a matter of fact I am. Unfortunately Dr. Suresh was murdered a few months ago in New York City."

"How dreadful!" Herbert shook his head. "How very dreadful indeed."

"His son Mohinder is also a genetic researcher. He's involved in our organization."

"Really?" Herbert beamed. "Wonderful! So is that why you're here? Are you looking for people to join this organization?"

"Actually, yes." Bennet nodded.

"Then say no more! Consider me a member." Herbert put his book away. "So tell me all about this organization."

Bennet glanced at Sandra and Claude, shrugging as he began to talk.

* * *

"So you're telling me that this person can blow things up with her mind?" Mohinder turned to Olivia, Peter and Gabriel in the lab as he spoke on the phone with Heidi.

Heidi nodded excitedly in her home in Manhattan. "Yep! She snapped her fingers and a steel drum exploded in front of us. She was very excited when I told her about our group and was more than eager to join."

"Great!" Mohinder pumped his arm in a triumphant gesture. "So when does she arrive?"

Heidi started laughing. "She was so excited, she hopped on the first plane to Texas. She should be arriving in Odessa in a couple of hours. That's why I'm calling. You may want to send someone to pick her up."

"Right away. Thank you Heidi, you are a life saver!" Mohinder hung up the phone and turned to the group standing behind him. "We have a new recruit who is apparently so excited about joining up with us, she's arriving today."

"Awesome!" Peter nodded. "So I guess we're taking a field trip out of the lab today?"

"Absolutely!" Mohinder beamed. "I can't wait to meet this new girl."

* * *

In his home, Herbert Osgood II packed his things as quickly as he could. After the Bennets and Claude told him about Linderman's people, he realized he was better off leaving as soon as possible and had agreed to join them at their hotel as soon as he was packed. As he finished packing, he heard a car door slam outside of his home. He glanced out the window to see a tall, dark skinned man climb out of rental car with an equally tall woman. Her jet black hair was cut close to her head in a sleek bob. "Oh bugger!" The man moaned to himself as he grabbed his luggage in one hand and his copy of _Activating Evolution_ in the other.

He closed his eyes as he and the items he was holding melted into a puddle of water on the floor, then flowed through a crack in the floor to the ground below, flowing away in a stream quickly as the woman kicked the door to the house open. She stomped into the home, her gun drawn as she looked around the room.

"Where did he go?" She asked, her Swedish accent thick.

The Haitian shook his head. "I do not know, Gota."

The stream flowed quickly down the street, towards the hotel. As it reached the hotel it flowed into an alley and stopped. The puddle quickly formed back into Herbert, carrying his luggage and book as he walked quickly into the hotel and went immediately to the Bennet's hotel room. He knocked on the door and rushed in as soon as Noah opened it. "We need to go, and we need to go now." He took a deep breath. "There were people arriving just as I left. One of them was almost definitely the man you described, that Haitian fellow."

"Okay." Bennet turned to Sandra and nodded his head as she grabbed her bags, then he picked up his phone. "Claude, it's Noah. The package is here and it's time for us to make a hasty getaway."

As Claude, Noah, Sandra and Herbert climbed into a cab and drove away from the hotel, another car arrived with the Haitian and his partner inside. They quickly exited their car and rushed into the hotel, heading towards Bennet's room. The woman kicked the door down and looked inside. "DAMMIT!" She moaned. "This is getting ridiculous." She whipped out her cell phone and dialed it. "Linderman, darling. Please tell your latest charge that I'm tired of running around in circles. She needs to track these people better, or I'll going to put a bullet into HER!" She slammed her phone shut without waiting for an answer and stormed out of the hotel, The Haitian hot on her heels. "Stupid girl with her stupid borrowed powers. The only reason Linderman gave those to her is because he's giving her the 'business'!" Gota started up the car and drove away, cursing in Swedish as they left.


	30. Chapter 30

Chapter Thirty: Two Weeks Later-Bursting at the Seams, The Urovitch Family

"What'cha looking at, Hot Stuff?"

Olivia turned to see Gabriel leaning in the door to her office at the former Primatech building. She grinned as he walked into the room, pulling up a chair beside her.

"Blueprints, paperwork from Linderman Corporation." Olivia rubbed her eyes. "I think I found a place to put everyone."

"Good, because this place is about to burst at the seams." Gabriel glanced towards the doorway.

Gabriel wasn't kidding. In the two weeks since Sherry and Herbert had arrived in Odessa, the teams around the world had been making great strides in convincing the people on their list to leave their homes and come to Texas. Instead of putting people on planes, everyone decided that it would be safer and faster to call Hiro and have him teleport each discovery to Primatech. Over fifty people with special abilities were now calling Primatech their home, albeit a temporary and desolate one. Olivia, Peter, Mohinder and Gabriel were trying to make everyone as comfortable as possible, but the quarters were starting to become cramped and their charges were starting to complain, the loudest voice belonging to Sherry Bombano.

"So what's in these blueprints and paperwork?" Gabriel took a sheet and started to look things over.

"About three years before he died, Linderman decided that he wanted to deal more with real estate, especially in Las Vegas. He bought a number of lots just outside of town and started building a high-rise luxury apartment building. It was recently completed." Olivia flipped through the blueprints as Gabriel leaned over and started to look through them with her. "It's perfect. There are six three-bedroom apartments to each floor for the first twenty floors-"

"-One-hundred twenty apartments-"

"-And then for the top ten floors, there are two four-bedroom apartments per floor-"

"-twenty more apartments, for a grand total of one-hundred forty apartments."

"And they're ALL furnished." Olivia winked at Gabriel. "And it was completed about a week before Linderman died, which means that that building is just sitting in limbo. His people never had a chance to sell any of those pretty little co-op apartments and I've been too busy to really think about it until now."

"Get everyone to choose roommates, move them to Vegas and we'll have plenty of room to spare for anyone else our group finds around the world." Gabriel kissed Olivia on the cheek. "And we won't have to listen to Miss New Jersey scream about how itchy her blankets are anymore-"

"-Or how her cot is bothering her sciatica." Olivia winked.

"More than enough room for this little Justice League."

"Oh no." Olivia made a face. "You're not calling us that, are you?"

"Okay," Gabriel laughed "more than enough room for our version of the X-Men to kick ass!"

"Please don't start calling us the X-Men either." Olivia leaned forward, kissing her husband.

"Ahem!" Olivia and Gabriel turned to see Sherry standing in the doorway. "I hate to interrupt your smoochie time, but I have a few complaints."

"We're aware of your complaints." Olivia nodded.

"My sciatica is NOT being helped by sleeping on a cot in what I honestly think used to be some sort of creepy-ass holding cell! What was this place originally used for? I don't think you guys really sold paper out of here!"

Gabriel shrugged. "It could be worse. You could have been in an observation cell with a shunt in your brain."

"What?" Sherry's eyes widened. She turned to Olivia. "The hell?"

Olivia glanced at Gabriel. "Primatech Paper was a cover for another organization. They studied people like us, with special abilities."

"And the shunt in the brain was for-?"

Gabriel leaned forward, his elbows balancing on his knees. "Let's just say that I was a bad, bad boy."

Sherry raised an eyebrow. "Bad how?"

"If we'd met six months ago, I would have opened your skull and eaten your brain."

"EW!" Sherry's eyes widened. "I thought Peter was kidding about that shit! He was serious?" She started to back out of the room. "You know what? I have no more complaints, seriously. My room is like the Hilton, I love it!"

"Sherry wait!" Olivia laughed at her husband. "Stop scaring the newbies, Babe." She motioned for Sherry to come in. "Actually, I think I have a solution to your complaints, as well as everyone else's."

"Okay." Sherry's voice quavered nervously as she glanced at Gabriel out of the corner of her eye. "What's the solution?"

"It's not definite yet. I still have to run it by the other guys, but there's an empty luxury apartment building in Las Vegas that will fit everyone comfortably."

"Really?" Sherry grinned. "Define 'luxury'."

"It's not a cot in a cold cell."

"True." Sherry nodded. "So when do we move in?"

"I don't know." Olivia shrugged. "Like I said, I still have to go over it with the other guys and-"

"-Oh come ON! Anything is better than this." Sherry gestured to her surroundings. "This is not good, Doc! We're cramped and we're getting more and more cramped by the day. That Hiro guys is bringing at least five people in here a day—A DAY!"

"I know. I'm going to finish going over everything and I'll be running it by everyone soon."

"You'd better make it VERY soon. My roommate snores." Sherry sighed as she picked at her nails. "God I need to get these fixed. I broke one yesterday."

"Tragic indeed." Gabriel muttered.

Sherry glanced up at him. "I know you guys think I'm shallow and spoiled, and let's face it, I am, but I have depths. I really do. I've been staying here when I could have gone home at any time."

"True." Olivia nodded. She looked down at Sherry's stiletto heels. "You know, as a doctor, I would think that you would probably ease that sciatica quite a bit if you wore better shoes."

Sherry looked at her feet and shrugged. "True, but then I'd only be five feet tall. Not all of us were born Amazons." She grabbed a chair and sat down. "So when we move into these apartments, are they going to be one person per, or do we pick roommates?"

Olivia sighed. "We'll probably pick roommates."

"Cool." Sherry grinned. "Because I'm thinking about asking your brother."

"Asking my brother, what?" Olivia stared at the girl in front of her.

"Asking him if he wants to be MY roommate!" Sherry bounced excitedly in her seat. "He's HOT!" She looked at Gabriel. "No offense, cutie, I'd totally be chasing you except I have a feeling that your wife would kick my ass, plus there's that whole brain-eating thing which, I'm sorry is totally gross."

"No offense taken." Gabriel grinned, amused with the tiny blond sitting across from him.

"Good. But Peter is very, very hot." She looked at Olivia. "He's your brother, how do I get him?"

Olivia shook her head. "I honestly have no idea. He may be my brother, but we haven't known each other for very long-"

"-You knew him for just about as long and you married him." Sherry pointed at Gabriel. "What's Peter's type?"

Olivia shrugged. "Sherry, I wish I could help you, but I really don't know. Just spend time with him, get to know him and see what happens."

"That's cool." Sherry nodded and stood up. "Thanks for the un-advice." She walked towards the door. "I hope this apartment idea works out. It sounds pretty good. I love Vegas. My mom was a showgirl there, that's how she and Pop met." She walked out the door as Olivia turned to Gabriel, her eyes wide.

"Oh my God." Olivia shook her head. "New Jersey's miniature version of Paris Hilton has the hots for my brother."

"I think those two crazy kids should get together." Gabriel grinned. Olivia glared at him. "What? Hey, stranger things have happened. We got together, didn't we? Who would have put a surgeon and a brain-eating serial killer together?"

Olivia stared at him. "You mean besides Linderman?"

* * *

"So who's on our list here?" Bennet turned to Claude as they arrived at an address in Prague.

Claude smiled softly as he read the name on the list. "Viktor Urovitch. He's an old friend."

"One of those old friends you kept hidden from me way back when?" Bennet raised an eyebrow.

"One and the same." Claude climbed out of the car and looked at the small, run-down apartment building. "I see he's fallen on some hard times as of late though. He used to do the freak-show circuit, him and his wife."

"Fun." Bennet sighed as he helped Sandra out of the car. "What did he do?"

"Ever hear of Viktor the Amazing Elastic Man? He was popular as hell in Eastern Europe before the Iron Curtain fell. After that happened, he traveled around with a few circuses, made a killing and retired with Romina and their two children, Nikolai and Natalia. When you guys started looking for them, I moved them from Moscow to Odessa in the Ukraine. Now it seems they've moved here." He looked around at the dank surroundings. "Guess he had a few investments fall flat."

"Must have." Bennet straightened his jacket. "Do you think he'll be receptive to joining us."

"Might be. He was a cranky bastard back in the day, and that's when he had money. God knows what he's like now."

"Sounds like a charmer." Sandra took her husband's arm as they entered the building and made their way up the stairs to Viktor's apartment.

Claude looked around for a moment before knocking on the door. No one answered. He looked at Bennet nervously, then knocked again. "Come on, Viktor. Don't be dead, Old Boy." Claude whispered.

The door opened to a crack. A wizened, weather-beaten man peered out at Claude. "You." He whispered.

Claude grinned. "Yeah Vik, it's me. Can we have a moment of your time?"

The man peered out at Claude, Bennet and Sandra. "Who are they?" He croaked.

"Friends. Colleagues. We're here to ask you for your help." Claude leaned towards him. "After everything I did to help, you owe me one."

"I suppose." The door opened wider as the man let them into his apartment. Bennet walked in behind Claude, holding Sandra's hand as he looked around the apartment. It was even more run-down on the inside than the building appeared on the outside. Clothes were hanging up to dry on lines throughout the room, and three twin beds were lined against one wall, their bedclothes scattered across the beds. A small kitchenette was to the side, dishes stacked up in the rust-stained sink. The only view was to the alley outside, through a dirt-stained window. "Sorry about the mess." Viktor wheezed. "The children are at school. They'll clean when they get home."

"How are the kids? How's Mina?" Claude asked, ignoring the surroundings as he studied Viktor. The man's clothes were dirty and torn.

"Mina died two years ago. She had the cancer." Viktor leaned against a wall, digging a cigarette out of his pocket and lighting it, slowly inhaling. "The children are good. Nik and Talia are both seventeen now. The baby is almost ten."

"Sorry about Mina. Bad news, that." Claude shook his head sadly. "But you two had another baby?"

"Yes." Viktor took a drag off of his cigarette. "Tatiana. She's the baby." He pointed towards a set of pictures hanging on the wall. Three children smiled at them from various pictures. "They're good children. So what brings you here, Claude? Are the OWI people searching for us again?"

"Not exactly." Claude turned to Bennet for a moment. "The OWI is gone. A new group has taken it's place and we're NOT about stealing people with special abilities and testing them like lab rats."

"WE?" Viktor's eyes narrowed. "You're in this new group?"

"Yep." Claude nodded. "We're now consultants, for a better word, with Greene Technologies. The guy who was running OWI is gathering special people, building an army. We're doing the same."

Everyone turned as the door opened and three people walked into the apartment. A teenaged boy and girl entered, with a younger girl following behind. As they walked in, they froze, seeing their visitors. The boy was tall, over six-feet, and slim with long light brown hair that hung in his green eyes. He put a protective arm around his sisters. "Father?" He asked, eyeing the visitors nervously.

"It's alright, Nikolai." Viktor wheezed. "You remember Claude?"

Nikolai stared at Claude for a moment before pulling back his shoulders and stepping forward. "Yes. I remember you." He held out his hand, nodding as Claude shook it. He turned to the teenaged girl behind him. "You remember Natalia?"

"I do indeed." Claude smiled at the young girl who nodded, unsmilingly back. She was shorter than her twin brother, but their features were similar. Her long, light brown hair hung limply down her back, her striking green eyes scanned Claude and his companions suspiciously. He turned to the smaller girl, a tinier carbon copy of her older sister. "But I don't think I've met you. What's your name, Poppet?"

"Tatiana." The girl whispered as she ducked behind her older sister.

"Tatiana. That's a beautiful name, Dear." He smiled softly at the child, then looked around at everyone. "As I was just telling your father, there is a man who is rounding up people with special abilities. He wants to build an army. World domination and all that lot. I'm with a group that wants to stop him."

"By building an army of your own?" Viktor wheezed. "And that's what you're here for, yes? You want to recruit me and my children into some army."

"Do your children have special abilities too?" Sandra asked.

"Yes, we do." Nikolai nodded. "I can-"

"NIKOLAI!" Viktor shook his head, yelling at him in their native tongue. Nikolai began to yell back as Natalia and Tatiana sighed and walked away from the fray, going to the beds and making them. With a final barking order from Viktor, Nikolai rolled his eyes and walked away from his father, joining his sisters in cleaning up the apartment. Viktor turned back to Claude. "We are not interested."

"Are you sure?" Claude shook his head. "Vik, old boy, you must understand. Your names are on a list. If you don't come with us, you could all be in grave danger. Linderman's people have this list as well. They've been killing anyone who refuses to join their side."

"Then we may be killed, but they will have a fight on their hands first." Viktor nodded as he walked to a cabinet, pulling out a bottle of vodka. He poured himself a drink and pounded it down in one gulp. "My children and I can fight them off. We will survive."

"Mr. Urovitch." Bennet stepped forward. "Please listen to us. The woman that has been seen with Linderman's group, the woman that has been traveling Europe has someone with her, someone who can block your powers and block you from using them-"

"-I am not afraid." Viktor shook his head. "I will not subject my children to a war. I will not offer them up to either side as soldiers. I believe that you are fighting the good fight, but I have no fight left and I will not ask my children to take up arms. We will stay here. We will not go with you or anyone else."

"You are condemning yourself and your children to death." Bennet glanced over his shoulder, noticing the look on the teenaged boy's face. Nikolai was listening to every word, his eyes glittering with green fire. The boy turned to his twin sister, who was also listening. They shared a look, nodding quietly at each other.

Viktor followed Bennet's gaze. "It is time for you to go. You are frightening my children."

"We aren't frightened, Father!" Nikolai stepped forward, his eyes burning into Bennet's. "We will go with you, even if our father cannot-"

"-YOU WILL NOT!" Viktor slammed his fist on the counter.

"WE WILL! Talia and I at least!"

"And you will leave the baby here, yes? Who will take care of her? Who will look after her?" Viktor began to wheeze. He leaned over, coughing for a moment before looking back up at his son. "You will stay here, all of you. They are just trying to frighten us, that is all."

"Oh?" Claude reached into his pocket, pulling out pictures and tossing them on the counter. They were all photos of corpses, all shot in the head. "Rene LaChaise of Versailles, dead! Margaret Bunton of London, dead! Hans Schiller, Victoria Guerney, Ingrid Sven, Stuart Jones, Vivienne Devereaux, Anatole Kosloff, they're all fucking dead! Some of them refused to come with us, some of them died before we could reach them. Look at the bloody pictures Viktor!" Claude leaned on the counter, glaring at the older man. "I don't want to add pictures of you and your poppets to this. Please, come with us. We have a satellite phone, we have a man who can teleport here, pick the four of you up and teleport all of you to Odessa, Texas in a moment flat."

Viktor pushed the pictures back at Claude. "We will not go."

Claude closed his eyes. "I don't want to see you die, old friend."

"We will not go, old friend." Viktor shook his head. "Please leave now."

"Mr. Urovitch, please-" Bennet began to speak.

"-Goodbye and good luck." Viktor leaned against the counter.

Bennet, Claude and Sandra looked at each other sadly as Claude collected the pictures and returned them to his coat pocket. "I wish you'd reconsider." Claude said sadly. "I really do. If you change your mind, we'll be here for the next day and we can be reached at this phone number." Claude pulled out a sheet of paper, writing an address and a phone number down. He held it out to Viktor, who turned away from him. Claude turned to Nikolai, holding out the paper. The young man quickly walked over, taking the paper and putting it in his pocket. "Be careful." Claude whispered.

"We will." Nikolai nodded.

* * *

Back at the hotel a few hours later, Bennet, Claude and Sandra uplinked to the group on their laptop for their daily reports. Bennet nodded as Olivia told everyone about the apartment high-rise in Las Vegas. "As ideas go, that is a good one."

"Thanks." Olivia nodded into her computer camera. "I wanted to run it by everyone and get all of your opinions on it. I think it might be the best shot to keeping everyone comfortable. Also, the facility that I have there will probably be emptying out soon. I've been getting panicked phone calls from Dr. Cooper since New Year's about the 'break-in' where all of the samples were stolen. Matt and I have been talking. When he and Janice return, I've asked him if he'd be interested in going with Gabriel and me to the facility and interviewing everyone, to find out who is on Linderman's side and who honestly thinks they're there to make a difference. I was thinking that afterwards, I'd fire Linderman's men and we could use the facility to continue our research and also use it as a training ground to hone everyone's powers and skills. Does anyone have any objections to this?" She looked at all of the faces on her computer as they shook their heads. "Okay then. I was thinking that we should start moving our recruits there as soon as possible then. The conditions here are starting to get extremely cramped."

"Good idea." Hiro nodded. "I was wondering how we would house everyone myself. I noticed this afternoon how crowded it was."

"Thanks." Olivia smiled at her friends. "Well, okay then. I'll talk with everyone, tell them to start choosing roommates and begin the moving preparations."

Bennet nodded into his camera. "Claude, Sandra and I have a few more places to visit, then we'll head home as well. We'll all meet back here online same time tomorrow with more reports. Take care everyone." He signed off of his computer as he took off his glasses, rubbing his eyes. "It has been a long three weeks." He sighed.

"I know." Sandra stood behind him, rubbing his shoulders. "I always wanted to visit Europe, I never thought it would be like this."

Bennet leaned back, smiling up at his wife. "When this is all over with, I owe you a grand tour of this place, only the best of vacations, I promise."

Sandra smiled. "I'm going to hold you to that." She leaned down, kissing Noah on his forehead. "I miss the kids."

"Me too." Noah nodded.

"I never thought I'd say this, but I'll be glad to return to the states as well." Claude shrugged. He turned to the door as someone began to pound on it, screaming and crying hysterically. "What in the bloody hell?" He pulled a gun and cracked the door open to peek outside, then threw the door open, ushering a hysterical Nikolai inside. Tatiana was cradled in the boy's arms, her face streaked with tears. Claude put a comforting hand on the boy's shoulder, leading him to a chair. "Good God, son! What's happened?"

Nikolai shook his head, burying his face in his younger sister's hair. "They're dead! Father! Natalia! They're dead!" Nikolai raised his face, his expression tortured. "They killed them, just as you told Father they would!" The boy broke down as Sandra and Noah hurried to them. Tatiana turned in Nikolai's arms. She sobbed hysterically as she climbed out of her brother's lap and wrapped her arms around Claude's legs. Claude knelt down, hugging the small girl as Sandra and Noah hugged Nikolai.

"It's going to be okay, Son." Noah closed his eyes, silently cursing Viktor Urovitch's stubborn streak. "Everything's going to be okay." He whispered.


	31. Chapter 31

Chapter Thirty-One: Nikolai and Tatiana, Sleeper

Nikolai Urovitch's power had manifested at a very early age. He was barely five years old when he discovered that he could stretch his arms and legs to great distances like his father, see through walls like his mother and sense when danger was approaching, like his twin sister. Peter Petrelli would have recognized Nikolai's power right away, he was an emopath. Like Peter, he absorbed the powers of those around him, and once absorbed, could call them forth at any time. Unlike Peter however, he had to be in physical contact with someone before he could absorb their powers.

The last time Nikolai saw his father alive, Noah and Sandra Bennet had just left their dank Prague apartment with Claude Raines. Nikolai had taken the note with the address to the hotel where they were staying, as well as their satellite phone number. He read over the address, memorizing it. He knew this address well, it was a small hotel on the other side of the city, the wealthier side.

Viktor stomped over to Nikolai, snatching the paper out of the boy's hand. "You'll not need that." He growled in Russian.

Nikolai glared at his father. "You heard what Mr. Raines said, Father!" He answered back in Russian as well. "There are people being led by a terrible man, the man whose organization we have been hiding from for years. They are coming, they will be here soon."

"It was a fairy tale told by Claude to frighten us into joining their group, that is all."

"He has never lied to us! Why would he start now?" Nikolai's green eyes burned into his father's. Viktor lowered his gaze, looking away. "I will go! I will take Natalia and Tatiana and we will go! I wish you would come with us."

"You will do NO such thing!" Viktor turned back to his son, his eyes identical to all of his children's blazing angrily. "They might take you, they might take Talia, but what would they want with a runt like Tatiana, eh? The little bird will be an outcast among them."

Nikolai glanced at Tatiana. She was small for her age and malnourished. Though almost ten, most people thought she wasn't much older than five or six because of her stature. "Whose fault is that, Father? You spent all of our money searching for miracle cures for Mother, even after she told you there was no hope. You wasted everything and the baby has suffered for it. She shouldn't have to suffer further. If you don't go to Mr. Raines and his friends, I will and I WILL take the girls. They will accept all three of us or none of us at all."

"The only place you will be taking your sisters is their ballet classes." Viktor waved Nikolai away. "Go. They are late already."

Nikolai shook his head sadly as he nodded to his sisters, ushering them towards the door. "If Mother were alive, she would insist we go. She always said that our gifts were from God. She felt they should be used towards the greater good. Now we have a chance to do that and you won't let us. She would be ashamed of you if she were alive."

"GO TO BALLET!" Viktor yelled at his son.

Nikolai walked out of the house, leading his sisters down the street to what passed for a ballet class in their part of Prague. He sat in a corner brooding as his sisters practiced with their teacher. Two hours later, their lessons were over and he began to lead them home. They were standing across the street from their apartment building when Natalia stopped short, her eyes wide as she looked around.

"Something bad is happening, Nikolai." She whispered. "Someone bad is upstairs with Father."

Nikolai narrowed his eyes, looking through the walls of their apartment building until he found the place they called home. A tall, skinny woman with short, sleek black hair was standing over their father, arguing with him while a bald, dark-skinned man stood behind her wordlessly. Viktor shook his head, pounding the countertops until finally the woman pulled out a gun and shot their father twice in the head. Nikolai gasped, pulling his sisters close to him as he looked around. "The bad people that Mr. Raines warned us about are there." He whispered. "They just shot Father."

Natalia lowered her head for a moment, her expression wracked with grief. "Poor Father." She whispered.

Nikolai watched as the woman took a cell phone from her pocket. He read her lips as she hung up the phone, turning to her companion. "She knows we're here."

"How?" Natalia's eyes were wide with terror.

"She just took a phone call." Nikolai boosted Tatiana onto his back, piggy-back style and pushed at Natalia. "Someone told her we were out here. We must run now!"

"Where?"

"We must go to Mr. Raines at once." Nikolai took off running, his hand in his twin sister's as his younger sister clung to his back. In their confusion and fear, they were soon lost, turning through unfamiliar alleys and streets. Finally, they took one final wrong turn into a dead-end alley, the buildings looming high around them.

Natalia looked back for a moment, closing her eyes. "Nikolai, they are coming! I can sense them!"

Nikolai prodded Tatiana, helping her climb down from his back. He knelt in front of her, pointing to the building ahead of them. "Fly, Little Bird." He whispered. Tatiana nodded and backed up before running down the alley. With one great leap, she jumped to the roof of the building and landed in a perfect tuck and roll. Nikolai breathed a sigh of relief and took his twin's hand. "Our turn." Natalia nodded as she climbed onto her brother's back. He ran down the alley and leaped, using his youngest sister's powers. As they began to reach the roof, Nikolai realized that her powers had suddenly failed him. They would not make it to the roof as Tatiana had. Reaching out his hands, he grasped the side of the building, one story below the roof of the building and began to climb up. Panting, Natalia climbed off of his back and began to climb the building beside him, their feet finding purchase in the bricks as they boosted themselves up. Nikolai reached the top first and climbed over, glancing down to the alley four stories below. The woman and the man were standing at the beginning of the alley, slowly walking towards them. Nikolai reached down to help Natalia climb up as the woman pulled out her gun. Natalia gasped in pain as the woman aimed and fired.

The girl looked up at her brother, her hands clasped in his. "She shot me in the back!" She looked down at the alley below. "I cannot feel my legs!"

"Let me help you up! Try Talia, please!" Nikolai pleaded.

Natalia screamed in pain as the gunshots repeated. She looked up at her brother, tears brimming in her eyes. "Take Tatiana. Protect her."

Nikolai's eyes widened. "Talia NO!"

"Goodbye." Natalia whispered as she let her hands slide out of Nikolai's grasp. Nikolai and Tatiana screamed as Natalia fell to the alley at the woman and man's feet. Nikolai grabbed his youngest sister, covering her eyes and the woman wordlessly pulled out her gun, firing two shots into Natalia's brain. He scooped up Tatiana, surveying the rooftop. The buildings in this part of the city were close, close enough to jump across even without the young girl's powers. Boosting her onto his back, Nikolai began to run, leaping from rooftop to rooftop. Once they were out of The Haitian's range, their leaps were broader and higher, until they reached the roof of the hotel that Nikolai recognized from the address on the note he'd held just a few hours earlier. Sobbing, they climbed down from the roof and entered the hotel, rushing to the room number that Nikolai had memorized . . .

"-and then Mr. Raines and Mr. Bennet called him." Nikolai said in English, nodding towards Hiro.

Hiro had teleported with both of the children, as well as Noah, Sandra and Claude to the former Primatech building, realizing that The Haitian and his mystery companion would probably track everyone at the hotel. They had been greeted by a surprised Mohinder, Peter, Olivia, Herbert and Gabriel, who were instantly told the story of what had happened to the Urovitch family in Prague. As Nikolai haltingly told his story, occasionally stopping to choke back sobs, Olivia had taken a seat in front of him, treating the scrapes and cuts on his hands he'd obtained from climbing the building. Gabriel looked sadly at the teenaged boy, then turned to look at the tiny little girl. She had appeared in Claude's arms, clinging to the man. She clung to him still, her face buried in Claude's shoulder, her body hitching with sobs. Gabriel stared at the floor, shaking his head as he thought about what these children had been through, watching first their father, then their sister die.

Olivia sighed as she finished cleaning and bandaging Nikolai's wounds. She turned to Claude. "I think I need to look her over, if you don't mind."

Claude shrugged. "Sounds okay." He glanced at Nikolai. "Okay by you?" Nikolai nodded silently, his eyes red-rimmed and filled with tears.

"How old is she?" Olivia asked.

"She'll be ten in June." Nikolai whispered.

Olivia's eyes widened. "Did you say 'ten'?" She glanced at the tiny girl. "Does she speak English?"

"Nat-" Nikolai closed his eyes for a moment "Natalia and I had tutors when we were younger, when Father had money. We learned to speak English fluently. We've tried to teach Tatiana, but she doesn't know very much, I'm afraid."

"They fell on some hard times after their Mum died." Claude looked at Olivia sadly. "That place they were living in was a real shit hole." He looked over at the boy. "No offense."

"No, no offense." Nikolai nodded. "It was indeed a shit hole."

Olivia pointed out an exam table to Claude and followed him over to it. Gabriel watched as Claude set the young child down on the table and stepped aside as Olivia began to examine her. The girl stared off into space, her tear-stained face showing no emotion as Olivia checked her eyes, ears and reflexes before listening to her heart and lungs with her stethoscope. Olivia nodded. "She's severely undersized and underweight for her age and she's pretty malnourished. Her heart and lungs sound good though, bless her heart." She stroked the child's long light brown hair. "She and her brother both are going to need to have some serious TLC for quite a while, and three squares a day until they get some weight on them." Olivia studied the child. "Poor baby." She whispered.

Gabriel couldn't take his eyes off of the little girl's face. She stared off into space, shell-shocked and grief-stricken. Her eyes, green like Nikolai's but more mossy than emerald were unfocused. Gabriel watched as she finally lifted her eyes, meeting his gaze. He smiled softly, his heart breaking as she began to smile back, then began to sob in deep, hitching breaths. She turned to Olivia, throwing her arms around the doctor's neck, wailing as if her heart would break as she babbled in Russian. Olivia sat on the exam table, scooping the child into her arms and rocking her back and forth, as she stroked the child's hair soothingly. She looked at her husband over the girl's head, her own blue eyes filling with tears as Gabriel looked away, fighting tears of his own.

"Where are they going to stay?" Gabriel asked, his voice thick with emotion.

"They can stay with us for the time being." Sandra nodded. "Noah and Claude can finish Europe together while I stay here and pack for the move to Las Vegas. Tatiana can stay in Molly's room with her and Nikolai can bunk with Lyle."

"I think it'll be good for Tatiana to be with another little girl close to her own age." Olivia agreed.

"When we get back and move, I'll take them." Claude sniffled. "I should have grabbed Viktor and dragged him away from that shit hole! Stubborn bastard."

"Great!" Everyone turned to see Sherry standing in the doorway. "So the half-pints get to stay in a house while the rest of us stay here in cells."

Peter stepped forward, glaring at Sherry. "You know what? I know this is going to be very difficult for you to wrap your tiny mind around, but these kids have just been through Hell! If you'd pull your head out of your ass and stop thinking about only yourself for a change, you might realize that!"

"Peter-" Olivia started to speak.

"-No!" Peter rolled his eyes. "All you have done since you got here is bitch, moan and complain while following me around and I'm sick of it! You don't know what these kids have been through, you don't know shit, so why don't you go back to your little cell and shut the fuck up!"

Sherry looked at Peter, her bottom lip trembling. "I don't need this shit." She muttered as she spun around and stomped out of the room.

"Yeah? Well WE don't need YOU!" Peter yelled at her retreating back. Gabriel stepped forward, grabbing Peter's arm. "Let me go!"

"Not until we have a talk!" Gabriel dragged Peter down the hall to an empty room and shoved him in. "You know something, I am an asshole. I am a serial killer. I traveled the country murdering people left and right, but there is one thing I have never done and that is treat a girl who had such an obvious crush on me the way that you just treated Sherry!"

"Go to hell!" Peter slumped against a wall. "Since when did YOU become the moral voice of reason?"

"When you became the idiotic voice of the asshats!" Gabriel shook his head. "Yeah, she was out of line, she's always out of line, but what you just said to her in there went so far out of line it's nothing but a teeny speck. You owe her an apology."

"Why? She's a pain in the ass, a SPOILED pain in the ass!"

Gabriel laughed softly. "Um, have you met your SISTER? Talk about spoiled pains in the asses!" He stepped forward. "Sometimes, a spoiled pain in the ass can be fun and interesting. Maybe if you actually talked to the girl and got to know her, you might like her."

"When hell freezes over." Peter stepped towards the door. "Are we done here, or are you going to drag me around some more."

"Go ahead." Gabriel rolled his eyes. "But you still owe Sherry an apology."

"Like hell I do." Peter opened the door and walked out as Noah, Sandra, Claude, Nikolai and Olivia walked out of the lab. Tatiana was still clinging to Olivia. "Where are you guys going?"

Olivia glanced at her brother coolly. "Oh, you're still alive? I'm walking them out to the car. Noah, Sandra and Claude are taking the kids home, then Noah and Claude are going to return to Europe."

"Yep!" Sandra put a protective arm around Nikolai. "We're going to stuff them with more food than they've seen in a lifetime and we're going to do it three times a day until we can't count their ribs anymore."

"Thank you." Nikolai whispered.

"Oh, you're more than welcome, Honey." Sandra hugged him gently as they walked down the hall.

Olivia spotted Sherry's retreating back stomping down a hall as they headed towards the door. She stopped, handing Tatiana over to Claude before following the young woman. Sherry walked into her small room and grabbed a suitcase, throwing her clothes and personal items into it. Olivia leaned in the doorway. "Sherry."

"Don't, Doc. Okay? Just, don't." Sherry stared at the mess in her suitcase and began to cry as she reached in and started folding the clothes, smoothing everything out. "You know, I signed on here to make a difference. I signed on so I would finally be around people like me, people who didn't think I was a fucking freak. If I wanted to get treated like this, I'd have stayed back in Jersey, everyone there thinks I'm a freak or a lunatic or both. I know I open my mouth when I should keep it shut. I know I'm a smart ass and I talk out of turn and say stupid shit, but-"

"-Peter had no right to come down on you that hard." Olivia nodded as Sherry turned to her, her weeping eyes wide with surprise. "Yeah, you said a boneheaded thing, but you're frustrated, you're tired, you're cranky and these accommodations suck. I don't think I would have taken this long to snap if I were in your position. Stay, Sherry."

Sherry looked at Olivia for a moment, then turned back to her suitcase. "I'm in the way here. You guys don't need someone like me mucking up the works."

"Yeah, we do." Olivia and Sherry turned to see Peter stroll into the room. He glanced at Olivia for a moment. "When a brain-eating serial killer tells you that you're wrong about your behavior, it kind of makes you think." He smirked. "I hate it when your husband's right. He's an asshole, and you can tell him I said that."

"Oh, I will." Olivia covered a grin as Peter turned back to Sherry.

"Please stay. I apologize for coming down on you so hard. We do need you around." He shrugged. "It's good to have someone who can blow something up without creating nuclear fallout in its wake."

Sherry bit her bottom lip. "I'm sorry for being a smart-ass about the kids. Bad shit happened to them, huh?"

Peter nodded. "Seriously bad shit."

"That sucks." Sherry nodded. "I remember when my older brother Johnny got capped about seven years ago. It was in retaliation for my grandfather ordering a whacking on this guy in New York while he was in prison."

Peter's eyes widened. "Whacking?"

"You know, killing. Mob murder, all that happy crappy." Sherry shook her head. "We couldn't even have an open casket for Johnny, that guy popped him in the face. Bastard." She leaned against her suitcase, looking up at Peter and Olivia. "This Linderman guy, he's sending people out to whack US, isn't he? They're whacking folks that don't join up with them, or try to join us."

Olivia nodded. "Yeah, he is."

Sherry crossed her arms. "I'm staying then." She glared at Peter defiantly. "You can be a shithead all you want to me, I ain't going anywhere. None of us are going to ever be safe until we all come together and whack that old bastard until there's nothing left of him or his bitches." She turned back to her suitcase and started to unpack. "Thanks for the apology."

Peter shrugged. "You're welcome." He turned and walked out of the room, Olivia following beside him. He turned to see his sister grinning at him. "What?"

Olivia threw an arm around her brother's shoulders. "Shithead." She laughed.

"Spoiled brat." He retorted.

* * *

Claire Bennet arrived home from school with her best friend Zach. Lyle and Molly were following behind them. As she entered the living room with Zach, she stopped short, her eyes widening to see a tall, skinny young man sitting on her couch, Mr. Muggles curled up beside him. As the man spotted her, he stood quickly. Claire glanced at Zach before turning back to the man. "Hello." She said warily. 

"Hello." Nikolai stepped forward offering his hand. "I am Nikolai Urovitch. Your parents brought me here with my little sister. Your mother said we could stay here for now."

Claire nodded. "Okay. Is my mom here?"

Nikolai smiled softly. "Yes, she is in the kitchen. She has been feeding me and my sister practically non-stop since we arrived here."

Claire smiled nervously and quickly headed towards the kitchen with Zach following behind her. "He's HOT!" Zach grinned. "Too bad I'm not his type."

"What do you mean?"

"Did you see the way he jumped up when he saw YOU walk through the door? Molly, Lyle and I were practically invisible. He jumped so fast it was like his butt was on fire. Or something else was." Zach teased.

Claire shot Zach a look. "Don't be crude. I think we just startled him."

"No, WE didn't startle him, you hit him with the thunderbolt."

Claire rolled her eyes as she entered the kitchen. "Mom?"

Sandra looked up from the breakfast table. Tatiana was sitting beside her, eating a sandwich while Sandra brushed her hair. "Honey, did you meet Nikolai?"

"Yeah." Claire nodded. "How many more kids are you and Dad thinking of adopting?"

Sandra laughed softly. "Oh Honey, we're not adopting them. They're just staying with us until Claude finishes in Europe with your father. He wants them to stay with him after he returns." Sandra smiled down at the little girl. "This is Nikolai's sister, Tatiana."

Claire smiled softly at the girl. "Hello."

Tatiana looked up at Claire, her eyes huge. "Hel-lo." She said haltingly.

Sandra sat up, nodding to Claire and the others to follow her into the dining room. "They've had a bad life and an especially terrible day. Linderman's people killed their father and their sister. She was Nikolai's twin sister."

Claire closed her eyes. "Oh God. That's awful."

"Yes. That poor little thing in there barely speaks English. Nikolai is fluent though. He's been translating for us both since we got here. They've had a rough time of it." Sandra tucked a curl behind Claire's ear, looking at her, then Molly and Lyle. "They're only going to stay for a week or two until Claude returns. I hope I can count on the three of you to help make them feel welcome?" She smiled as the three children nodded. "I am so proud of all of you."

"I'll be glad to help too Mrs. B." Zach nodded, grinning.

"That's so kind of you, Zachary." Sandra patted his cheek before returning to the kitchen.

Claire turned to Zach, smirking. "'I'll be glad to help too Mrs. B.'" She mocked.

Zach shrugged. "It's always good to help others in need."

"Queen." Her voice was teasing.

"No Sweetie, that's you. Homecoming, if I recall." Zach threw an arm over Claire's shoulders. "Let's go study. Suddenly I feel like learning some Russian history."

* * *

Noah Bennet and Claude were returned to Prague by Hiro. After they collected their things, they went to the Urovitch house to get anything they could for Nikolai and Tatiana, handing everything over to Hiro, who teleported back to Texas. As Noah and Claude left the apartment, Noah turned to his old friend. "Who's the next person on our list?" 

Claude studied The List. "One Collette Renard. She's originally from Paris, but is currently living in Vienna."

Noah sighed. "Let's go see if Miss Renard is willing to visit Texas."

* * *

Collette Renard was seated in a chair in the dining room of her small, but chic apartment, her eyes wide with terror as Gota and The Haitian loomed over her. "What do you want from me?" She asked, her voice trembling as tears streamed from her hazel eyes. 

"We want you to come with us." Gota sneered. She pulled out her gun, pointing it at Collette. "You have two choices. One ends with a bullet in your brain." As her phone rang, Gota rolled her eyes and put away her gun before she answered it. "Yes." She regarded Collette, her eyes narrowing. "You cannot be serious. You want me to what?" She sighed. "Fine, Mr. Linderman." She hung up her phone and turned to Collette. "You have a reprieve. It seems my employer has other plans for you." She pulled up a chair, sitting across from Collette, her black eyes glittering. She pointed her index and middle finger of her left hand inches from Collette's eyes, then turned them towards her own. "Look into my eyes. Listen to my voice." She purred, her Swedish accent thick. "You will forget everything I am to tell you, until you hear from me again. You will forget that my friend and I were even here after we leave. There is something you must do. There are two men coming for you. Their names are Noah Bennet and Claude Raines. You will go with them. You will . . ."

Collette listened, her face slack as she stared into Gota's deep black eyes, falling into them as Gota's words became stored in her subconscious.

* * *

Early the next morning, Noah and Claude arrived at Collette's apartment. They rang the bell, looking at each other nervously, then relaxing as Collette answered the door. "Oui?" She looked at them, her hazel eyes curious. "May I help you?" 

Noah smiled. "Could we have a moment of your time, ma'am?"

"Of course." Collette let them into her apartment, closing the door behind her.


	32. Chapter 32

Chapter Thirty-Two: Breakthroughs

Olivia stepped out of the bathroom, smiling at her husband as she climbed into bed. "It has been one nasty, hairy bitch of a day."

"That is has." Gabriel murmured as he read a book.

Olivia glanced at the title of the book, then smiled. "_Conversational Russian for Beginners_?"

Gabriel shrugged, smiling sheepishly. "I thought I'd use my super memory to learn to speak it. Someone needs to be able to talk to Tatiana besides her brother." He sighed. "During my Sylar days, why couldn't I have come across someone who was a walking babelfish?"

"That's sweet. Creepy, but sweet." Olivia stretched out beside her husband, watching him with interest as he concentrated on his book. "How do you say 'I want you to make love to me until we're both so exhausted we sleep for days'?"

Gabriel grinned, still reading the book. "I don't think that's in this book, Peaches."

"Darn." Olivia rested her head on Gabriel's shoulder. "Tatiana really got to you today, didn't she?"

"Yeah. She did." Gabriel nodded. "It's weird, you know? If I'd come across that kid six months ago, I would have killed her, taken her powers and gone on my way. Sure, I'd have felt some guilt, I felt guilty about killing the Walkers and trying to kill Molly when I did it, but I would have done it all the same. I would have reasoned with myself that it was my 'evolutionary imperative' and it couldn't have been helped. This morning when that baby showed up though, all I could think about was how heartbreaking she was. She's nine years old, looks like she's five and her eyes-" Gabriel finally looked at his wife "-those eyes are almost ninety."

"I know." Olivia frowned. "That kid has seen more shit in her nine years than probably most of the adults in that room."

"And the way she was clinging to Claude, and then to you." Gabriel shook his head. "Those sobs. She broke my heart. I have to say, if Sandra hadn't spoken up to take her and Nikolai into their home when she did-" He noticed Olivia's smile. "-You were about to offer to take them, weren't you?"

Olivia nodded. "I was. I almost insisted that WE take them instead, but she needs to be around Molly and play with a girl close to her age. That and I didn't know if you'd be willing to take them."

"I would have been more than willing. That baby needs to be with people that are going to spoil the hell out of her and that boy needs someone who he can relate to. He's got a lot of anger bottled up inside." Gabriel shrugged. "I have a feeling that Claude will be great with them though. He might swear up and down that he's a hermit and that he hates being around people, but-"

"-deep inside, he's a big marshmallow." Olivia laughed. "Hey, maybe if Hana sees him doting on those kids, she'll decide to let him get a little more handsy in the future. A man who's good with kids is like catnip to us women."

"You are so bad." Gabriel smirked. "You WANT them to end up together!"

"Who wouldn't?"

"Silly little cupid, that's what you are."

"I'm not silly." Olivia snuggled up to her husband, nuzzling his neck. "I just want everyone to be as nauseatingly happy as we are, is that so wrong?"

Gabriel put the book aside, closing his eyes as Olivia's lips traveled along his neck. "Nope, nothing wrong with that." He whispered. "Hey, since you're trying to become the designated match maker, maybe you should help Sherry out with Peter." His eyes opened as Olivia's lips stopped working on his neck. He turned to see her making a face at him. "What? She LIKES him!"

"I don't have to fix up EVERYONE!" Olivia rolled her eyes.

"Yes you do." Gabriel rolled over, wrapping his arms around his wife. "Sherry has just as much right to be happy as we do."

"And Peter?"

Gabriel snorted. "He has a right to get irritated to the core!" He smiled at Olivia. "Ya tebya lyublyu."

Olivia raised an eyebrow. "And that means?"

"I love you." Gabriel kissed his wife, rolling her over until she was on top of him.

* * *

Peter woke up with a start on the couch in the Bennet house as piercing screams filled the home. He jumped up and ran up the stairs, searching for the room the screams were coming from. Sandra's bedroom door flew open as she ran out, Mr. Muggles hot on her heels and barking. Peter looked around, realizing the screams were coming from Molly's room. As he reached the door, Nikolai ran out of Lyle's room and pushed Peter aside, running into the room to Tatiana. She was the one who was screaming. Nikolai sat on the bed, scooping his sister into his arms as he began to croon to her. He turned to see Molly sitting up in the small twin bed next to Tatiana's, then turned to see Peter, Sandra, Claire and Lyle standing in the doorway. 

"She had a nightmare." Nikolai shrugged as he rocked his sister. "I am very sorry for the disturbance."

"Oh, it's perfectly understandable." Sandra nodded sadly. "After everything that's happened, I'm not surprised that she's having nightmares at all."

Peter walked into the room and sat on the edge of Tatiana's bed. Closing his eyes, he thought of Olivia and her power. Within a few minutes, Tatiana's sobs had stopped as she calmed down. Nikolai stared at him. "How did you-?" He looked down at his sister as she closed her eyes and relaxed against him, dozing off. "What did you do?"

Peter shrugged. "My sister Olivia, the doctor that examined the two of you today, has a power. I called on it to help calm everyone down."

"You are like me." Nikolai nodded as everyone began to mill back to their rooms. Molly curled up in her bed and went back to sleep. "You take powers as I do."

"Not exactly." Peter frowned. "I don't have to touch someone, I just have to be in the same room with them. It's pretty problematic sometimes."

"Problematic." Nikolai shrugged. "I can see how it would be very problematic. Too many people with powers at one time-"

"-and I lose it." Peter stared at the floor. "I almost blew up New York City because of it two months ago."

"I see." Nikolai gently placed his sister back onto her bed, tucking the covers around her as she rolled over, clutching her pillow. "I hope she has no more nightmares tonight."

"Me too." Peter sighed as he stood up. "So how do you deal with it?"

"Being an emopath?" Nikolai put his hands behind his back, cocking his head to the side as he thought about the answer to the question. "Before Tatiana was born, Mr. Raines moved my family to Odessa in the Ukraine to hide us from Mr. Bennet's people. I had just manifested my powers. I was very young. Every person I came into contact with who had powers would imprint on me. In fact, after I touched Mr. Raines, I disappeared for a whole day because I could not control it. My parents were quite frightened, until I called out to them and told them I was still in the room with them. Mr. Raines sat down and talked to me. He helped to explain how I had to learn to control it. He compared it to being toilet-trained."

"Yeah." Peter laughed softly. "That's basically how he explained it to me."

"It helped somewhat, but my parents hired tutors for me and Natalia. One of my tutors had special powers as well. He could figure out equations, numbers, any type of mathematical problem in seconds flat. He was a mathematical genius, he could have been one of the greatest minds in the world, except he had a drinking problem. He taught me about control and mediation. I have been able to control my powers through it. Meditation and relaxation is the best way to bring everything together, to control the powers from jumping out anytime. Because of it, I can choose what to use when I please and what not to use. You should look into it. If what Mr. Raines says is true, we are to become an army, yes?" Peter nodded as Nikolai sighed. "It would be quite difficult for you to fight side-by-side with people of many powers if you cannot control them. You'd be picking up so many at one time that-"

"-That'd I'd go into overdrive and melt down, basically."

"Basically, yes." As Peter and Nikolai left the girls' bedroom, Nikolai stared at Peter. "You work during the day at the lab. You were there when I arrived with Tatiana. Are you not exposed constantly to the powers of the people that have arrived there and continue to stay there?"

Peter shrugged. "Well, I usually have warning before Hiro teleports in with someone. I leave the room when he does it. Besides you and Tatiana, the only two new people I've met are Herbert and Sherry. I slip in through a side door and keep to myself in the lab."

"I understand we are all to be moving to an apartment building in Las Vegas. All of these people with powers under one roof, how do you expect to keep avoiding them? How do you expect to keep from going into" Nikolai frowned "overdrive?"

Peter's brow furrowed. "I have no idea."

"Mediation and relaxation. Learn to use your powers wisely and start absorbing as many as you can, one at a time. Learn to use each one and learn to put it aside as soon as you can. If you don't start now, you will become overwhelmed on the battlefield when we prepare to fight this Linderman."

"Yeah." Peter nodded. "You have a point." He glanced at the stairs. "I'm going to try and get some sleep. You?"

Nikolai yawned. "I think I will as well. Perhaps Tatiana will sleep through the rest of the night. She needs it."

"I know." Peter headed down the stairs. "Meditation and relaxation." He whispered to himself. "I definitely need to look into that."

* * *

Soon the weekend arrived. Olivia, Mohinder and Herbert continued to work together in the lab on the problems with the serum as well as the logistics behind the move to Las Vegas. As Herbert read over the formula's equations, Mohinder and Olivia teleconferenced with the rest of the group. Hiro, Kaito and Ando were almost finished with their search of Asia, Claude and Noah were expected back from Europe within a couple of days, Angela and Heidi were doing well with their coverage of the Eastern U.S., Hana had finished the Middle Eastern leg of her trip and was preparing to go to Africa, and Matt and Janice were preparing to arrive at the lab with their last recruit from Australia before they returned to Los Angeles to pack for the move. 

Matt shrugged into the camera on his laptop. "I'm technically still on suspension with the LAPD, but I think I'm just going to tell them to shove that job up their ass sideways. I'm tired of hearing them think how worthless, stupid and crazy I am."

Olivia and Mohinder smiled into their camera. "Good idea. I think we can all agree that the LAPD is seriously fucked as far as their opinion of you is concerned. Who have you got for us?"

Matt grinned. "Janice and I found this guy in the Outback. His name is Trevor Kelley. He used to be FATHER Trevor Kelley, until he retired from the priesthood. You're going to REALLY love his power. I have a feeling it will come in extremely useful. He's here now and Janice has already put the call in to Hiro. He's going to drop us all off here, then send Janice and me back to the house in L.A. to pack and move to Vegas with the rest of you crazy kids."

"We'll be waiting for you." Mohinder smiled as he signed off, then turned to Herbert. "So do you have any ideas?"

Herbert read over the formulas. "I think I may have an idea to help with the seizure activity and the cardiac arrest." He nodded. "In fact, I know I do. I have a theory. I believe the seizures and arrest could be due to the body being overloaded. You're introducing foreign DNA into someone's system, causing the person's natural DNA to go haywire and the body to go into shock and then arrest while the DNA adapts. Putting the patient under anesthesia, even conscious sedation was a good idea, but I have another."

"What?" Mohinder asked.

"Put the patient completely under. Deep anesthesia. Afterwards, lower the core body temperature until the subject is almost in suspended animation, if you will."

"Hibernation." Olivia whispered.

"Cryogenics." Mohinder nodded.

"Exactly! That way, the heart and brain activity are slowed almost to a complete crawl. The body can have a chance to adjust to the foreign DNA without causing the entire body to go into shock. Once we know the DNA has been introduced and the subject has adapted, we slowly bring them out and they're right as rain, with a new power added, of course."

Mohinder beamed. "That's perfect!" He shuffled through the papers. "Sometimes I wonder if Hiro, at least, Future Hiro kept part of my papers secret from Faith. Perhaps this was discovered in his time as well, he just wanted us to be able to work for it, in case Faith sent the papers to us."

"Perhaps." Herbert cocked his head to the side. "Peter was really visited by a future version of Mr. Nakamura?"

"Yes, he was." Mohinder nodded. "As well as a future version of Olivia and Gabriel's daughter, Faith. They were the only survivors in their version of the war."

"Extraordinary." Herbert shook his head. "To be able to get such a warning about the future. It's quite extraordinary indeed!" He smiled. "So who shall we test this medical theory on?"

Olivia was about to speak when Gabriel strolled through the door. "I know who you WON'T be testing it on!" He leaned down and kissed his wife. "Hello my darling."

"Hello." Olivia smirked. "Herbert has an idea of how we can avoid the seizures and cardiac arrest. Plus, he's a doctor. He can be there in case anything goes wrong."

"That's nice, but no sale." Gabriel nodded to Herbert. "No offense, but my wife has been through enough. She can talk to people in her head, she's a walking roofie and she can now walk through walls. That's all the power she needs."

"Says the man with an immense bag of tricks at his disposal." Olivia rolled her eyes. "I have a question."

"No, you're not getting any more powers through the serum, no matter how many times you do that thing that you do that makes my eyes roll back in my head and makes my toes curl."

Olivia giggled. "That wasn't the question and I wouldn't dream of withholding that in order to get serumized. My question is this: when you would," she struggled for words "acquire someone's powers through their DNA-"

"-When I was a serial killer who ate brains-"

"-yeah, that." Olivia nodded as Herbert stared at Gabriel, his eyes widening.

"Dear lord, I thought you people were JOKING about that." He whispered.

"When you did that, after you acquired the DNA, did you have any adverse effects immediately afterwards?"

Gabriel sat in a chair, frowning. "A little, yeah. I didn't have seizures or go into cardiac arrest, but for a few minutes afterwards, I would feel a little tired and queasy and out of sorts. It could have just been the fact that I was eating raw human brain though."

"Oh my God!" Herbert clamped his hand to his mouth and leapt out of his chair, running to the bathroom.

Gabriel watched him go, smiling softly. "Speaking of queasy and out of sorts. I also had difficulty for a while afterwards controlling the powers sometimes. The hardest one to control was Dale Smithers' super hearing, as Mohinder can attest."

Mohinder looked away, shaking his head. "That was disgusting, what you did to her."

"Yeah, whatever." Gabriel shrugged. "It was my evolutionary imperative, after all. Anyway, why do you ask?"

"Just wondering, that's all." Olivia shook her head. She turned as Claire entered the room with Tatiana and Nikolai in tow.

The Urovitch children had only been in Texas for a couple of days, but had quickly grown accustomed to the group, finding an instant extended family. Nikolai spent most of his day with Peter at the lab, teaching him about meditation. Tatiana found herself being lavished with affection from everyone she met, quickly becoming the "pet" of the group. In Claude's absence, she soon and surprisingly (at least to Mohinder) bonded the closest with Gabriel, who had gone out of his way to learn as much Russian as he could to converse with the child. As soon as they entered the room and she saw Gabriel sitting beside Olivia, her face lit up, her mossy green eyes sparkling.

"GAY-BREEEAL!" She squealed as let go of Nikolai's hand and sprinted to the man.

"Tatiana!" Gabriel stood up and swept the girl into his arms, spinning her around as she giggled. "Dobroye 'ootro!" (good morning)

"Dobroye 'ootro!" Tatiana giggled as she wrapped her arms around Gabriel's neck, resting her head on his shoulder.

Claire stared at the two of them, shaking her head in amazement. "That is just the strangest thing I think I've ever seen." She mused. "Three months ago he's stalking me at the high school and now he's acting like a big Russian papa bear."

"I know." Olivia sighed as she walked to Claire. "He has no idea how much that turns me on. Or then again, maybe he does." She stopped grinning as she caught Claire's look. "Too much information?"

"WAAAAY too much." Claire tried not to grin.

"Where is Peter?" Nikolai asked politely.

"Last I checked, he was looking for Collette Renard. He said something about immersing himself in everyone's powers, one at a time." Olivia shrugged. "Whatever that means."

"He is taking my advice." Nikolai smiled. "Good!" He turned on his heel and left the room to search for Peter.

Olivia turned back to Claire. "So how's it going with the Urovitchs at the house?"

Claire shrugged. "It's okay. Zach keeps coming up with excuses to 'stop by'. I think he has a little crush on Nik."

"And Nik?"

"Doesn't." Claire laughed softly. "I think Zach is barking up the wrong tree with him, big time."

"Hmmm." Olivia studied her niece.

"What does 'hmmm' mean?"

"I think Nik has a crush, just not on Zach."

Claire sighed, exasperated. "WHY does everyone keep SAYING that? Zach, you, Peter, Lyle, even MOM started teasing me about it last night when I helped her with dinner."

"Hi?" Olivia and Claire turned around see Sherry standing in the doorway. She looked at the two of them nervously. "When you two have a minute, can I talk to you both? I kind of need some help with something. It's kind of stupid and pathetic, but-"

"-Sure." Olivia and Claire stepped out of the room with Sherry to talk to her.

* * *

Nikolai rounded a corner, looking around the halls. "Looking for me?" Nikolai lifted his head to see Peter crawling on the ceiling, a petite brunette beside him. "Collette is teaching me a new trick." 

"Interesting!" Nikolai laughed as Peter climbed across the ceiling, down the wall and stood beside him. "How is it going?"

"Slowly but steadily." He looked up at the ceiling as the woman crawled away. "Merci again, Collette!"

"Il n'ya rein de pas!" She called out as she crawled away.

Peter laughed as he turned back to Nikolai. "I've met about six different people, one-on-one so far and I'm doing better at meditating to keep all the powers in check."

"Very good!" Nikolai straightened his back, squaring his shoulders. "Let's see how well you are doing. Think of the power you've acquired from me, the power I acquired from my father."

Peter closed his eyes taking a deep breath. He opened his eyes and held out his left hand. His arm began to slowly stretch, soon reaching the end of the hall. Then, it returned to its normal shape beside him.

"My mother's power." Nikolai nodded as Peter closed his eyes, then opened them as he turned, scanning the rooms.

"Gabriel is in the lab with Tatiana, speaking to her. She's giggling."

"He is good with her." Nikolai smiled. "He is a good man, I believe."

"Sometimes he can surprise me." Peter nodded. He turned as Nikolai began to walk out of the building. Peter ran to catch up with him and they stood outside. Nikolai turned and pointed to the roof of the building. "Think of Tatiana."

Peter grinned and backed up, then ran and jumped. He landed on his feet on the roof, turning as he surveyed the view around him. "This is seriously cool!" He whispered. He thought of Nathan and shot up into the air, flying around the parking lot for a moment before landing in front of Nikolai. "Well?"

"You are improving." Nikolai smiled. "Improving very well. When does your brother visit? I've always wanted to fly."

Peter laughed. "He'll be here to help out with the move. He'll probably visit Vegas with Heidi and the kids as much as he can when Congress isn't in session."

"Good." Nikolai checked his watch. "Soon these football games you talk about will be starting, yes?"

"Yeah." Peter grinned. "Playoffs for the Super Bowl. Want to watch?"

"I would like to learn about American football. Here, what you call football, we call soccer, so I want to see what the difference is."

Peter grinned. "There's a big difference, and it's cool." They headed towards a car as Nikolai frowned.

"Super Bowl? Is it held in a big bowl?"

"Something like that. The stadium looks like one, I guess."

"Sort of like baseball's World Series? It's just Americans, not the whole world? Americans are strange." Nikolai sighed.

* * *

Herbert strolled towards the lab, jumping back as a woman flipped onto the ground in front of him. Herbert smiled softly, remembering her as the woman Noah Bennet and Claude had brought from Vienna. "Collette, it's good to see you again. Do you remember me? I am Herbert Osgood II." 

"Ah, oui, I remember you, Dr. Osgood." She smiled softly. "How are you today? I'm sorry if I startled you."

"Oh, I'm quite well. You didn't startle me at all, really." Herbert nodded. "Excuse me. I have to return to the lab."

"Of course." She smiled at him again. "Have a bon day." She strolled off as Herbert turned to watch her walk away.

"You too. Bon indeed." He blushed as he returned to the lab. Gabriel was talking to Tatiana in Russian as the girl sat beside him, coloring in a book. Mohinder stared at the two of them a moment, shaking his head in shock as Herbert returned to the room, shying past Gabriel as he walked to the desk he shared with Mohinder. "Miss Renard is quite a lovely woman, isn't she?"

"I suppose." Mohinder looked at him. "So if Olivia is 'forbidden' from taking the serum again," he glared at Gabriel "who should we use?"

Herbert sighed. "I wouldn't mind trying this serum out on myself. It would be quite interesting. The question is, what power should we use?"

Olivia quickly walked back into the room to grab her purse. Gabriel looked up at her. "Going somewhere?"

"Yeah, I'm taking the rest of the day off." She grinned at Mohinder and Herbert. "I think you two can hold down the fort without me, right?"

"That's not a problem at all." Herbert shook his head. "I've decided that I shall be the next test subject. Do you have any suggestions about what power I should imbue myself with?"

Olivia nodded. "How would you like to be able to heal someone with just the touch of your hand?"

"REALLY?" Herbert leaned towards her. "You have someone who can do that?"

"We have some samples of their blood."

"Do you know what that could mean as a doctor?" Herbert's eyes widened. "It would be amazing!"

Olivia glanced at her husband. "Well, that was what I was going to ask for the next time I got the serum, but since SOMEBODY has forbidden me-"

"-And that SOMEBODY isn't budging!" Gabriel looked at her pointedly.

"I think at least one of the doctors here should be able to heal people." Olivia glared at her husband for a moment. "When do you want to try the test?"

"After we move to Las Vegas." Mohinder nodded. "It will give us a chance to go over all of the logistics after we move to the labs there."

"Sounds good." Olivia pulled out her car keys and turned to Gabriel. "I'll see you back at the hotel tonight."

"Sure. Where are you going, anyway?"

Olivia grinned. "Girl stuff with Claire and Sherry. Gotta go." She turned and walked out of the room as Gabriel, Mohinder and Herbert looked at each other, confused.

"What kind of 'girl stuff'?" Mohinder mused.

* * *

Quick note from TMM1205:

Okay, I've recently started watching Arrested Development and you guys have NO idea how close I came to throwing this line in just as a wink and nod to the show:

"Says the man with an immense bag of tricks at his disposal." Olivia rolled her eyes.

"Tricks are what a whore does for money, or candy. I have powers, Baby." Gabriel grinned.

But I restrained myself. LOL!!! But I did already throw one little AD wink/nod out there, with the Linderman's "double" story, so I think I'll hold myself back from it for a while longer. (maybe Herb's a "never nude", LOL. Just kidding!!!)

Anyway, whoever came up with this website: God bless 'em! And you've also discovered what two years of French in high school is worth. I can say "good" "Hello" "thank you" and "Think nothing of it" that's about it. The Georgia Public School System: helping 32 year old women remember a few words in French after seventeen years.

Thanks for reading and reviewing. You guys are the greatest!

TMM1205


	33. Chapter 33

Chapter Thirty-Three: Makeover and The Human Lie Detector

Sherry Bombano chewed on her bottom lip as she rode with Olivia and Claire to town, thinking back on her conversation with them and wondering what in the hell had possessed her to do this.

Olivia and Claire had followed Sherry out of the lab into an empty office, staring as Sherry shrugged nervously. "Okay, so I was wondering what I could do to get Peter to notice me. He's mentioned this girlfriend he used to have named Simone. She sounds like she was really sophisticated. I know my look could use a little freshening up, maybe add a little class to it. Do you two have suggestions about what I could do? Be brutally honest with me."

Olivia and Claire looked at each other, then turned back to Sherry. Olivia struggled for words. "Well, you could start with your hair."

"What's wrong with my hair?" Sherry touched the top of her head.

"It's so bleached it's white, with black roots." Claire nodded. "And it's fried and overprocessed beyond belief."

"Okay, I can agree with that. Maybe a darker blond, take an inch or two of split ends off." Sherry sighed. "Anything else?"

"Tone down the makeup?" Olivia looked like she wanted to crawl under the floor.

"What's wrong with the makeup?"

Claire looked at the floor. "Well, nothing really, but it's so heavy. You're pretty, you just can't tell with all that crap on your face."

"Fine." Sherry crossed her arms in front of her chest. "Fix the hair and lessen the makeup."

"And the clothes." Olivia cringed.

"What?" Sherry's mouth flew open.

"Well, showing your cleavage is sexy. Showing off your legs or midriff is sexy. Showing off all three at once while wearing a skirt so short that everyone's practically your OB-GYN is-" Olivia searched for a word.

"-Kinda sleazy." Claire nodded.

"I see." Sherry leaned against a wall, narrowing her eyes. "Is there anything about my appearance that ISN'T repellant?"

"You're not repellant." Claire shrugged. "You're really nice. You are extremely confident and you speak your mind, which is very cool. I like your earrings and shoes."

"Okay then." Sherry looked at the floor. "Fine. I've been wanting to fix a few things for a while now, both of you seem like snappy dressers, so I'll let you two do what you want to me on one condition: if either of you make me look like a young Republican, I'm kicking your asses."

"Okay." Claire nodded as she started to smile. "Makeover." She turned to Olivia. "Are you in?"

Olivia grinned. "I haven't had a girly moment with a group of girls since college, I'm definitely in."

Arriving at some of the boutiques in town, Sherry began to wonder why in the hell she'd ever approached them at all. Olivia and Claire immediately started digging through racks of clothes, holding them up against her and then shoving her towards the dressing room. After trying on a few outfits, she did have to admit that they did make her look better, but she wasn't sure about anything they put her in. "What am I to you too anyway, your Barbie doll?" She quipped as she stepped out in a knee-skimming red skirt with a v-cut sweater.

"I did always enjoy those." Olivia grinned. "Come on, it IS cute."

Sherry made a face as she went back in the dressing room. Once the doors closed, she grinned. "Cute hell, it's kind of sexy." She whispered to herself as she admired the outfit.

Two hours later, laden with shopping bags and a bag of makeup and hair color from the local drugstore, the three ladies swept into the Bennet house, passing Peter and Nikolai in the living room as they marched up the stairs.

"Peter." Olivia nodded.

"Peter." Claire smiled.

"Pete." Sherry coolly remarked as she swept past him.

"Yeah, hi Ladies." Peter commented, his eyes never leaving the football game on the television screen.

* * *

Gabriel and Tatiana looked up as Hiro appeared in the lab, accompanied by Matt, Janice and an older man. He was dressed in khakis and a beat-up white tee-shirt. His skin was tanned to the point of an almost leathery appearance and his hair was almost white. As he looked around the room at the people staring at him, he smiled, wrinkles crinkling up at the corners of his faded blue eyes. "Now that's what I call traveling." He quipped, his accent a mix of Irish and Australian.

Mohinder stood with Herbert and walked over to the newcomer. "Hello and welcome. I am Mohinder Suresh and this is one of my colleagues, Dr. Herbert Osgood II."

"Trevor Kelley." Trevor shook Mohinder's hand and then Herbert's. "Pleasure to meet you both. I've heard great things about almost everyone here from the Parkmans and Mr. Nakamura. I think this is going to be a really interesting adventure."

"So you're a priest?" Herbert frowned as he stared at Trevor's clothes.

"Not anymore Mate. I'm retired. I still consider myself a priest, somewhat, but I left the Catholic Church ages ago. With an ability like mine, things tend to wear on your soul after a tic. I finally got fed up and moved to the Outback, working farms and tending bar on occasion to make some money. That's where your friends found me."

"If you don't mind my asking, what IS your ability?" Mohinder asked.

"I can tell outright if someone's lying. I can't explain it too much more than that, really. It's not like I'm reading their minds like Mr. Parkman here or anything like that, but when you talk to me, I can simply tell if you're telling me the truth or not. That's the reason I left the church, too many damn times of hearing people swear up and down in the bloody confessional booth that they'd never, ever commit this sin or that sin again and know they were lying through their teeth and didn't repent a sodding thing. After a while, it was either leave the church, or reach through that booth and fucking choke the life out of someone." He blanched as he noticed Tatiana. "Oh, sorry. Didn't know you were there. That's a no-no word and Father Kelley shouldn't have used it around ya!" He reached out with his hand, playfully pinching Tatiana's nose with his fore and middle fingers. She giggled and ducked her face into Gabriel's chest. "Precious wee little thing, yours?"

Gabriel smiled softly. "Unfortunately no. She's an orphan. Linderman's people killed her father and older sister. Only she and her older brother escaped. I think she's becoming everyone's baby around here though, if you want the truth."

Trevor nodded. "And that sounded like the truth to me." He grinned and looked towards Matt. "Judging by your description, this must be that baddie brain-snatching bloke you were telling me about." He regarded Gabriel. "Looks harmless enough to me."

"Looks can be deceiving." Matt muttered. "Hey, let's test out your powers." He turned to Gabriel. "So do you feel bad for the things you did this past year?"

Gabriel glared at Matt. "Feel bad? Sometimes. Regret? Yes. I regret that I caused pain to my victims and their families, and I wish there had been another way to acquire my powers, but it was my evolutionary imperative to do what I had to do and I wouldn't change a thing."

"Sounds like the truth to me."

Matt crossed his arms in front of his chest. "Do you still want to kill us?"

Gabriel smiled dangerously. "Every day. I fight the urge every day too, and so far, I've been a good little boy."

"Telling the truth again." Trevor winked at Mohinder.

"But I will say this. IF I decide to let Sylar come out and play, Parkman, I'll be sure to look you up first."

As Matt's eyes widened. Trevor started to laugh. "Bloody hell, you're lying about that one!" He popped Matt on the shoulder good naturedly. "You wouldn't be the first on his list at all."

"No." Matt frowned. "Actually, according to his thoughts, I'd be fifth or sixth down the line." He turned to Hiro and Janice. "Ready to head to L.A.?" He asked, glancing nervously at Gabriel.

Hiro nodded. "Yes, I have to return to father and Ando. We're in the middle of India, the last leg of our trip." He reached out and placed a hand on Janice and Matt's shoulders, closing his eyes. In a moment, they disappeared.

Trevor turned to Gabriel. "So who would be the only one NOT on your list?"

Gabriel mussed Tatiana's hair. "I can think of at least two people I probably wouldn't go Sylar on."

* * *

"So can I SEE yet?" Sherry fidgeted nervously on a stool. In the last two hours, Olivia and Claire had had her locked in the master bathroom, turned away from the mirror as they worked on her hair. Sherry had no idea how much they'd cut off, but judging by the pile of white-blond locks at her feet, she wouldn't be surprised at all if they turned her chair around to show that she was bald. After they cut off her hair, they dyed it, then highlighted it, giggling and arguing over whether to put the highlights in as wide chunks, or subtle strands all over her head. Now they were finished with the coloring. Claire was styling her hair while Olivia was applying the new makeup they'd bought.

"Stop chewing your nails." Olivia swatted at Sherry's hand as she started gnawing on her fingernails. "I just fixed those."

"Yeah, you fixed 'em alright! I don't have any nails left!" Sherry had shrieked when, before working on her makeup, Olivia had trimmed down Sherry's dragon-lady nails, removed the multi-colored polish and redone the color. They were now a soft blush-pink shade, barely extending past her fingertips.

"You do too, and now you can actually use your hands for something besides decoration." Olivia shook her head. "How on earth did you get anything done with those things?"

"I got plenty done, thank you." Sherry squirmed. "Can I see yet?"

"Not yet." Olivia winked at her. "I'm almost done though, I swear."

"How did you learn to do all of this? I mean, you know how to do hair color and nails, what gives? Did you go to Saul's School of Surgery, Nail and Hair Artistry?"

"Nope." Olivia shook her head as she curled Sherry's eyelashes. "I had a roommate in college. I was going to UGA and he was going to the local beauty school. I was his test subject most of the time and I learned a lot by watching and listening to him." She smiled softly. "I miss Dean like crazy."

"So you had a male roommate." Sherry grinned. "Ring-a-ding-ding!"

"Trust me, I was so far from his type, it wasn't even funny. I had the wrong equipment in every sense of the word."

Claire giggled as she worked on Sherry's hair. "Kind of like me and Zach."

"Basically, yeah." Olivia looked up at Claire. "Are you ready?" Claire nodded and Olivia grinned at Sherry. "You're still Cherry Bomb, so don't worry."

Sherry sighed and stood up, turning to the mirror. Her eyes widened. Her hair was cut, but it wasn't short. It was still long, past her shoulders and the bleached-blond was replaced by a warm light brown. Honey colored highlights framed her face, bringing out her deep skin tone. Claire had put her hair in rollers, making it fall around her shoulders in bouncy waves. Olivia had applied a minimal amount of makeup, just lip gloss and color to accentuate her eyes, bringing out the warm amber flecks in her otherwise dark brown eyes. "Huh." She whispered as she studied herself in the mirror.

"So, how do you like the new Cherry Bomb?" Olivia cocked an eyebrow.

"It's nice." Sherry tried to cover a grin, and failed. "I'm a hottie, okay? Sheesh!" She giggled. "I kinda look like J-Lo, only without the big ass!" Claire and Olivia started giggling as Sherry struck a pose in the mirror. "Peter ain't gonna know what hit him, Honeys!"

"I know." Olivia grinned as she and Claire started cleaning up the mess they'd made. "Now for the next step—the clothes."

Sherry looked down at her tight, revealing outfit. "Yeah, the old Jersey Bombano clothes don't quite fit with this new uptown class-act Bombano look." She grinned. "I'll get changed and then we'll drop a REAL bomb on your brother!" She turned to leave the bathroom and then stopped, turning back to Olivia and Claire. "I don't want to have some big sappy moment, but" her eyes shimmered for a moment as she blinked and looked away "you guys were the real bombs here. Thanks."

"Welcome." Claire grinned. "You look really hot."

"Yeah, I do." Sherry winked and left the room as Claire and Olivia finished cleaning.

After Sherry had changed into a sweater and jeans, she approached the head of the stairs with Olivia and Claire. "So just remember" Claire whispered "you're not going to sit down and talk to Peter, you're not going to dance around him or anything, he WILL notice you, you don't have to make him. The ball will be in HIS court after we pass by him and he sees you, it'll be HIS turn to go after YOU, got it?"

"I just walk by and say 'hi' and then keep going?" Sherry fidgeted. "I can't ask him what he thinks or anything?"

"No." Claire shook her head. "Trust me, he's GONNA notice."

"Okay." Sherry took a deep breath and slowly let it out. She followed Olivia and Claire down the stairs, carrying the rest of her shopping bags. As they approached the living room, they all grinned at each other, then stood up straight as they walked into the room, breezing nonchalantly past Peter and Nikolai.

"Peter, Nikolai." Olivia nodded as she walked past.

"Olivia." Peter muttered absently, still watching the football game.

"Peter, Nikolai." Claire strolled past them.

"Hey Claire." Peter mumbled.

"Hello Claire." Nikolai looked up at her, smiling softly as she passed him.

Sherry pulled back her shoulders and walked into the room, sweeping past Peter and Nikolai. "Guys." She nodded as she walked through the room.

"Yeah, hi Sherry." Peter glanced at her for a moment and returned his gaze to the television. Suddenly his eyes widened as he looked back in Sherry's direction as she passed him. His mouth hanging open, he leaned forward in his chair, watching as Sherry strolled into the kitchen and out the back door. He turned back to Nikolai. "Was THAT Sherry Bombano?" He asked.

"Yes." Nikolai smiled. "Claire and Olivia have been giving her a-" he searched for the word "makeover? Upstairs? I looked in on them to see what they were up to."

Peter closed his mouth, staring at Nikolai as the young man began to blush. The color crept from the nape of his neck to the roots of his hair as he realized what he'd just said. "So you watch Claire with your super vision?"

Nikolai stared at the floor. "Not when she's in her room or in the bathroom or anything like that. If I think she's doing something private, I don't use it. I just look when she's studying or talking on the phone." He cleared his throat. "I am not a pervert, I just like to watch her sometimes. She-"

"-You have a crush on her." Peter grinned. "As your friend, I say tell her. As her uncle, I say break her heart and I'll break your nads."

"Nads?"

"Balls."

Oh!" Nikolai shook his head. "I would never hurt her or spy on her when she's-" He turned a deeper red. "Besides, you like Sherry."

Now it was Peter's turn to blush. "Not like that. She's okay I guess. She's pretty, but she's a pain in the ass."

"Now she's a pretty HOT pain in the ass." Nikolai grinned. "And you noticed."

"Yeah, I did." Peter whispered.

One thing that neither Peter or Nikolai noticed during their conversation though, was Olivia's head poking through the wall of the living room, near the floor of the couch, listening to them and grinning. Claire and Sherry stood outside of the house beside Olivia as she knelt beside the house, half of her body phased into the living room.

"What are they SAYING?" Sherry poked Olivia in the back. "TELL ME!"

"Her head's in the house, dingbat, she can't hear you. But if you keep yelling Peter and Nik WILL!" Claire looked around as she stood in front of Olivia, blocking the view of the half-woman from the neighbors. "She needs to hurry up in there though. It's not like they're discussing _War and Peace_!"

"That Nikolai's kinda cute." Sherry grinned at Claire as the teenager rolled her eyes.

"Oh God, not you too!" She turned as Olivia backed up, bringing her head and shoulders out of the Bennet house. "So? What did you hear?"

"Did Peter notice?" Sherry was practically dancing as Olivia giggled.

"Oh, he DEFINITELY noticed!" Olivia glanced at Claire. "He's not the only one."

Claire frowned. "Nikolai noticed her too?"

"Oh, only for a moment, then he went back to noticing you." Olivia threw her arm around her niece's shoulders as they walked towards the car. "He's very cute, Claire."

"I KNEW IT!" Sherry guffawed. "I knew that Nikolai had a thing for you!" She winked at Olivia. "Maybe we should go into a matchmaking business when this is all over and done with, especially if things work out with me and Pete."

Olivia laughed. "Surgeon by day, matchmaker by night. I might actually have fun with that. We'd have to try and get Parkman involved too, since he can read minds."

"Oh screw that, just use his powers to do it." Sherry grinned. "They will be added to our little military arsenal, so to speak, right?"

"Probably. Claude said in a teleconference the other day that he wanted to talk with all of us about what powers we'd want to use and what wouldn't work." Olivia climbed into her car, with Claire and Sherry following.

* * *

"So what was your 'girl stuff' this afternoon?" Gabriel climbed into bed beside Olivia as she flipped through an atlas.

"You didn't see Sherry when we came back?" Gabriel shook his head as Olivia smiled. "She asked for a makeover. Claire and I complied."

"Really?" Gabriel nibbled on her earlobe. "So how does she look?"

"Pretty hot, actually. Peter noticed too." Olivia winked at Gabriel.

"You're such a good sister." Gabriel's hand slipped under the covers and slid up her thigh. "Whatcha doing?"

"Reading." Olivia closed her eyes as his hand slid further up. "Planning our trip."

"Sounds fun."

"It's okay." Olivia bit her lip to keep from moaning. "I know it's technically a business trip, but I was thinking we could mix business with-" she moaned as Gabriel's hand moved against her body "-pleasure. Kind of a honeymoon."

"I'd like that." Gabriel purred in her ear. "So tell me. Where all are we going?"

Olivia turned to Gabriel, lying beside him as she threw a leg over his hip, sliding her foot up and down the back of his thigh. "Sandy white beaches, tropical islands. Some of them we could probably just spend time on the shores naked as the day we were born."

Gabriel kissed Olivia. "Where are we going?"

"Anguilla, Antigua, Barbuda, Aruba, the Bahamas," she kissed Gabriel back as he grasped at her hips "Barbados, the British Virgin Islands-"

"-Think they'll let us in there? They'd have to change the name by the time we left."

Olivia smiled softly as she rolled onto her back, pulling her husband on top of her. "I think they'll manage. The Cayman Islands, Cuba, Dominica, Grenada, Guadaloupe, the U.S. Virgin Islands-"

"-Say no more, you had me at naked on the beach." Gabriel nuzzled his wife. "We'll talk later."

Olivia nodded, shivering at the touch of her husband's hands. "Definitely. Talk much later. Screw talking about our trip, Baby, just screw me." She moaned as she helped him pull her tee shirt off and toss it across the room.

"With pleasure." Gabriel kissed Olivia as they began to make love.


	34. Chapter 34

Chapter Thirty-Four: Moving Day One Week Later

"Okay, so I don't get it." Gabriel looked around their new apartment, frowning.

"Get what, Babe?" Olivia walked through the door with her suitcases and set them down. "What's wrong?"

"You and I OWN this building, technically, right?" Olivia nodded as Gabriel leaned against the couch with his arms crossed. "So we're not in the penthouse because?"

"Because there IS no penthouse, just a top floor."

"Okay." Gabriel pouted. "But we're in one of the smaller apartments."

"Smaller?" Olivia stretched out her arms around their expansive living room. "Baby, this apartment is HUGE!"

"But it's not one of the four-bedroom apartments on the upper floors."

Olivia stared at Gabriel, her mouth hanging open as she started to giggle. "Oh my GOD!"

"What?" Gabriel glared at her.

"HONEY!" Olivia walked to her husband, cradling his face in her hands. "And you call ME spoiled! Why on EARTH would we need a FOUR BEDROOM apartment when it's just the two of us? Hell, if I didn't think it would make Matt insane with terror, I'd have suggested he and Janice move in here too, instead of just next door."

Gabriel made a face. "We have neighbors?"

"Yes, we have neighbors on this floor. Matt and Janice are next door. Peter, Herbert and Mohinder are moving in across the hall today and when they return from Asia, Hiro, Ando and Kaito will be next door to Peter." Olivia rolled her eyes. "You know, we only lived in that New York penthouse for a few weeks before we came here."

"Yeah, well I got used to it." Gabriel shrugged. "I liked knowing that I could do anything to you and you could do anything to me without our neighbors beating on the walls and complaining."

Olivia smiled. "You still can." She glanced at the living room wall. "See that wall?"

"Yeah."

"On the other side of that is Matt and Janice's living room wall. You can make me squeal and moan and vice versa and Matt and Jan can do the same without either of us hearing a thing. Except when you're using your super-hearing, that is." Olivia leaned down and kissed her husband's neck. "Nobody will hear us unless you did something to me in here and we got extremely loud."

"Have they moved in yet?" Gabriel grinned.

"Yeah, they actually arrived yesterday morning. They were the first tenants in the new building. Why?"

"Wanna test that theory out now?" Olivia shrieked as Gabriel grabbed her and, in one fluid motion threw her onto the couch, landing on top of her.

* * *

Peter arrived at the apartment building with Herbert and Mohinder, whistling as he climbed out of his cab and stared up at it. "Big building."

"Big enough to hopefully house us all." Herbert smiled. "Looks like a nice place, doesn't it?"

"It had better be." Mohinder climbed out of the cab and started pulling his suitcases out of the back of the taxi as Peter and Herbert did the same. "It'll be our home for the next two years." He turned to Peter. "Which apartment are we in again?"

"1003, across the hall from Gabriel and Olivia." Peter reached into his pocket, pulling out two pairs of key sets. "One for you, Mohinder and one for you, Herbert. One unlocks the front door and the other unlocks our apartment door."

"Great. We're across the hall from bloody Sylar." Mohinder grumbled as he carried his suitcases into the building.

As Peter chuckled to himself, he turned to see a tour bus pulling up at the curb. Nervous at the idea of all of his super-powered building-mates arriving at one time, he quickly grabbed his bags and headed for the front door. He stopped as he saw Sherry climb off of the bus first. She looked over at him, smiling softly. Peter grinned, nodded his head, then quickly moved into the building. Sherry frowned and rolled her eyes at Collette and Trevor as they followed her off of the bus with the rest of their bus-mates. "Jackass." She muttered under his breath. "'Oh no, Sherry, let me wait and help you with the bags, please. I'd love to. A pretty girl like you shouldn't have to carry her luggage inside all by herself.' God he's an ass."

"I don't think so." Trevor shouldered his knapsack and grabbed a couple of Sherry and Collette's suitcases. "From what I understand, he's got a problem being around too many of us at one time. It has to do with his power, or something like that. I understand he bloody nearly blew up New York back in November because of it." Trevor smiled. "I'm sure he'd have helped you otherwise, what red-blooded man would resist?"

Sherry laughed. "You know, for someone who can sense lies in others, you're pretty full of bull yourself."

Trevor shook his head and laughed back at her as they headed into the building. "So what room are you girls in?"

"Collette and I are in 301. It's just the two of us for now." Sherry leaned towards Trevor. "Frankly, I'll be happy with just her for now. I'm not too keen on sharing an apartment with a lot of people."

"You need to learn to be around others, just like Mr. Petrelli there. We're all going to have to learn to hang out and spend time together at some point. We're gonna be an army, aren't we?"

"I guess so." Sherry shrugged.

* * *

"Now THAT'S how you break in a new apartment!" Gabriel sat up on the couch, grabbing at his clothes as he tossed Olivia's to her. "One room down, many more to go."

"After we unpack." Olivia pulled her clothes on, grinning at her husband. "We can christen every room in the house later."

"What's to unpack besides our clothes? The apartments are furnished."

Olivia leaned towards her husband, wrapping her arms around his neck as she leaned against his back. "I had our things shipped to us from New York."

Gabriel turned to look at her. "Yeah? So your stupid Atlanta Braves pennants are here?"

"They're NOT stupid!" Gabriel started to open his mouth as Olivia shook her head. "And neither are the Georgia Bulldogs, so shut it!"

"Bulldogs," Gabriel scoffed "I can't take any team seriously that has a mascot named Ooohgah!"

"It's pronounced 'Uh-guh', thank you. His name is Uga, and that's because he's the mascot for UGA, my freakin' alma mater, so just leave it alone."

Gabriel laughed as he walked into the bedroom with Olivia following behind him. He spotted her boxes first and started digging through them. "Clothes, makeup, family photos, oh, here we go. Bulldog shit, Columbia shit, Braves shit," He laughed "Oh look, here's your sorority paddle." He held it up, twirling it as Olivia rolled her eyes. "So how many drunken fraternity boys did you keep in line with this thing?"

Olivia leaned in the doorway. "Wouldn't YOU like to know?"

Gabriel shook his head, putting it away. "If someone had told me a year ago I'd be married to a spoiled redneck sorority princess-"

"-and doctor, don't forget that one-"

"-who was sickeningly rich, I'd have laughed my ass off. The sorority princess part alone would have sent me running for the hills."

"Really, because if someone had told ME a year ago that I'D be married to a watchmaker from Queens with a secret homicidal identity-"

"-Yeah?" Gabriel mock-glared at her.

Olivia smiled. "I'd ask them why I'd have to wait a year if I knew it would be you."

Gabriel grinned at her as he noticed his boxes. "So what crap of mine did you have sent from New York?" He opened a box and smirked. "Great, my mother's snow globes." He looked at Olivia and rolled his eyes. "Really? You could have just had them chucked in a bin somewhere."

"Hey, no matter how things ended between you and your mother, those were obviously important to her. You never know, they may be important to you too someday."

"Yeah, right." He dug through another box, frowning at something carefully wrapped. He unwrapped the object and looked over at Olivia, his expression sad. "You brought-" He looked away. "-It's my dad's clock."

Olivia nodded. "It was the only thing from your old life you bothered to unpack in the penthouse. I knew it must be pretty important to you."

Gabriel turned it over in his hands, studying it. "It was." He whispered. "Thank you." He set the clock down and walked to his wife, wrapping his arms around her as he hugged her tightly. "Thank you so much."

"You're welcome." Olivia kissed his cheek as she hugged him back with equal ferocity.

"Um, hey." Olivia and Gabriel turned to see Peter standing in the hallway. "Sorry to interrupt, but the door was unlocked."

"That's okay, just be glad you didn't walk in ten minutes ago." Gabriel grinned.

Peter looked away, making a face. "Definitely need to knock before coming here always." He shook his head. "Um, anyway, can I talk to Olivia alone for a moment?"

"Sure." Gabriel shrugged. "But no matter where in the building you talk to her, I'm going to hear it." He cocked his head to the side. "In fact, right now I can hear Sherry bitching to Collette about what a rude ass you were for running into the building when her bus pulled up instead of helping her with her bags." He laughed as Peter blanched. "I can hear Claude showing Tatiana and Nikolai their rooms. I think they're next door to Sherry and Collette. And I can hear Noah Bennet telling Mr. Muggles to stop barking somewhere upstairs." He looked at Olivia. "THEY got one of the four-bedroom apartments, didn't they?"

Olivia nodded. "Well, they have Claire, Lyle and Molly. They needed four bedrooms."

"What, Claire and Molly can't share a room?" Gabriel held out his arms. "What's next, you're gonna let Nathan and Heidi have a four-bedroom apartment for the rare times they get to visit?" His mouth flew open as Olivia looked away. "They're hardly ever going to BE here! Plus, they've only got Simon and Monty, they only get three bedrooms!"

"Fine, you're right." Olivia shrugged. "Nathan, Heidi and the boys will get a three-bedroom apartment and when Angela comes, she can stay with us."

Gabriel rolled his eyes. "Oh fuck that, let them have the four-bedroom job. What have I got to DO for us to get four bedrooms?"

Olivia rolled her eyes. "Knock me up with triplets!" She took Peter's arm and walked down the hall with him. "God he's spoiled. I mean, honestly, what would we do with FOUR bedrooms?"

"HAVE SEX IN THEM!" Gabriel yelled down the hall.

"YOU CAN DO THAT IN THE ONE!" Olivia turned to Peter. "I'm sorry, what did you need?"

Peter glanced down the hall. "Sherry's apartment number?"

"301!" Gabriel roared from the bedroom. "YOU SHOULD GO DOWN THERE AND APOLOGIZE FOR BEING AN ASS SO I CAN BE ALONE TO SCREW YOUR SISTER AGAIN!"

"Will you STOP that?" Olivia sighed. "So why didn't you help her with her suitcases?"

Peter looked down at the floor. "I'm not ready to be around all those different powers at once. I mean, in the last week, I've been having a lot of one-on-one time with everyone and I've been meditating and relaxing, but I didn't know what would happen if I was bombarded with everyone at once, you know?"

"Yeah, of course." Olivia raised her eyebrows at Peter. "Have you ever TOLD Sherry about this problem?"

"No."

"You need to."

"I know." Peter shoved his hands in the pockets of his jeans as he leaned against the wall. "I need to try and explain it to everyone whenever I get a chance so no one thinks I'm being anti-social."

"So go do it." Olivia leaned against the opposite wall and playfully kicked Peter in the shins. "Go tell Sherry all about it. Share with Sherry. You know you want to."

Peter laughed at her. "You know, we've only really known each other for a couple of months, but you're really gotten into the whole annoying big sister routine in a big way."

"I know. I've been waiting to become a big sister for twenty-eight years, I've had a lot of practice preparing to be such a pain in the ass."

"I believe it." Peter straightened up as Olivia did the same. "So what are you two doing with the other two bedrooms?"

"One will be my office, where Mohinder, Herbert and I can work when we're not at the lab and I was thinking that the other one could be where Gabriel could work on his timepieces and paint. When Faith arrives, one of the rooms will become her nursery."

"OR we'll move upstairs to a four bedroom apartment." Gabriel leaned in the bedroom doorway, winking at Olivia."

"Or that." She reached out with her mind to Peter. _"He's SO spoiled!"_

"_And whose fault is that?"_ Peter laughed softly.

Gabriel stared at the two of them. "Hey, no telepathy, dammit."

"Well, if we can't have a private conversation out loud without you listening in-"

"-Fine." Gabriel nodded at Peter. "So are you going to go visit Sherry?"

"Yeah, I think so."

"Good." He turned and walked back into the bedroom. "You might want to hurry though, I'm considering banging your sister some more!"

Olivia grabbed Peter's arm as he rolled up his sleeves and started to march towards the bedroom. "Oh for crying out loud! I can't believe how easily you let him push your buttons." She herded Peter towards the door. "Go talk to Sherry before more people arrive on the bus from the airport."

"Fine. Okay." Peter sighed as he walked past Olivia, playfully bumping her shoulder with his. "Don't let him wear you out too much."

"Oh Honey please. He's the one who's going to need a lot of rest when I'm done."

Peter closed his eyes. "Why did I say anything? I walked right into that one." He grinned and left the apartment.

Olivia locked the door, then walked back into the bedroom where Gabriel was unpacking his clothes. She grabbed her sorority paddle and playfully popped him in the rear. "You're rotten, you DO know that, right?"

Gabriel turned and took the paddle out of her hand, tossing it aside. "That's only for drunken frat boys, remember?"

"Oh, I remember."

"Good." He pulled Olivia close, crushing his lips against hers as they stumbled towards the bed.

* * *

Peter opened the door to the stairwell and peeked down it. Olivia had promised him that one of the four stairwells in the building would be reserved for him to use privately, but he wanted to be sure before he used it. After making sure no one was in it, he climbed down the stairs to the third floor and found Sherry's apartment. Nervously, he knocked on the door. Sherry answered, her eyes narrowing as she saw him. "Yeah?" She asked.

Peter smiled softly. "Hey, I was wondering if maybe you needed help unpacking?"

Sherry smirked. "Sure, you wanna fold my panties and put them away?"

Peter looked away, feeling his face grow hot as he blushed. "Um, can I come in?"

"What's the matter?" Sherry raised an eyebrow. "You afraid you're gonna absorb too many powers and blow up or something?"

"Well, now that you mention it." Peter fidgeted for a moment until Sherry sighed and stepped aside to let him in. As he walked in, he looked around. "The furniture's different from mine, but the layout's the same."

"That's because they're all from the same design, being in the same building and all." Sherry brushed past him as she sat on the couch. "So, I saw you this morning when I arrived."

"Yeah." Peter moved to sit in a chair beside the couch. "I'm sorry I didn't help you with your bags or anything." He brushed his bangs out of his eyes.

"S'okay, the erstwhile Father Kelley carried mine and Collette's bags in. He's a gentleman, you know."

"I am too, usually." Peter sighed. "You just don't understand what it's like, knowing you could blow up or do something else catastrophic at any moment."

"NO?" Sherry's eyes widened. "You're saying that _I_ don't understand? You're talking to the Cherry Bomb, here. You think I just got this power one day and went around all 'la-dee-dah' about it? Hell, until I figured out that I was the one blowing shit up, I thought my grandfather's enemies were after my family again. People got WHACKED because of me, after I got pissed at my Uncle Carmine and blew up his car right before he climbed into it. He got singed eyebrows and a burned face, guys got popped without even knowing what they were being accused of, and I ended up with a major guilt complex, so don't talk to me about being capable of catastrophic shit! Once I learned what I was capable of, I kept my mouth shut for the most part, dealt with other people getting killed for the things I did and figured out how to control it."

Peter nodded. "I see your point. Sorry."

"And that's what YOU'VE got to do. How do you expect to end up fighting beside all of us against that Linderman dude and his band of freaks without blowing every one of us to kingdom come? I mean, according that story you told me, where that Hiro guy showed up from the future and told you about this big battle, you're a HUGE part of it. You obviously ended up controlling your power enough to not only fight beside US without going haywire, but without losing your shit around people you'd just met, right?"

"Yeah."

"Then you need to get to work, because this problem's not going to figure itself out."

"I know." Peter leaned back in his chair. "I've slowly been getting to know everyone, absorbing their powers little by little. I just don't think I'm ready to be around EVERYONE just yet. I can hang out with Olivia and the original group now, because I've gotten used to them, but everyone at once?"

"You're not going to learn by being Mr. Anti-Social and running for the door when a girl needs help with her suitcases."

Peter smiled softly. "I AM sorry about that."

"You should be." She turned as Collette strolled into the room. "Where you off to?"

Collette blushed. "Oh, I was just going to go upstairs." She looked at Peter. "Herbert is in your apartment, yes?"

"Yes." Peter grinned. "Apartment 1003."

"Thank you." She ducked her head down and left the apartment.

Sherry smirked. "Looks like my roommate and your roommate have a little something-something going on."

"I know." Peter looked around nervously. "You know, there are movie theaters and coffee houses here in town."

"Well, Las Vegas is a big city. I would hope there would be." Sherry looked at Peter. "Are you asking me out?"

"Maybe." Peter shrugged. "If you don't have plans tonight. I don't. I was just going to unpack and then hang out. Olivia, Matt and I were going to go to the facility tomorrow morning to interview the employees there and toss out anyone who still works for Linderman and then tomorrow night we've all got a meeting to discuss our next step, but tonight-"

"-Most of the movies that are out in the theater right now look kind of like crap. This time of year they usually are, but there's some good stuff out on DVD if you'd rather hang out here and watch a movie. Sound good?"

Peter took a deep breath. "Sounds very good. You pick the DVD's and I'll bring coffee and popcorn."

"Great." Sherry stood up. "It'll be better for us to watch it down here. I have a feeling Collette and Herbert will be upstairs all day and night." She leaned towards Peter conspiratorially. "I caught her coming out of his room at Primatech yesterday morning. She had some serious JBF hair."

"Poor Mohinder." Peter laughed softly. "And he's going to have to listen to it."

"Yup!" Sherry shrugged. "We COULD invite him to come down here too."

"Oh, that's okay. I'm sure he'll manage alone." Peter stood up and quickly walked to the door. "So I'll see you tonight."

"Sure thing." Sherry grinned. "Which, by the way, I am NOT one."

"Didn't think you ever were." Peter stared at the floor for a moment, then glanced at her, blushing as he headed out the door.

* * *

Upcoming chapters:

Hiro, Ando and Kaito find Sanjog, and do battle with the Haitian and another new baddie.

Olivia, Peter and Matt find themselves in harm's way at the facility.

The "Heroes" have a meeting to discuss battle plans.

Linderman does the same with his people.

The serum is re-tested with a new subject.

Peter and Mohinder go to South/Central America

Mohinder meets a love interest of his own

Olivia and Gabriel go to the Caribbean (the older spoilers I gave chapters ago finally come into play)

Claire and Nikolai grow closer.

A tragic event occurs in the apartment building, bringing everyone closer together (while threatening to tear Gabriel and Olivia apart) and galvanizing EVERYONE to start training in earnest to get Linderman back for breaking all of their hearts.


	35. Chapter 35

Chapter Thirty-Five: Hiro and the Tiger, The Assassination Attempt

Hiro Nakamura was weary as they arrived in Chennai, India. This city would be their final one on their trip throughout Asia. In the last month, he, Kaito and Ando had traveled through Japan, China, North and South Korea, Russia, the South Pacific Islands, Indonesia, Jakarta, Pakistan and other various countries, interviewing and bringing as many people as they could to Odessa, Texas to join their fight. Along the way, they'd countered resistance from many and had discovered the murdered bodies of others. Throughout it all, Hiro would teleport back and forth across the globe, bringing people from every corner of the world to Odessa. It had helped him hone his strengths in that power, but it also had exhausted him to the bone. Now, as they traveled through India, he was relieved to realize this was their last leg of the trip. They'd been to Bombay, Kolkata, and Kanyakumari (a name that brought heaviness to Hiro's heart, as he remembered Charlie talking about it) among other cities. Realizing Hiro's exhaustion, Kaito and Ando had decided that it would be best to travel India by train and public transportation, to keep him from teleporting more than he had to. As they stepped off the bus in Chennai, they studied their copy of the List, relieved to only see one name on it: Sanjog Iyer. The only problem was, there was no address listed for him.

"How will we find him?" Ando asked, confused. "It's too late in Las Vegas to call the Bennets and ask them to wake Molly."

"We wait until morning there." Kaito shrugged, as weary as his son. "What's a few hours?"

"The boy's life could hang in the balance." Hiro shook his head. "We must find a way to find the boy." He pulled out his satellite phone and dialed Mohinder's number. Mohinder answered the phone sleepily and Hiro began to talk to him. Finally, after a few moments, Hiro hung up, dejected. "Mohinder doesn't know where the boy lives. He did say that the boy plays soccer in the streets sometimes. He gave me the address where he saw him once."

Sighing, Hiro trudged along, leading Ando and Kaito down the winding streets, searching out the address Mohinder had given him.

* * *

Gabriel looked around the guest room of their apartment, suddenly wondering what time it was. After Olivia had fallen to sleep in their bedroom, he'd gotten antsy staring at the boxes with his mother's snow globes, along with his other possessions, still stacked in their bedroom. He'd moved the boxes into the guest room as quietly as he could, unpacking his father's clock and his art supplies and putting the boxes with the globes in the closet. He'd studied the supplies for a moment, suddenly realizing he hadn't done anything with them since he'd been released from the hospital. Placing a drop cloth on the carpet, he set up the easel and pulled out a canvas. After he set up the paints, he stared at the canvas, concentrating. That had been at least two hours ago. Now, as he stared at the canvas, he realized that he needed to wake up Olivia right away and have her call Hiro.

He quickly went into their bedroom, kneeling beside his wife and stroking her cheek. "Wake up, Sweetie." He whispered.

Olivia stirred slightly. "You can't be serious. Aren't you tired yet? Good lord, man." She mumbled.

"I'm not waking you up for that." He laughed softly. "I put my stuff up in my workroom. I painted something. You need to come right away. Bring your cell phone and satellite phone now."

"Can't it wait until morning?" Olivia sat up, her eyes bleary.

"I don't think so. I don't know how many hours India is behind us or ahead of us." He looked confused. "Are they on the same day as us or behind or ahead?"

Olivia shrugged. "Hell, I don't know." She looked at the clock. "Gabriel, it's two in the morning."

"I know, but according to what I've painted, Hiro, Ando, Kaito and some kid are in danger, so come on."

Olivia climbed out of bed, suddenly awake at the warning of Hiro's team in danger and quickly followed Gabriel into his workroom. Her eyes widened as she stared at the painting. "Oh no. That's Hiro."

"Yeah."

"And that's a-"

"Yep." Gabriel nodded, looking at Olivia gravely. "Call them, now. I don't know when this is going to happen, but they're going to need all the warning they can get."

"Shit." Olivia snapped a picture of the canvas with her cell phone while dialing Hiro's satellite phone with her own. Hiro answered and Olivia quickly started talking. "Hiro, it's Olivia. Listen, I need either your cell phone number, or Ando's, or Kaito's, whichever one of you can get a picture message. Gabriel just painted something with Isaac's talent and you guys need to see this right away."

Hiro's eyes widened as they walked down the street. "Mr. Isaac's talent? Gabriel painted something?" He looked at Ando and Kaito nervously as he gave Ando's cell phone number.

"Be careful and be alert. Call me back as soon as this is over with so I'll know you guys are alright, okay?"

"Yes, thank you." Hiro hung up the sat phone and turned to Ando. They waited for the picture message to arrive then stared at the photograph of the picture gravely. "Oh no! I fight a tiger?"

Ando nodded. In the painting, they were standing on a street, Kaito and Ando were protecting a young Indian boy as Hiro stood with his legs wide, his sword brandished as a huge tiger snarled at them. "Looks like it. Maybe it's like the painting Mr. Isaac did of the dinosaur. You thought you went back in time, but you were in a museum and it was just a statue."

"This does not look like a statue. It's about to jump on me and it's in the middle of the street. Look how scared you and the boy and Father look. This is not good." Hiro shook his head. "I don't want to kill a tiger. They're endangered."

"Apparently we will be too." Ando sighed.

Kaito took Ando's cell phone and looked around the street, then stared at the painting again. "Hiro."

"Yes?"

"It happens here." Kaito began to point out landmarks in the painting, then pointed out the same buildings around them.

Hiro sighed. "I don't want to have to kill a big kitty." He turned and began to scan the streets nervously. Suddenly, a scream punctuated the sounds of the city as a young boy turned a corner and began to run down the street, heading right towards them. As he reached them, his eyes widened as he stopped.

"You are with THEM! The bad people!" He moaned.

"No, no, no, no, no, NO!" Hiro shook his head. "We are good people, we are the good guys! Are you Sanjog?" The boy nodded his head. "Oh thank goodness! We are friends of Mohinder Suresh, do you remember him?"

"Yes." The boy breathed a sigh of relief. "There are bad people, they were chasing me. One of them-" He struggled to catch his breath after running so hard.

"Talk later. We leave now." Hiro clamped a hand on his father's and Ando's shoulders as they each clamped a hand on Sanjog's. He closed his eyes and concentrated, but nothing happened.

"Why haven't we teleported?" Ando's eyes widened. "Have you used up your powers?"

"NO!" Hiro looked around, terrified.

Suddenly, he spotted a man walking towards them and recognized him from his description. It was The Haitian. He strolled towards them with another man, a man as equally dark as he was. The man was dressed in a multi-colored dashiki. He strolled towards them, an evil glint in his eye. They stopped ten feet from Hiro as the man pointed a finger at them. "You give us the boy, we let you go!" He yelled in a gravelly voice.

Hiro's eyes narrowed as he stepped forward. "We will never give you this boy! You are with the villains. You are with Linderman! He is a bad, bad man!" He looked at The Haitian angrily. "Claire, Angela, Olivia, they trusted you! They thought you were a good guy!" Hiro screwed up his face angrily. "You were nothing but a birran!" He shook his head. "VILLAIN! You kill your own kind for the baddest of the bad men!"

The Haitian's companion glared. "You have just signed you own death warrant." With an evil smirk he crouched on the ground, and to Hiro's horror, began to turn into a tiger, snarling and growling at him angrily before it finally roared loudly.

"Crap." Hiro whispered weakly.

He took a deep breath as the "tiger" began to stalk towards him, slinking low to the ground as The Haitian looked on, expressionlessly. Hiro's eyes narrowed as he concentrated, remembering his training with Kensei. He pulled out his sword and took a stance, holding the sword out towards the tiger as it advanced on him, roaring and snarling. "You're not a kitty at all." He whispered. "You're just another bad man who wants to kill innocent people." He kept the "tiger" in front of his line of vision, turning as the animal circled him, baring its fangs. Finally, it lowered itself completely to the ground and sprang at him, claws and teeth bared. Hiro swung his sword and the animal howled as it hit the ground, it's "paw" flying through the air and landing at The Haitian's feet before turning back into a human arm. The "tiger" turned back into the man, his arm amputated at the shoulder. He screamed in pain as blood spurted every where. Hiro ran to his friends and pushed them as they stared at the bleeding man in horror. "We must run NOW!" He turned back to The Haitian, who walked to his companion and knelt before him. "You tell Linderman, we are fighting back now! You tell him we are no longer lying back and letting you kill innocent people!" He turned back to his friends and followed them as they fled down the street with Sanjog. As soon as they were out of range of The Haitian's powers, Hiro teleported them back to the apartment building in Vegas.

* * *

They arrived in the lobby, breathing hard from running down the street in India. Hiro sighed and grabbed Ando's cell phone, dialing Olivia's number. "Olivia? We are here in the lobby. Tell Gabriel I said that I still think it was wrong to kill Charlie and Mr. Isaac, but he just saved our lives with the warning. It wasn't a tiger, it was a man who made himself as one." He looked around. "Which floor are we living on?" He nodded and headed to an elevator. "Let's get some sleep." He smiled softly as they entered the elevator and made their way to the tenth floor. Olivia and Gabriel met them at the elevator, grinning.

"Glad to be home?" She asked.

"So very glad." Hiro nodded and bowed to them as he stepped from the elevator and took the apartment keys Olivia offered him.

"So." Gabriel shook his head. "This guy turned into a TIGER?"

"Yes!" Ando nodded his head. "Like in the Harry Potter books! I think he was what they would have called an animagus."

"Freaky." Gabriel shuddered. "And yet, I would have loved to have had that power."

"You could have kept it!" Hiro nodded. "That one, I wouldn't have minded if you'd killed him. I cut off his arm."

"Cool." Gabriel pointed them towards 1003. "That's where Mohinder's living with Peter and Herbert and you guys are in 1004. Now if you don't mind" he yawned "I'm finally tired and I'm going to bed."

Olivia watched as Gabriel left then turned to Hiro, hugging him. "I'm glad you guys made it through okay." She turned and hugged Kaito and Ando, then turned to Sanjog. "I'm Dr. Gray, but you can just call me Olivia. It's pretty late, so if you'd like, you can crash on Hiro's couch tonight and we'll find a place for you in the morning, okay?"

Sanjog nodded. "Thank you, Olivia."

"I'll see you guys after you get some sleep. God knows you've all earned it." Olivia winked and went back to her apartment as Hiro, Kaito and Ando walked to their apartment with Sanjog, exhausted after their busy day.

* * *

The next morning, Hiro brought Sanjog to Mohinder's apartment. A bleary-eyed Mohinder answered the door, his face brightening as he saw the young man. "Sanjog! I see that my friends found you."

"Yes." Sanjog nodded as they entered the apartment.

He scanned the living room, noticing a couple sitting at the breakfast nook in the kitchen, eating bagels while laughing together. Mohinder noticed his gaze and followed it, rolling his eyes when he noticed the laughing twosome.

"Herbert and his 'friend', Collette." He leaned towards Hiro. "I'm seriously considering an investment in earplugs. Of course," he smiled down at Sanjog "if we can find a place to fit you in here, I could just use a morality clause to get a bit of sleep at night instead of stuffing my head under a pillow."

"Why would you stuff your head under a pillow?" Sanjog asked.

Mohinder blushed. "They talk loudly. All night."

"Where is Peter?" Hiro looked around.

"Apparently he had an interesting night too." Mohinder shrugged. "He had a date with Sherry Bombano in her apartment last night and has yet to return home." He looked back at Sanjog. "Let's check the apartment rosters and see if we can find a place for you somewhere."

"I am okay without adult supervision." Sanjog nodded. "I have been so far."

"I'm sure, but let's see what we can find for you."

* * *

Peter woke up on the couch, smiling at the smell of brewing coffee. He sat up, stretching as he realized he'd slept in his clothes.

"Good morning." He turned to see Sherry Bombano enter the room dressed in her pj's, carrying two cups of coffee. She handed one to him and curled up in a chair, slowly sipping hers. "How did you sleep?"

"Apparently pretty well." Peter smiled sheepishly. "When did I fall asleep?"

Sherry laughed. "During the FBI warning at the beginning of the movie. You were tired, huh?"

"I guess I was." Peter sipped his coffee on the couch. "What time is it?"

"Ten a.m."

"Crap." He sighed as he set his cup down on the coffee table. "I have to meet Olivia and Matt in half an hour to check out the facility." He stood up and headed for the door as Sherry stayed in her chair. He stopped at the door and turned back to her. He pulled back his shoulders, walked to her chair and leaned down, quickly kissing her cheek, as close to her mouth as he could without actually kissing her lips. Sherry looked up at him, smiling softly. "Do you want to try this again tonight?"

"Maybe." Sherry leaned forward and kissed his lips gently. "But only if you promise NOT to fall asleep."

Peter blushed and stood up. "Deal." He turned and left her apartment, practically bouncing as he walked down the hall and entered his private staircase. He ran to the tenth floor and entered the hallway as Olivia stepped out of her apartment. He grinned at her as he tried to nonchalantly walk past her. "Morning, Olivia."

"Morning." Olivia stopped. "Hey, wait a minute." Peter stopped and turned to his sister as she started giggling. "Someone's wearing the same clothes they had on yesterday when he went downstairs for his date."

Peter stared at the floor. "I fell asleep on the couch. Nothing happened."

"Okay. Fine." Olivia turned and walked towards Matt's apartment. "I'm about to see if Matt's up. We're leaving in thirty minutes."

"I'll be here then. Just gotta grab a shower."

He quickly went into his apartment as Olivia made sure Matt was getting ready to go. A few minutes later, she returned to her apartment, laughing as she walked into the kitchen. Gabriel looked up from the breakfast nook. "What's so funny?"

"I think Peter got lucky last night."

"With Sherry?" He frowned. "I didn't hear anything."

Olivia sat across from her husband. "That's GOT to be annoying, having super-hearing."

"It has its lows." Gabriel sighed. "I'm considering what Dale Smithers did to keep it under control. She kept an Ipod around and had it blaring to drown out noise. Anything would be better than listening to the sexcapades across the hall with Herbert and Collette. There was a lot of 'Oui-ouis' and 'jolly goods', if you catch my drift."

"Yikes. Who would have known someone as buttoned-down as Herbert would be a wild man in the bedroom."

"Hey." Gabriel finished his breakfast. "I was pretty buttoned-down once myself. It's the quiet ones you have to watch out for, Babe."

* * *

Thirty minutes later, Olivia was driving towards the facility with Matt and Peter. She glanced over at Matt. "So you brought your gun."

"Yep." Matt nodded, patting the holster under his suit. "I thought it would make me appear more official-looking."

"Good idea." Olivia frowned as she concentrated on the road.

Matt stared at her. "Why is it a good idea?"

"I'm wondering if something's gone wrong there."

"Gone wrong how?" Peter leaned forward from the back seat. "Why?"

Olivia gripped the steering wheel nervously. "Dr. Cooper hasn't called in over a week. He usually calls at least once a week, usually more to check on Mohinder's progress in Odessa. I realized this morning he hasn't given me his weekly bitch session."

"Great." Matt sighed. "Should I have brought more guns?"

"No, no." Olivia shook her head. "I doubt that."

Matt leaned back in his seat. "I should have brought more guns." He whispered, a sense of dread creeping over him.

Everyone began to feel that dread when they arrived at the facility and realized no one was around. "This isn't good." Olivia whispered. "There's not much staff inside, but there are always guards patrolling outside. Guards with dogs."

"Trust me, I remember the dogs." Peter whispered. He looked around. The place was completely deserted, even though a couple of cars remained in the employee parking lot. "I have a very bad feeling about this."

"Me too." Olivia climbed out of the car with Matt and Peter, scanning the grounds of the facility behind the gate. "Maybe we should go."

"Why?" Matt shook his head. "I'm a cop and I'm armed. You OWN this building, Olivia, it's not like we're trespassing."

"True." Olivia took a deep breath and took Matt's hand. "This is going to feel a little weird." She whispered as they phased through the fence.

"WEIRD?" Matt looked around as he realized they were inside the gate. "Try trippy as hell!" He turned as Peter phased through. "I never knew how creepy that would feel."

"You get used to it." Peter whispered as they walked towards the building. "Still no guards?" Everyone shook their heads. "What about the-" They all stopped as they heard growling behind them. They slowly turned to see a Doberman advancing towards them. He hadn't been fed in a week, his sleek build replaced by a bony frame. "Shit." He whispered. He turned to Olivia. "You wanted to try your calming and fear techniques. Now's the best time to attempt it."

"On a starving dog?" Olivia stepped forward as the dog bared his teeth, snarling. "Oh shit." She whispered. She concentrated, first on calming the dog. It began to calm down, whimpering as it walked towards her. "Come on, buddy." She whispered. "Poor thing. No one's been around to feed you?" She straightened up as the dog stopped and started snarling again. "It's not working." She whispered.

"This is when that vet from Australia would have come in handy, stubborn jackass." Matt whispered.

Olivia sighed and concentrated on the fear pheromone. The dog suddenly stopped snarling and yelped, running away as it whined. "Well, I guess I should get one of those bumper stickers that read 'Fear This!' Remind me to bring some Alpo back here when we're done. That dog looked pitiful."

"That dog looked scary as fucking hell!" Matt stared at her as she approached the door, grabbing his hand. "Oh shit, not again!" He said as she walked him through it, with Peter following. "Okay, can we PLEASE try opening the doors next time? I hate that!"

"OH GOD!" Peter made a face. "What is that SMELL?"

Matt grimaced. "I know what it is. You work on the police force long enough, you know what that smell is." They started walking down the hall, stopping at a dead body at their feet. "I hate it when I'm right." He moaned.

Olivia knelt down, fighting the urge to retch as she rolled the body over. "It's Overman, Dr. Cooper's assistant. Or at least, it's what's left of him. This body has been dead for at least a week, judging by the state of decomposition."

"That and the stench." Matt backed away, covering his nose. "How many more bodies do you think are down here?"

"I don't know." Olivia started walking towards the testing labs as Matt and Peter stared at her, then hurried to catch up.

"Maybe we should leave and call the police." Matt whispered.

"And tell them what, exactly? That I'm the owner of a lab that was doing illegal experimentations on human DNA and my crazy presumed-dead father murdered everyone here?"

"Well, yeah." Matt frowned. "Okay, no. That'll open a can of worms we don't WANT opened, but still-"

"-Wait!" As they entered the lab and saw Dr. Cooper's body slumped in a corner, Peter's heart began to pound. He wondered what the feeling was, then remembered Nikolai's description of his sister Natalia and her power. She could sense danger and now Peter could too, having gotten the power from Nikolai. "Guys, we're in deep shit. We need to go. NOW!"

"What?" Olivia looked around. "What's going on, Pete?"

"I sense danger. It's close, too close." Peter concentrated. "Someone's here. Someone evil."

Matt's eyes widened as he picked up a thought from a person in the building, a woman hidden._ "Kill the cop. Kill the brother. Wound the bitch. Teach her a lesson." _He looked around. "There's someone in here and they're about to start shooting. We have to GO!"

He turned towards the door as it flew open, a tall, red-haired woman entered the room, sneering at them as she aimed her gun. Peter stepped forward, thinking of his niece Faith. As the assassin began to shoot at them, a red glow surrounded the group and the bullets bounced off of them.

"What in the hell was THAT?" Olivia looked at Peter. "Not that I'm not grateful, but WHO do you know with a force field? We haven't picked up anyone with that?"

"Now is not the time for talking. Now is the time for running!" Peter turned to Olivia. "You and Matt through that wall, NOW! I'll follow you!"

Olivia grabbed Matt and headed towards the wall, suddenly stopped by the force field. "We can't!" She yelped. Peter turned and noticed them, then turned off his force field just long enough let them phase through the wall. He turned back on before the assassin could fire at him again, then edged towards the wall. He turned it off and ran through it, yelling as a bullet caught him in the leg. Olivia and Matt were waiting in the hallway as he limped through it. "Oh no." Olivia knelt down to her brother. "She shot you."

"Give me a minute, I'll be okay." He slumped to the ground, sticking his leg out and thinking of Claire. After a moment, the wound closed up as the bullet worked its way out of his skin, hitting the ground with a metallic tinkle. "Let's go." He stood and suddenly became aware of approaching danger. "Matt."

"I know. I hear her thoughts, she's coming." Matt drew his gun and found an unlocked office door. "In here." They went into the office as Matt directed Peter and Olivia towards a desk. "Get behind that." He whispered. As they crouched behind the desk, Matt stood behind the door, waiting. As the assassin entered the room, Matt slipped behind her, pointing the gun at her head. "Put that down and put your hands on your head, you scary, murderous bitch." He snarled. The assassin dropped the gun and started to put her hands up. She quickly whirled around, attempting to hit Matt, but Peter stood up, blasting her with electricity. She slumped to the floor, dazed as Peter ran to her, kicking her gun away. "That," Matt said as he smiled "was too cool!"

"Thanks." Peter grinned. "So what now?"

"Now?" Olivia stood and walked to her, kicking her in the shins. "Now we tie the bitch up and interrogate her."


	36. Chapter 36

Chapter Thirty-Six: Clean-Up, Linderman's Compound

"God, this really, really is disgusting." Matt grimaced as he and Olivia lifted up the decomposing body of Overman and placed it on a gurney.

"I know. I think I'm going to shower a lot when I get back to the apartment and these clothes-?"

"-I'm burning all of mine, down to the underwear." Matt stepped away, coughing and retching as Olivia looked away. "I really hate this smell."

"Me too." Olivia turned back to the gurney. "Poor bastard." She started pushing the gurney down the hall.

"What are we going to do with them?" Matt followed her.

"Well, I know it's pretty gross, but there's an incinerator here. A big one."

"And it was used for-?"

"-Whatever Linderman wanted it used for. Today, it's going to be used to get rid of this evidence." She arrived at the lab and opened the door, wincing as the smell of Dr. Cooper's body hit her. "I really hated that guy, but he didn't deserve this." She pushed the gurney towards him and turned to Matt. "A little help here? He wasn't exactly a small guy."

Matt shuddered and walked over to Cooper's body, helping Olivia heave it onto the gurney with Overman. "This is wrong on so many levels."

"I know. There's a special place in Hell for me for doing this to these guys." She pushed the bodies down the hall to a room and went inside with them. She noticed a hatch marked 'Incinerator'. Stepping back from the heat as she opened the hatch, she looked back at Matt.

"You want help in tossing them in there, don't you?" He closed his eyes as he entered the room. "I know I'm getting paid by Greene Tech as a consultant, but I want a HUGE bonus for this."

"Done and done. As soon as we return to the apartments, your bank account will be taken care of." She and Matt threw Overman's body into the incinerator first, then Cooper's before she slammed the hatch shut. "Ugh! That has got to be the grossest thing I've ever done!"

"That says a lot, considering you sleep with Gabriel." Matt laughed softly. "Sorry, gallows humor."

"Whatever gets us through this is fine by me." Olivia headed into the hallway, searching room as Matt followed her.

"What's next?"

"Next, we search the building for more bodies. If there are more, we toss them. Then I'm feeding the dogs. Whoever left them here to starve to death should be shot. After that, I'm searching for some scrubs to change into because the smell coming off of my clothes is really gross and when I change and toss my clothes in the incinerator, I'm opening every door I can to air this place out while I scrub down the floors."

"And the assassin?" Matt asked.

"Let her sweat until we figure out what to do with her."

* * *

The woman began to come around as Peter sat in front of her, glaring at her. As her eyes opened and she noticed him, she began to glare back. "So obviously, Linderman sent you." Peter nodded. "Got anything else to say?"

"Besides 'go fuck yourself'?" She cackled in a New Zealand accent. "If you want to live, you'll let me go."

"What's your name?" Peter ignored her.

"What do you want it to be?"

Peter leaned towards her, listening to her mind. "Your name is Susan O'Neill, isn't it?" The woman's hazel eyes narrowed. "Why would you want to work for someone evil like Linderman?"

"Maybe the good guys like you bore the living hell out of me." She leaned forward as far as the ropes tethering her would allow. "You'd do best to let me go now. You won't like what I can do."

"Who knows? Maybe I will. See, I'm an empath, emopath, whatever you call it, that's what I am. Anything you can do, I absorb it and do it too, so bring it on. Whatever trick you've got, I can assure you I have something that can counteract it."

"Oh really?" Her eyes narrowed again. Peter jumped out of his chair as two beams of focused energy shot out of them, shattering his chair. She looked up to see Peter clinging to the ceiling. "Cute trick, Spidey." She shot at him again with her eyes as he created a force field to fight it off before flipping down from the ceiling behind her.

"Glad you like it, Cyclops." Peter quipped as he elbowed her in the back of the head, knocking her out. "Okay, she's a scary chick." He whispered as he left the room.

He met Matt and Olivia in the hall as they walked towards the door, carrying dishes with dog food in them. "Where did you guys find that?"

"There's a supply room down the hall, where security kept their food." Olivia stepped outside and started whistling. The guard dog slowly approached her, growling as Olivia set the food on the ground. She turned as she heard more growling and spotted a second dog slinking towards her. "Okay, here's the deal, guys." She said as she concentrated on her calming powers again. "This place reeks and we've got to air it out. What do you say to you two filling your bellies and then being good boys and not coming into the building to attack us?" She watched as the hackles on the dogs' necks stopped standing up. "Come on, din-din time. Let's make nice, okay?" She knelt down beside the dishes, rattling them as the dogs began to drool, the smell of the food filling their noses. "I know you're hungry. It was very bad of the guards to just leave you here." The dogs hunkered down on their bellies, crawling towards her and whimpering as she pushed the dishes at them. "There you go, eat up." She smiled softly as they began to eat, their tails wagging happily. "Poor things." She crooned. After they wolfed down their food, Peter and Matt watched from a distance as the dogs stared at her warily. She put both of her hands out near the ground, palm up for them to sniff. They carefully advanced towards her, sniffing her hands before they began to nuzzle her, whining and licking her arms as she started to pet them. "Oho! Someone gives you food and they're suddenly your best friend, huh?" She laughed softly as they leaned against her hands while she scratched their ears. She slowly stood up, crooning to the dogs as they looked up at her. "Go guard or something, I'll feed you two again later before I leave. Go on!" She clapped her hands as they stood at attention, then scampered off. She turned around, smirking at Peter and Matt's stunned expressions. "What? They just needed a little calming and attention. They've probably been starving and scared all week!"

"I fear you sometimes, I really do." Matt walked back into the building as Peter followed him.

"What?" Olivia laughed as she walked into the building behind them. "Hans and Franz just needed a little WUV!"

"Oh God! Now you've NAMED them!" Matt rolled his eyes.

After they found some clean scrubs, Olivia, Matt and Peter changed into them, throwing their stench-riddled clothes into the incinerator. As they opened the doors to the facility and began to mop the floors, trying to clean the smell of death from the building, Peter told them about Susan's power.

"So she shoots bolts of energy out of her EYES?" Matt shrugged. "Freaky, man. I swear, the more powers we come across, the weirder this whole super-powered business sounds to me."

"It's kind of like Superman or Cyclops, isn't it?" Olivia asked.

"Yeah, it's a LOT like that, actually." Peter nodded. "So what do we do with her?"

"Keep her tied up until we can all meet here and decide what to do, I guess." Olivia shrugged. "I mean, we can't let her go. She'll either come after us again, or go back to Linderman, or she'll just do both. Someone with that kind of power around-"

"-Hey!" Matt looked down, his expression thoughtful. "You realize we're starting to sound like the other side here, right? Next you're going to suggest we kill her or something." His eyes widened as Peter and Olivia exchanged a look. "No, wait, hold on-"

"-She just tried to kill US, Matt." Olivia nodded.

"We're not the law here, okay? Now, granted, if we turned her in to the cops, they wouldn't be able to hold her, not with that power, but still-" he shook his head "-I didn't sign on to murder people just for the hell of it. I used to be a law enforcement officer, and I still feel like one. We can't kill her, even if she tried to kill us. We aren't her judge, jury and executioner."

"So what do we do with her, Matt?"

Matt stared at the floor, pressing his lips together. "I don't know." He whispered. "But we're not killers. I don't know how many comic books either of you have ever read, but I used to read them a lot as a kid. We like to think of ourselves as the 'good guys' right?" He looked up as Olivia and Peter nodded. "The 'good guys' don't just KILL arbitrarily. They never do if they can help it. Even in fights, they try to subdue their enemies without killing them. That's what separates the good guys from the bad guys here. If we kill her because she's not on our side, that makes us no better than Linderman."

Peter sighed. "He's right, Liv."

"I know." Olivia looked around the building. "So we find a way to contain her then."

"How?" Matt asked.

Olivia leaned against the wall. "One of the things about this building is that, before Linderman set it up as the Project Athena testing ground-"

"-We really need to change that name-" Peter quipped.

"-It was another research building, like Primatech. They have holding cells there, like at Primatech. I say we drug her up and lock her away until she's ready to cooperate. Anyone have a better idea?"

Matt shook his head. "It beats killing her."

"Okay then." Olivia finished mopping the floors. "It's already starting to smell better, don't you think?"

Matt shook his head. "It still smells nasty. We're going to have to burn a LOT of incense before this place even begins to smell springtime fresh again."

"Well." Peter sighed. "Let's lock the chick up, dope her to the gills and let everyone at the apartments know what's happened here." He turned and headed down the halls towards the office where Susan was being held, stopping first to grab a syringe and fill it with a tranquilizer. As he reached the office, he turned to Olivia and Matt. Just stay here until I say it's okay. He turned back to the door and opened it as he thought of Faith. The moment he walked through the door, Susan started shooting at him with her eyes again, finally giving up when she realized he was using a force field. He slipped behind her as quickly as he could and injected her with the tranquilizer.

"So what's your plan?" She mumbled as the drug began to take effect. "Drug me, interrogate me and kill me?"

"We don't know yet. We just know we can't let you go." He whispered as the woman slumped in her chair asleep.

He called out to Matt and Olivia and helped them load her onto another gurney and push her down the hall to a holding cell. They moved her to a bed and strapped her down as Peter started an I.V. on her. Taking out more of the tranquilizer, he injected it into a bag of saline solution and started a timed I.V. pump on her. "This should keep her under for about six hours. It'll give us time to go home, clean up and return here tonight for the meeting." He sighed. "We're going to have to think of some other way to incapacitate her though. This way, someone's going to have to come out here at least four times a day, and if it wears off before they can re-start the next solution, she could very easily kill them as they walked in the door. Besides, keeping someone this drugged for too long isn't healthy."

"We'll run it by the group tonight to see if they have any suggestions on what to do." Olivia shrugged. "This is all we can do for now." She turned towards the door. "Anyone else ready to go home and shower? I feel like washing my hair about ten times to see if I can get the dead man stink out of it."

"I second that." Matt followed Olivia out the door as Peter stared at Susan. She was completely knocked out. He tightened the straps tethering her to the table before he followed Olivia and Matt out of the room.

Olivia stopped by the supply room just long enough to get more dog food for the Dobermans before they left the building, locking it up on their way out.

* * *

In the desert a mile from the facility, Candice watched as Olivia, Peter and Matt fed the dogs, locked up the building and gate and drove away. Cursing, she threw down her high-powered binoculars and turned to the pilot of the helicopter parked behind her. "Let's go. The stupid bitch couldn't even do ONE thing right and let them get the drop on her. She's probably dead." She climbed into the helicopter, glaring in the direction of the facility one last time as the helicopter took off and headed in a Northeast direction. A few hours later, after refueling, Candice perked up as the helicopter began to make its way into the Beartooth Mountain range in Montana. The helicopter swayed dangerously as cold, high winds began to blow, but held on as it passed over one large mountain, revealing a huge building hidden in the valley behind it. The building was immense and white, barely noticeable among the heavy snows blanketing the area, and had the appearance of a resort hotel. A courtyard behind it was the landing site for the helicopter. As soon as the rotors stopped spinning, Candice grabbed the heavy coat behind her seat and bundled up before climbing out and dashing out into the icy, windy air. She ran quickly into the hotel, sighing happily at the warmth inside as she entered the lobby. Thick heavy carpeting muffled her footsteps as she tossed her coat on one of many sofas scattered around the room and walked to one of the giant fireplaces that dominated the walls of the room. She warmed herself in front of the roaring fire before turning to one of two immense staircases and running up it happily. At the head of the stairs, she turned to a door and pulled out a key, opening the door to reveal another set of stairs.

Candice bounded up this flight of stairs and entered a suite. "Now THAT was a hair-raising flight back!" She called out as she walked inside. "You know, I get wanting to have a secret lair hidden away in the mountains and all, but does it HAVE to be in freaking Siberia?" She walked to the well-dressed figure currently standing in front of a window, his hands clasped behind his back. She wrapped her arms around his waist, resting her cheek against his back as she cuddled against him. "There are mountain ranges in Europe you could have had this place built, or in South America." She smiled. "South America, where it's warm, that would have been my vote. Did you miss me?"

"You left Susan behind." Linderman's voice was calm, but steely, his displeasure obvious in his stance.

"Your little princess and her stooges went into the facility and came back out about three hours later. They apparently got the drop on your assassin and killed her."

"Apparently?" Linderman turned, looking down at Candice, his eyes as steely as his voice. Candice frowned and backed away from him. "Then why, when I attempt to locate her, do I still show that she is still INSIDE the facility? If she were dead, I wouldn't be able to find her at all."

"If you'd sent ME to do the job instead of Little Miss Laser Eyes, Olivia would be mourning her brother and buddy right now, while nursing a painful injury of her own!" Candice snapped at him.

"Or if I'd sent YOU, she'd be dead with Peter and Parkman." Linderman stepped past her. "And when you SAW that Olivia and the men had left, did you even ATTEMPT to get into the building to FREE Susan?" He turned, his eyes narrowing for a moment as Candice looked away. "No, you didn't." His lips curled up with distaste. "You just left her there, you stupid girl."

"How was I supposed to get back in there?"

"You've always come across as an intelligent girl up to this point, I thought you would have used your head. Perhaps you were too busy looking at Mr. Petrelli, wishing you could have an encore with him instead."

Candice pouted. "That wasn't my fault and you know it. He used Olivia's powers against me that night."

"And you fell for them." Linderman rolled his eyes. "But let's return to the matter at hand, shall we? You didn't think, you were too preoccupied with returning here to break your partner out of whatever scrape she'd gotten herself into and now we're short a member of our team. You don't leave a member behind. Our Haitian friend ran into similar troubles in India this morning when Ombasa was seriously injured by Hiro Nakamura, did HE abandon his partner? No, he did not. He is with Ombasa as we speak at a hospital, waiting to see if he will recover from his injuries." He turned to the door as someone knocked on it. "Enter." He called out. Gota walked into the room and nodded to him.

"I have a call from India." She purred as Candice glared at her.

"Excellent!" He turned back to Candice. "You have disappointed me quite greatly, my dear. I think you should go to your room and think about what you've done, don't you?"

Candice stared at the floor, her eyes sparkling with tears. "Yes. I'm sorry."

"Don't let a mistake like this happen again. You won't like what I'll do if you leave another partner behind."

"I won't." She looked up at him, tears streaming down her cheeks. "I won't let you down again, I swear."

"Good." He snapped as he strolled into an office in his suite and took the phone call. He listened to The Haitian's report on Ombasa's recovery and hung up the phone. Sighing, he turned in his chair to stare at the mountain ranges in the gigantic window behind him.

Over the years that Linderman had been preparing this project, he'd funneled money from his major corporation into shell businesses, hiding money in the event that he'd have to go into hiding to finish his plans. After the events in Kirby Plaza where he'd been presumed dead, he decided that the time had come for him to complete everything here in secret. Olivia may have inherited the Linderman Corporation and a great deal of money after his "death", but that wealth was a pittance compared to what he'd hidden away. He smiled to himself as he thought of his daughter, working side by side with so many of his enemies, thinking that she was "getting one over" on him by using the money he'd left her to fund an army to come after him and his people. She'd thought she was so terribly smart to have her brother and that ex-con Hawkins break into the facility to steal those blood samples before his people could have brought them to his compound here.

Linderman laughed to himself as he thought of the samples that had already been sent to him before her brother and friend could steal them. With Molly Walker's blood, a serum had been given to him to help him locate anyone in the world he wanted located. Claire Bennet's blood sample was sitting in the lab, waiting to be injected into the people he'd recruited and bullied to his side to make them indestructible while Niki Sanders' blood was waiting to give them super strength. There were two other blood samples though, that were in his own personal storage, samples that no one, except one doctor on his team, was aware of. Those two samples, he knew, would be just what he'd need to eliminate everyone, not just Olivia's friends, but the people he'd recruited as well, as soon as they'd outlived their usefulness. He walked to a wall in his office, filled with security monitors and began to study them. The monitors showed him ever aspect of every room in his compound. He watched the people that had been brought here. Some were laughing and talking happily with one another, others were withdrawn, looking around at their surroundings nervously. He smirked as he noticed Candice on one of the monitors, curled up on her bed, her expression miserable.

He turned and left his office, making his way to her room in his suite and knocked on the door. He slipped inside as Candice sat up, looking at him sadly. "Poor baby, I was so harsh with you earlier. I'm sorry for that." He crooned.

"I'm sorry. You were right." Candice sat on the edge of the bed, her hands folded demurely in her lap as she stared at the floor. "I let you down."

"But I was too hard on you." Linderman smiled at her, a smile that never reached his eyes. "Are you really very sorry for what you've done?" Candice nodded miserably as Linderman loosened his tie. "Come to me and show me how sorry you really are then."

Candice looked up at him and began to smile.


	37. Chapter 37

Chapter Thirty-Seven: War Meeting

"Good lord! It smells like something bloody well died in here!" Claude grimaced as he entered the facility with Nikolai. Noah and Sandra Bennet followed him with Claire, Lyle and Molly, all of them copying his look of revulsion at the smell.

"I know and I'm sorry." Olivia sighed as she followed them inside with Gabriel. "I told you guys what Matt, Peter and I found this morning. We tried to clean up the best we could and I turned on the exhaust system before I left to try and pump some of the stench out."

Gabriel winced. "If it's pumped anything out, I don't even want to know what it smelled like before."

Olivia glanced at Gabriel. "You're right. You don't want to know how bad it was earlier."

She led them through the building to a meeting room and quickly began to open windows while Gabriel reached into a bag she'd brought with her and pulled out scented candles, lighting them as quickly as he could. "I hope this starts to help somewhat." Gabriel shook his head. "At least in here."

"Great!" Everyone turned as D.L., Niki and Micah walked into the room, their hands over their noses. "What died in here?"

Olivia shrugged. "A couple of people actually. Sorry about the smell."

"This is worse than that time the Mitchell's cat got under our house and died." Micah shuddered.

"I know." Niki nodded. "So where are the bodies?"

Olivia stared at the floor. "They've been disposed of." She whispered.

Soon, the other members of the group arrived. Nathan walked in with Heidi, Simon, Monty and Angela, having come directly from the airport. Hana arrived with Hiro, Kaito and Ando. Peter and Sherry entered the room, followed soon after by Herbert, Trevor, and Mohinder. Matt and Janice were the last to arrive. They all sat at the table and looked around at each other. Claude finally broke the silence. "So are we going to get this show on the road, or are we going to stare at each other while the stench of rotting corpses and-" He glanced at one of the candles "lemon trees fill the air?"

Noah sighed. "I guess I'm the defacto speaker of the house in here, huh?" Everyone laughed softly as he stood up. "First order of business, who has finished their trips?" He looked around as Heidi, Angela, Nathan, Hana, Claude, Sandra, Hiro, Kaito and Ando raised their hands. He turned to Niki, D.L. and Micah. "How much more are you two lacking to finish?"

Niki checked her list. "We have one person left, a Leilani Olan in Honolulu, Hawaii. Our flight leaves tomorrow night after we've finished unpacking and when we meet her, that will be all for us."

"Good." Noah turned to Olivia and Gabriel. "When do the two of you leave for the Caribbean?"

"We've got a flight to Canada the day after tomorrow and from there, we're flying to Havana to start our work." Olivia nodded.

"That reminds me." Niki pulled two passports out of her purse and tossed them to Olivia and Gabriel. "Compliments of Micah. He pulled some strings and was able to create passports for your trip to Cuba to keep the Feds here off of your backs. When you pass through Cuban customs, show this to them."

Gabriel picked up the passports and flipped through them. "We're Parker and Evelyn McKirk from Vancouver, British Columbia?"

"This is fine, thanks." Olivia grinned at Niki.

Noah turned to Mohinder and Peter. "And the two of you? When do you start?"

Peter leaned back into his chair for a moment. "As soon as we figure out how to handle our little 'hostile' down the hall."

"What hostile?" Nathan looked around the room. "Shit! Don't tell me we've kidnapped someone."

"Not exactly." Matt shook his head. "Linderman sent her to kill me and Pete and wound Olivia, send her some stupid ass message."

"And that message would be what?" Nathan's eyes widened. "Stop going against Daddy or I'll fucking spank you next time?" He looked at his kids for a moment and shrugged. "Just because I said that word, doesn't mean you get to."

"Then stop saying it." Heidi raised an eyebrow at him.

Nathan nodded. "Yes, Dear." He turned back to the group. "So obviously this assassin failed. And we're what, keeping her here as a hostage?"

"Well, we can't just let her go. She'll end up going back to Linderman and trying to kill us again, and the police can't deal with someone with her powers." Olivia shrugged.

"What kind of power does she have?" Gabriel glanced at his wife.

"She shoots focused beams of energy from her eyes."

"Really?" Gabriel raised his eyebrows. "Intriguing."

"Don't even think about it, Baby." Olivia stared at her husband.

Gabriel started laughing at her. "I wasn't going to go 'Sylar' on her. I was just thinking that would be a cool power to add to everyone's arsenal."

"So if she can do all of this," Sherry looked around confused "why hasn't she just blasted her way out of here after you guys left this afternoon?"

"We drugged her to the gills." Peter checked on his watch. "Which reminds me, I'll be right back." He got up and left the room as Noah leaned against the table.

"Actually, Gabriel just brought up our next line of business. Claude and I have been talking. Mohinder, Herbert and Olivia have been documenting everyone's powers. We currently are housing about one-hundred and fifty people, not including the people meeting here tonight. That is a LOT of special abilities to choose from. I know Olivia, that you originally wanted everyone to all have the exact same powers, but some of these are very dangerous and could be used to create more harm than good in the wrong hands. At the same time, we are gearing up for what will truly and honestly be the battle of a lifetime for all of us involved, not to mention the world at large. I think we, as a whole here, should go over every power that we've documented, decide which ones would truly be the most useful in a battle, and only imbue everyone with those specific ones. Any objections?"

Everyone looked around the room, shaking their heads. "I think it's a good idea." Nathan nodded. "The wrong power with the wrong person could cause a lot of instability and danger."

"Exactly." Noah nodded. "So, any suggestions about what should be used and what should never be used?"

Olivia raised her hand. "I know Claire's power is going to have to be imbued with everyone. Regeneration is going to be our best defense. Also, we have samples of Linderman's blood. He was able to heal injuries with the touch of his hand-"

"-However," Angela spoke up "you should know that his power was limited. He could only heal you if you were still alive. That's why he was able to save my husband in Vietnam and not the other members of their troop when they were attacked. Also, as we've all heard, Claire's powers are somewhat limited as well. Decapitation is not survivable and if you are stabbed with anything in the brain, that foreign object has to be removed before you can regenerate and return to life."

"So that's how Peter survived that time." Gabriel mused.

"Exactly." Angela's eyes snapped at his.

Claude raised his hand as Peter quietly returned to the room and took his seat. "I'd like to offer up my power. Invisibility can come in handy in a battle. Also, if everyone is imbued with a combo of Olivia and Matt's telepathy powers, we'll not only be able to communicate with one another while fighting, we'll be able to read our opponent's minds and be one step ahead of them. We'll know any move they'll make before they make it and hopefully block it."

Nikolai raised his hand. "Doctors Suresh, Osgood and Gray, I don't know if you'll be able to do separate one of the powers I've acquired from the others, but if you can, my sister Natalia had a power that would be very great to your cause. She could sense danger moments before it happened."

"We can work on that." Mohinder nodded.

Sherry shrugged. "Being able to blow shit up is always a good thing. You can just blast your opponents with your minds." She grinned.

"What about flight?" Nathan looked around the room. "When all else fails, take to the skies and get the hell out of Dodge."

"Super-strength can help as well, obviously." Niki grinned. "And with D.L.'s phasing abilities, you can phase a bullet through your body with getting shot, you can probably do the same if someone were trying to stab you."

Gabriel looked at them, confused. "So why didn't he just phase when Linderman's double shot him?"

Niki smiled softly, squeezing her husband's hand. "Because if he'd phased the bullet through him, it would have hit me. He got shot defending me."

"And I'd do it again and again, Baby." D.L. leaned over and kissed his wife.

Molly spoke up, smiling softly. "I'll donate my powers. That way, we can always find each other, no matter what."

Gabriel looked around the room. "If you guys can sort out different powers from someone who has acquired multiple powers, I'll offer up a sample of my blood. There's a smorgasbord of things to choose from: electrokinesis, telekinesis, cryokinesis, super hearing, eidetic memory, and intuitive aptitude, not to mention precognition and the ability to create nuclear explosions."

Noah's eyes widened. "That is an idea." He pulled off his glasses for a moment. "What about teleportation?"

"NO!" Hiro shook his head as everyone turned to stare at him. He blushed for a moment, then sighed. "I am sorry, but I cannot allow my powers to enter your blood data bank. It's too powerful. If everyone had it, they could use it for anything. They could go back to try and change time and-" He shook his head again more vehemently "-who knows what kind of future we'd have if everyone went back and forth trying to change everything."

"He's right." Peter nodded. "It's not a good idea for all of us to have teleportation and time-travel abilities. And while I'm on the subject, I don't want my blood entered into this either. It's hard as hell for me to keep it stabilized, I don't want anyone else having to deal with it as well. If the wrong person got it-" He looked around the room. "It would just be too dangerous for me or Hiro or even Nikolai for that matter, to ever allow our main powers to enter your database. If you can separate Natalia's power from Nikolai's, fine, but destroy Nikolai's sample as soon as you acquire Natalia's. Also, until we get this place completely secure, I don't think Claire or Molly should donate either. Linderman's already proven that he can get an assassin in here. He could just as easily get a thief to sneak in here and steal our samples, adding to his arsenal as well. Until this place is tighter than Fort Knox, those powers should be kept under wraps."

"He's got a point, both of them do." Olivia nodded at Peter and Hiro. "If Linderman got his hands on teleportation or empathic mimicry, God only knows what kind of havoc he could wreak."

"Okay." Noah nodded.

"And while we're talking about powers." Olivia turned to Peter. "Mind telling us where you got that force field?"

Gabriel stared at Peter. "You never told her?"

"Told me what?" She looked at Gabriel. "YOU know?"

Gabriel glanced at Peter, then turned back to Olivia. "I have a feeling that this is something Peter's wanting kept completely under wraps for now." He looked at Peter. "Am I right?"

Peter gave Gabriel a surprised, but grateful smile. "I have met someone who can generate a force field-"

"-WHO?" Olivia stared at him.

"Not now, Honey." Gabriel squeezed Olivia's hand.

"-And I do have the blood samples for that power. However, I don't want it entered into our system until the very last minute. I don't want Linderman's hands on it, EVER! It's going to be our top secret weapon."

Heidi looked around the room. "So we've got a pretty interesting grab-bag of powers with everyone." She laughed softly. "It seems all we need now would be a human blow-torch and we'd be set!" Her laughter faded as Bennet, Claude and Claire began to look around guiltily. "Okay, what's with the faces?"

Bennet glanced at Claire, stunned at her expression. "You know about her?"

Claire stared at the floor. "I met her, Dad. When Mom started having those episodes, with her subdural hematoma, I got scared and researched my past. I found her."

"What?" Nathan looked around at everyone. Suddenly, his eyes widened. "Are you guys talking about MEREDITH?"

Claude nodded. "She was a firestarter. That's how Claire found her way to Noah and Sandra. We were sent to collect Meredith, to bring her in for research. She set her apartment on fire. Noah rescued Claire and we thought Meredith was dead."

"But she wasn't." Claire sat up, blinking away tears. "I found her and we talked." She looked over at Nathan. "She made you out to be-" She shook her head "-she said you didn't care about me and that you didn't want me around."

"She lied." Nathan looked at Claire. "I'm your father, but I know I'm not your dad. I didn't raise you. Noah and Sandra did and no one could have done a better job of that than they did and for that I am so very thankful, but I did want you, Sweetie. The only reason I didn't come for you after the accident was because I was told you were dead."

"He's so proud of you." Heidi smiled at her. "I can see why."

Claire smiled softly at them. "Thanks. She told me that when you showed up in Texas, you were just there to give us money and that I couldn't count on you for anything else."

"That's all SHE wanted was money." Nathan rolled his eyes. "She called to blackmail me into giving her one-hundred thousand dollars."

"She told me you OFFERED to give her FIFTY thousand!" Claire scoffed. "That liar!" She looked at Sandra. "Have I told you lately how glad I am that you're my mom?"

Sandra hugged her. "You don't have to tell me, I know it every day."

"I know I might get yelled at about this, but where is Meredith now?" Peter asked as Claire, Nathan, Heidi, Angela, Sandra and Bennet turned to glare at him. "Look, I know she pulled some really bad crap here, and she's proven that she's a liar and probably untrustworthy, but if we don't find her, Linderman will and then HIS people will be the firestarters."

"Damn I hate when you're right." Nathan slumped in his chair. "I was hoping that I'd never have to run into her again."

"The last time I saw her, she was going to Mexico." Claire stared at her hands, twisting them nervously.

"We'll have to track her down and see if she's willing to join us then." Peter looked around. "Anyone disagree with that for a reason BESIDES personal?" He looked around as everyone shook their heads slowly.

"Okay, final order of business tonight." Noah sat down and looked over at Niki. "How's Micah coming along with breaking into the ICE database?"

"Done." Niki laughed. "He's gotten in there and is slowly but surely adding our foreign recruits into it. By the end of the week, most of the people at the apartment will be considered legal, naturalized citizens of the United States." She grinned at her son as he sat up in his chair proudly.

"By the way," Claude winked at Micah. "Good job you did with Nikolai and Tatiana's papers." He looked around the room, giving a coy glance at Hana. "I'd like to announce that I am officially their foster father and I'm well on the way to being their legal father. Nikolai and Tatiana have given me permission to adopt them, unless anyone here objects. ARE there any objections?" He turned to Gabriel. "I know you, especially have gotten quite attached to the little one."

Gabriel smiled softly. "You're going to be a good father to them both, that's all I want for her. Besides," his smile widened "as long as I'm allowed to be the doting surrogate uncle, I'm fine."

"Any other news?" Noah looked around the room. "Okay, this meeting is adjourned."

"Thank God!" D.L. stood up as he turned to Olivia. "No offense, but I lost my appetite being in here."

"None taken. I promise it will smell MUCH better soon." Olivia smiled.

Noah pulled Peter aside. "Tell me about this hostile. She wouldn't happen to be a red-haired woman in her mid thirties from New Zealand, would she?"

Peter's eyes widened for a moment. "Yeah. Her name is Susan O'Neill. How did you know?"

Noah closed his eyes for a moment. "She used to be a guest at Primatech." He glared for a moment at Claude as the man looked away guiltily. "She WAS a guest until someone let her go when she was a teenager."

"I see." Peter nodded. "So how did you guys deal with her? How did you keep her from blasting her way out of the building?"

"Well, we couldn't keep The Haitian posted outside of her door twenty-four, seven, so we devised another way to keep her in check." Noah flagged Hiro down and whispered in his ear for a moment. Hiro gave him a tired, baleful look, then teleported from the room. "He'll be back in a moment with part of what we need. The second thing we did was we put her in a mirrored cell."

"Mirrored? Mirrored walls?"

"Walls, ceiling and floor. She won't be able to blast anything for fear that she'll end up accidentally bouncing the energy back and shooting herself. If there's a cell in here that's usable, do that. Mirror everything, put a cot in there and a shower stall and toilet to the side and have her food sent in through a slot in the door. Do that until she's ready to cooperate, which I doubt she ever will be. I have a file on her somewhere, I'll dig it out and hand it over to you and Mohinder and Olivia. She's dangerous, Peter. Very, very dangerous. I know we don't WANT to be in the business of killing, but we are in a war and she can be a deadly enemy. We need to remember that."

"Okay." Peter nodded.

As Noah and Peter talked, Nikolai followed Claire down the hall. "I'm sorry about your mother." He said, blushing darkly as he spoke to her.

"It's okay." Claire sighed as she leaned against a wall. "I was upset and confused when I first manifested, then I found out that Dad was working for that shadow agency and-" She shook her head "Mom got sick for a while. I was scared and I wanted to run away. I didn't trust my dad, my mom was sick and I wanted to find my 'real' parents. It took finding them, my mother especially to make me realize that my truly real family had been with me all along."

"Mrs. Bennet is alright now though, right?" Nikolai asked.

"Yeah, she's great now that there's not someone constantly removing her memories." Claire laughed softly. "She occasionally still forgets things, but we all get a little forgetful sometimes. At least she doesn't forget that I'm her daughter, and Lyle's her son and Mr. Muggles is her dog."

"That's good." Nikolai nodded. "I remember when my mother was sick." He stared at the floor, sadly. "It was a bad time."

"I'm sorry." Claire whispered.

"It's alright." Nikolai shrugged. "Mr. Nakamura was kind enough to return to our apartment after Father and Natalia died to get our things. He brought back some of our clothes and all of our photos and Mother's jewelry. There's a locket I'm going to give to Tatiana on her birthday in July that belonged to Mother and I have her wedding ring. It was supposed to go to Natalia, but now-" He shook his head. "-Perhaps I'll give that to Tatiana when she gets married one day."

"That would be nice." Claire smiled sweetly at him. "My mother gave me a necklace of hers. I never wear it, but-"

"-I've seen it." Nikolai nodded as Claire's eyes narrowed.

"HOW have you seen it? I never wear it and I keep it hidden in my-" She gasped as Nikolai looked away, blushing. "-you've been watching me in my room."

"Not often. Just occasionally. I've seen you take it out and look at it and-" Nikolai's eyes met Claire's for a moment as he blushed even harder.

"Have you ever watched me when I'm na-"

"-NEVER! Nikolai shook his head vehemently. "If you even take off a shoe, I look away." Embarrassed, Nikolai turned and started to walk away.

"Nikolai, wait!" Claire grabbed his hand, gasping as an electric tingle passed between the two of them. "Did you just-?" She stared at their hands.

"That happens sometimes." Nikolai smiled and looked away. "I guess I'm virtually indestructible now."

Claire laughed softly. "I guess so. Listen, Lyle, Molly and I saw this mini-golf place near the apartments. Would you and Tatiana like to go with us tonight after dinner?"

Nikolai turned to Claire, his green eyes sparkling. "That would be nice, thank you. Miss Renard from next door is watching Tatiana right now, but I'm sure she'd love to go when we return."

"Good." Claire smiled softly as she continued to hold Nikolai's hand.

* * *

Peter and Noah waited outside of Susan's room, jumping as Hiro returned, holding what appeared to be a pair of goggles. "Thanks, Hiro. I promise not to send you on too many more teleport missions for a while. I know you're getting tired of them." Noah smiled. 

"Oh thank you." Hiro nodded. "I like my power, but sometimes it can be a burden. I never thought I'd say that." Hiro sighed and walked down the hall to leave with Ando and his father.

Noah glanced at the door. "She's currently out?"

"Like a light." Peter opened the door and walked in with Noah. Susan was sleeping on the table. Peter checked the straps keeping her on the bed, then turned to Noah. "So what do those do?"

Noah grinned. "They're mirrored, but the mirrors are on the inside. She can still see out of them, but if she shoots-"

"-She'll end up frying her corneas." Peter nodded. "Got it."

"As long as she's strapped to the table, she can't take them off. We used them whenever we had to transport her from her cell to test her."

"Good deal." Peter took the goggles and put them on Susan. "This will work until we get her cell ready."

"Okay." Noah turned to Peter. "I don't know about you, but I'm starving, regardless of how bad it smells here. I promised the wife and kids I'd take them out to dinner."

Peter smiled. "I've got a date tonight, myself."

"Sherry?" Noah asked as Peter nodded. "Nice girl, a little loud and wild, but she's still a nice girl. Good luck with her."

Peter laughed. "Thanks." Noah clapped him on the back as they walked out of the room, closing and locking the door behind them.


	38. Chapter 38

Chapter Thirty-Eight: Date Night

Sherry arrived back at the apartments first with Peter and Hana. Peter walked both of them to their door and smiled at Sherry. "Listen, with Nathan and Heidi and Mom and the kids in town, they're expecting me to join them with Olivia and Gabriel for dinner tonight. I was wondering-"

Sherry shook her head. "-You're off the hook for tonight. I know you haven't seen your brother in over a month, it's cool."

"No." Peter shook his head. "I was wondering if you wanted to join us."

Hana smiled at Sherry and Peter as she entered the apartment. "Take him up on it." She whispered as she walked past her new roommate.

Sherry glanced at Hana and then turned back to Peter. "You seriously want me to have dinner with your family?"

"I know you've already met Mom and Heidi, but I'd like for you to get to know Nathan. Besides, Heidi's great and Mom's not so bad once you get used to her. Really."

Sherry smirked. "I doubt that, but yes, I'll join you. Give me about thirty minutes to change?"

Peter beamed. "Sounds great!" As he turned to leave, he greeted Claude and Nikolai. "Fellas." He nodded.

"Peter." Claude's voice was teasing as the young man walked to his personal stairwell and left the floor. Claude turned to Nikolai. "That one's got it bad for our neighbor, I do believe."

"I think so too." Nikolai smiled as they entered their apartment. Collette beamed at them.

"How's the little one?" Claude asked.

"Not a problem at all." Collette shook her head. "So quiet and peaceful, that one. She's a joy."

"Glad to know." Claude reached into his pocket, pulling out his wallet. "So how much do I owe you for watching her this last hour?"

"Oh put that away!" Collette walked past them. "We're neighbors now, it is the least I can do."

"If you ever need a favor in return-"

"-I'll be sure to ask." Collette nodded as she left their apartment and went to her own next door where Sherry and Hana were talking. She nodded to them both as she went to her room.

"That's Collette." Sherry shrugged. "She's okay. She's quiet and usually just keeps to herself, when she's not upstairs playing 'doctor' with Herbert Osgood."

"Okay." Hana nodded. "So which room is mine?"

"The only one left." Sherry showed her to her room. "Collette and I flipped a coin for the master bedroom, she won." Sherry shrugged. "But the other rooms are pretty big too."

"It doesn't matter." Hana set her knapsack and laptop computer on the bed. "I'm used to much less, usually."

"So that motorcycle in the parking lot is yours huh? Cool!" Sherry turned as the doorbell rang. "Surely Herbert isn't here already! I swear that guy is like a bunny with Collette." Sherry went into the living room and answered the door, surprised to see Claude standing there with Nikolai and Tatiana. "Yes?" She asked as she mugged at Tatiana, making the girl giggle.

Claude fidgeted for a moment. "Is your newest roommate around?"

Sherry leaned back to see Hana walking into the living room. "Hana? It's for you." She grinned as she stepped back to let Hana stand in the doorway.

Hana surveyed Claude and the children coolly. "Yes?"

Claude beamed. "I know you met my young charge Nikolai earlier, but this is little Tatiana." He smiled at the children proudly. "They're great kids." Hana nodded at him. Claude cleared his throat nervously. "Um, anyways, I was going to take them out to dinner and I remembered you had just returned from Africa and you'd just moved in next door, and I know you're probably still moving in and getting unpacked and all, but I was wondering if you'd care to join us for dinner?"

Hana raised an eyebrow. "Is this some sort of ploy? You show me that you're good with children and I fall for you?"

"Will you slap me again if I say yes?"

As Hana took a deep breath, Sherry passed her. "Take him up on it." She whispered.

Hana glanced at Sherry as her roommate winked at her. "Give me a moment to get my coat."

"That's great!" Claude smiled.

"Get handsy and your soon-to-be children will get an instant lesson on how easy it is to rip a man's thumbs off." Hana turned to grab her coat as Sherry smiled at her. "I don't know why I'm doing this." She muttered.

"Because he's handsome, even if he is handsy, and he's great with kids. I don't know about you, but a man who's that good with kids is basically catnip for me."

Hana blushed for a moment. "I'll be back later." She turned and left the apartment with Claude and his young charges.

As they arrived in the lobby, Olivia and Gabriel were coming into the building. The moment she saw them, Tatiana's face lit up. "GAY-BREEL! OH-LEEV-YA!" She squealed as she ran to them.

"Tatiana!" Gabriel knelt down with Olivia and smiled as both of them hugged her fiercely. Tatiana kissed both of them on the cheek before Gabriel swept her up into his arms. "How have you been today, cutie?"

Tatiana smiled as she concentrated. "I . . am . . . very . . . well. How. . . are . . . you?"

Gabriel beamed. "I'm very good." He looked at Claude. "She's doing well with her English lessons."

"I try to teach her whenever I can." Nikolai nodded.

"You're doing a wonderful job with her." Gabriel kissed her on the cheek and hugged her again before he set her down, smiling as she skipped back over to Claude. He raised an eyebrow as he noticed Hana. "Going out to dinner?"

Claude nodded. "Yes, as a matter of fact we are. Care to join us?"

Olivia sighed. "We'd love to, but Angela has informed us that we WILL be having dinner with her and the family tonight."

"Oh lovely." Claude rolled his eyes. "A night with the Empress herself, I see."

"Trust me, I'd rather have dinner with Cutie-Pie there, than my battle-ax mother-in-law." Gabriel sighed.

"And the battle-ax wouldn't miss you a bit if you joined them." Angela hissed as she walked into the building with Heidi, Nathan and the boys. As Claude and his group laughed and walked away, Angela swept past Gabriel to kiss Olivia on the cheek. "How have you been, dear? I see you're finally gaining some weight back. Try not to gain too much though."

"I like a woman I can grab onto, you can gain all you want." Gabriel winked at his wife.

"Ignore them both." Nathan hugged his sister. "How are you?"

"Good." Olivia hugged her brother back tightly before turning to Heidi and the boys, hugging them in turn. "Been busy keeping everyone in line?" She whispered to Heidi.

"It's hard work, but someone's got to do it." Heidi grinned at her.

Nathan shook Gabriel's hand. "How are you?"

"Great." Gabriel nodded. "How's Congress?"

"Boring as hell." Nathan laughed. "Taking care of my sister?"

"As much as she'll let me."

"Do that, and we'll never have a problem." Nathan nodded. "Can you guys give us a few minutes to get settled in and then we'll meet you at your place?"

"Sounds good." Olivia nodded.

Everyone got into the elevator, with Olivia and Gabriel getting off on the tenth floor. As they walked to their apartment, Gabriel glanced at his wife, noticing the smile on her face as she looked at him. "What?" He asked as they entered their home.

"You." She turned and kissed him as he walked through the door. "Do you have any idea how sexy you are when you act all 'doting daddy' with Tatiana? I could jump your bones right now."

"If only we didn't have to join your pain-in-the-ass family for dinner." Gabriel sighed as he kissed his wife back. "I take that back though, Heidi and the boys aren't pains in the ass. Peter's okay too, I guess."

"Nathan's a good guy too." Olivia smiled. "You're so sweet with that little girl."

"It's the easiest thing in the world." Gabriel sighed as he went to the bedroom to change clothes. "When she looks up at me with those sweet eyes, I melt. She's the only person around here who DOESN'T know about the things I've done in my past and even when she finds out one day, I don't think she'll judge me. Besides you, I think she's the only person who doesn't have any fear of me on any level. I like what she sees when she looks at me, like I like what you usually see when you look at me."

Olivia leaned in the doorway. "Except when I bust you in a meeting when someone mentions an intriguing power." She stared at the floor for a moment. "Sorry about that."

"It's okay." Gabriel shrugged.

"No, it's not." Olivia looked over at him. "You laughed it off, but I know I hurt your feelings by assuming you wanted to go 'Sylar' on our prisoner."

Gabriel looked at his wife, then looked away. "You didn't hurt my feelings, trust me. The truth is, for a moment, I wanted more than anything to run down the hall to that woman's cell and forget every stride I've made these last three months." He turned back to his wife. "You were right about what I wanted."

"It didn't make it right to bust you on it in the meeting in front of everyone." Olivia walked to Gabriel and hugged him. "I'm sorry."

"And you're forgiven." Gabriel kissed her, then winked. "You can make it up to me later."

"Oh, I'll make it up to you in ways that will make our neighbors think I'm killing you in here." Olivia winked back. "Speaking of powers-"

"-And here we go." Gabriel turned to Olivia as he sat on the bed. "You want to know where he got that force field from, don't you?"

"Well, yeah!" Olivia sighed as she sat next to him. "Whoever this person is, we have to bring them in and convince them to join us, not just give us blood samples. If Linderman found them-"

"-Linderman isn't going to find this person." Gabriel smiled softly at Olivia. "She hasn't been born yet."

"What?" Olivia stared at him. "But then, how did Peter-" She trailed off as her eyes widened. "Oh my God. Faith?" Gabriel nodded as Olivia gasped. "Our secret weapon is our daughter. She's going to be the one who could very easily save us all."

"That's a definite probability." Gabriel grinned as he got up and finished changing clothes. "Is it wrong that I want to conceive her now, that I don't want to wait nine more months to even TRY for her and wait EIGHTEEN months to see her?"

"It's not wrong." Olivia shook her head. "But if we tried now, it wouldn't be Faith. She'd never exist. We have to wait." She stood up and kissed her husband on the cheek. "It's driving me crazy waiting for that right time to even try for her. I feel the same way you do, I want her now, especially when I see how you are with Tatiana."

Gabriel sighed. "Well, if we can't try for her now, we can at least have a lot of fun practicing."

Olivia giggled. "Yes, we certainly can." As they started to kiss, the doorbell rang. "Damn." She muttered.

"They're YOUR family." Gabriel quipped as they left their apartment and joined the Petrellis for dinner.

They arrived in the lobby to see Peter waiting there with Sherry. Angela's eyes narrowed as she stared at her. "Don't I know you from somewhere?" She asked. Her eyes widened as she finally recognized the girl. "Dear God. You're that girl from Newark."

"And you're that hag from Manhattan. Good to see you again." She smiled at Heidi. "How are you doing?"

Heidi laughed softly. "I'm great." She hugged Sherry. "Just let it roll off of you, whatever she says." She whispered.

"Trust me, she's water, and I'm the duck's back." Sherry whispered back.

* * *

"So tell me, Mr. Big-Brother Congressman," Olivia leaned back in her chair with her drink at the restaurant. "how are things REALLY going on Capitol Hill, besides boring of course?"

Nathan sighed. "Honestly, there's not much to say. We sit around, we bitch and argue with each other, we listen to lobbyists try to buy our votes, we listen to our fellow Congressmen try to buy our votes and in the end, we occasionally actually try to make laws."

"Our government in action, Ladies and Gentlemen." Gabriel mused.

"In a nutshell." Nathan raised his glass at Gabriel. "It's just a big dog and pony show for the most part. Right now, I'm just trying to keep my head above water, try not to piss the wrong people off and see what I can do for the greater good." He sipped his drink and shrugged. "I actually envy what you guys are doing here. I wish I could be more of a part of it right now. What you all are doing? THAT really is for the greater good. We're all people with special abilities, banding together and hoping that, in defeating a megalomaniac one day, we'll save the world from being his slaves."

"I'll drink to that." Peter lifted his own glass. "To the greater good," he smiled for a moment at Sherry "and to the friends we make along the way."

As everyone drank to Peter's toast, Angela eyed Sherry. "So tell me, Dear, what do you have to offer this family, besides a family tree that boasts an ability to cap and whack their opponents?"

Sherry shrugged. "Well, we might what our enemies, even blow them up, but we've never tried to get our own son to lost his shit and blow up a whole city."

Angela cocked her head to the side. "You're actually much prettier than I remember. I suppose Tammy Faye Baker's make-up artist is no longer on your payroll?"

Heidi leaned towards Sherry. "Ignore her. She still accuses me of wearing contact lenses. She swore for the first three years that Nathan and I were married that 'no one's eyes are naturally that color'."

"I still wonder about that, actually." Angela mused. "They're such a strange shade of blue."

Heidi rolled her eyes as Gabriel laughed softly. "I'm just glad to see that Mom here has a new verbal punching bag."

Angela's eyes snapped towards him. "When will you EVER stop calling me that?"

"Why should I?" Gabriel's eyes widened innocently. "I just love you so much, Mom."

Angela looked away as everyone laughed softly. "Why my children choose to partner themselves with-"

"-With what, Mom?" Peter looked over at her, a warning look in his eyes. "Please, finish that sentence."

Angela glared at Peter and Olivia. "The two of you could do SO much better!" She puffed up and looked away again as her two youngest children rolled her eyes.

"Yeah." Peter muttered. "Because you've always made such wonderful decisions yourself."

* * *

After dinner, Peter left the restaurant with Sherry. In the parking lot of the apartment building, Sherry stared at the dashboard. "That wasn't uncomfortable at all."

Peter shook his head. "Mom's just-" he sighed "-I'm not even going to defend her. She loves me and Nathan and Olivia, but she doesn't know what's best for us, she never has."

"I'm sorry that I baited her." Sherry turned to Peter.

Peter looked at her, smiling. "I'm glad you did. I like seeing someone stand up to her like you and Heidi and Gabriel did tonight. I think she needs to get knocked off of her horse sometimes. I love her, but sometimes, hell most of the time, she goes too far."

Sherry made a face and stared at the dashboard again. "But still, this was my first dinner with your family, technically it was my first real date with you and-"

"-and you handled yourself like a pro." Peter reached over and tucked a light brown strand of hair behind her ear. "You did great tonight."

Sherry looked over at him. "Really?"

"Really." He got out of the car and walked over to her side, opening the door for her and helping her out. "What do you say to the two of us finishing that movie?"

"I say that sounds like a great idea." Sherry took Peter's hand, smiling at him. They walked into the building as Olivia and Gabriel pulled up, followed by Nathan, Heidi, Angela and the boys.

Olivia and Gabriel quickly made their way into the building and dashed to the elevator before the rest of the family could get inside the lobby. "GOD! That was excruciating!" Olivia leaned her head on her husband's shoulder. "That woman wears me out."

"You and me both." Gabriel frowned.

Olivia looked up at him, smiling softly. "She can talk all she wants, but I'll never do better than you, and I'll never want to try." She turned and wrapped her arms around his waist. "I love you."

"I'm glad." Gabriel kissed her. "I'd hate to think I was in this whole 'crazy in love' thing all by myself." As they stepped onto their floor, they looked up in surprise as the adjacent elevator also opened and Sherry and Peter stepped out. "Hello you two." Gabriel smiled wickedly. "Date's not over yet, huh?" He wiggled his eyebrows at them.

Peter rolled his eyes and held up the DVD box. "Herbert and Collette moved their sexcapades to her apartment downstairs. We wanted to watch this in peace and quiet."

"Uh-huh. Have fun you two!" Gabriel laughed as Olivia playfully popped him in the stomach. "WHAT?"

As they headed towards their apartment and Peter and Sherry headed to theirs, Mohinder stepped out of the elevator, looking at both couples. "Hello everyone."

Peter grinned. "Hey. How was dinner with the Bennets?"

"Great." Mohinder smiled as he followed Peter and Sherry into the apartment, glancing at Olivia and Gabriel entering theirs with a wistful look.

Peter nodded his head at Sherry. "Our roommate and her roommate were getting loud downstairs, so we came up here."

"JUST to watch a movie though." Sherry nodded.

"That's good." Mohinder shrugged. "So I suppose Herbert will be downstairs all night. Good. I could use a good night's sleep before tomorrow's test. Don't let me interrupt." He quickly walked to his room and closed the door.

Sherry gaped at Peter. "You COULD have invited him to stay and watch this with us."

"I didn't get a chance to." Peter frowned. "Poor guy, I feel kind of bad. Both of his roommates are dating, the woman he had a serious crush on is married to a man he considers to be his arch nemesis, and he's just alone with his research."

"Which is WHY you should have asked him to stay in here and hang out with us." Sherry shook her head. "Sometimes, you're a good friend and sometimes, you're kind of dense."

Peter turned to her smiling softly. "I know, and sometimes, I just want to be alone with someone I want to get to know better." He nodded to the couch. "Let's watch a movie."

* * *

Nathan got out of his car without a word as Angela continued to talk. "And that GIRL! What on EARTH is Peter THINKING? I think we all know what he's thinking WITH, but he cannot be serious about her!"

Nathan closed his eyes for a moment, then turned to Angela. "You know Mom, sometimes, you don't have to say EVERY thought that enters your head. I personally LIKE Sherry."

"Me too." Heidi sighed as they walked towards the front doors.

"Of course you would, you little parrot. If Nathan says it's so, then it is definitely so, right?"

"Why don't you just SHUT UP for once?" Heidi rolled her eyes as they entered the lobby.

Nathan smiled as Claire entered the lobby with Lyle, Molly, Micah, Nikolai, Tatiana and Sanjog, with Niki and Sandra in tow as their chaperones. "Hey!" He hugged her. "Where are you guys off to?"

"Miniature golf." Claire nodded.

"Do you need anything?" He reached for his wallet and stopped as Claire smiled and shook her head.

"We're fine. We're going in a group, we've been told to be safe and be back in our apartments, NOT the lobby, NOT the elevators, but in our apartments by midnight, so we need to run if we even want to play one hole, much less eighteen." She turned to Simon and Monty. "You guys want to come too?" Nathan nodded to his sons as they looked up at him hopefully and handed them some money. "They'll be home soon too, I promise." Claire kissed Nathan and Heidi on the cheeks before she dashed out the door.

Heidi smiled and turned to see an equally happy smile on her husband's face. "She's a good kid."

Nathan nodded. "No, she's a wonderful young woman." He hugged his wife for a moment, before they entered the elevator with Angela.

Their smiles faded as Angela turned on them, frowning. "And just what did you mean by 'shut up'?"

* * *

Peter nudged Sherry as the movie ended. "Hey." Sherry's eyes flew open as she sat up. Peter grinned. "I wasn't the one who fell asleep this time."

"I'm sorry." Sherry shook her head. "After the grief I gave you-"

"-I know." Peter laughed softly. "You must have been tired."

"I really was." She shrugged. "So how was the movie?"

"It was okay."

They stared at each other for a moment, then Peter leaned towards her and kissed her. As he started to pull away, Sherry touched his face and pulled him close to kiss her again. As their kiss intensified, Sherry stopped him and backed away for a moment. "I'm not a slut."

"I know." Peter nodded.

"I just wanted you to know that. I just wanted to say it out loud. I'm not a slut. I've fallen for guys in the past way too easily, and I've done stuff with them way too fast, but I swear I'm not a slut."

Peter ran his fingers through her hair. "I never thought you were."

"This is different. The way I'm starting to feel about you is different than I've felt about other guys. I don't want to screw it up by going too fast or-"

Peter sat up. "-Then we'll go slow. You set the pace, okay?"

Sherry smiled and sighed with relief. "Good." She leaned towards him and began to kiss him again. After a few minutes of kissing each other, Sherry groaned and backed away. "Shit, I really should go."

"Okay." Peter nodded.

"I don't want to go, but if I stay-"

"-I understand." Peter stood up and took Sherry's hand. "Do you want me to walk you to your apartment downstairs?"

Sherry sighed. "Collette and Herbert are down there. Crap."

"Then stay up here." Peter held up a hand. "You can sleep in my bed, I'll sleep on the couch."

"I'm not putting you out of your own bed." Sherry fidgeted. "We don't have to DO anything if I sleep over."

"Absolutely not." Peter shook his head. He took Sherry's hand and led her to his room. She stopped for a moment at Mohinder's door, looking at it sadly before following Peter.

"We should fix him up with someone."

Peter handed Sherry a tee shirt. "Yeah, but who?"

"I don't know." She took the shirt and stepped into the bathroom as Peter undressed and climbed into bed. She stepped out of the bathroom wearing his shirt and stopped, staring at him for a moment.

"What?" Peter smiled at her.

Sherry shook her head as she climbed into bed beside Peter. "Nothing. I just realized that I completely forgot what I was talking about."

Peter leaned over and kissed her. "You were discussing my lovelorn roommate."

"Yeah, we'll discuss him later." Sherry cuddled beside Peter, resting her head on his shoulder as he wrapped his arms around her. "Right now, I just want to lie here with you."

* * *

"Your mother." Heidi sighed as she climbed into bed beside Peter. "She drives me to distraction sometimes."

Nathan grinned as he leaned over, kissing his wife. "Do you know what drives ME to distraction? You in that nightie."

Heidi giggled as Nathan slid his hand under the covers. "Are YOU trying to distract me now?"

"I'll do anything to keep you from talking about my mother at a time like this." Nathan leaned over and kissed his wife passionately.

* * *

Olivia and Gabriel lay in bed, breathing heavily after making love. "Forgive me now?" Olivia laughed softly as she rested on top of her husband, her head on his chest.

"After that, I'd forgive you for anything." Gabriel stroked his wife's hair as he stared at the ceiling. "That was hot."

"I know." Olivia sat up and straddled her husband, leaning down to kiss him. "How would you like an encore."

Gabriel sighed with pleasure. "I'd like that very much, thank you."

* * *

"OH GOD!" Herbert moaned as Collette rolled off of him and cuddled beside him. He gasped for air as he kissed his girlfriend. "You, My Dear, are a work of art."

"As are you." Collette kissed him back. "Tell me more about this secret weapon Peter was talking about at the meeting?"

"You'll find out soon enough. Everyone will." Herbert yawned. And now I'm exhausted, finally." He pulled Collette close, wrapping his arms around her. "I can't get enough of you." He murmured as he dozed off.

Collette's eyes closed as she started to doze as well, then flew open as her cell phone rang. Frowning, she rolled over and answered it, but before she could speak, all she heard was static before the phone went dead. Collette's eyes glazed over as she set her phone down and climbed out of bed, glancing at Herbert to make sure he was still sleeping. She pulled on her clothes and went to her nightstand, pulling out a sheet of paper and an envelope. She went to the kitchen and began to write. _"Meeting tonight. P. Petrelli discussed a secret weapon. Will know more later."_ She put the note in the envelope and balled it up. Her eyes still glazed over, she left her apartment quietly and walked down the stairs. She slipped out of the front door and crossed the street, throwing the note in a trash can before crossing back to re-enter the building.

As soon as Collette entered the building, Sandra and Niki arrived back with the children. While everyone else walked into the lobby, Claire and Nikolai hung back. "I had a good time." Nikolai nodded.

Claire smiled. "I did too." She glanced inside as Sandra herded all of the children into the elevator and made eye contact. Sandra pointed to her watch and then held up five fingers. Claire nodded and turned back to Nikolai. "Maybe we can go grab a movie sometime."

"That would be good." Nikolai smiled. "Maybe without everyone else."

"That would be great." Claire's smile widened as Nikolai held the door open for her, then followed her inside, taking her hand as they made their way to the elevators.

Moments after Claire and Nikolai entered the building, a middle-aged blond haired man passed by the apartments on the sidewalk across the street. He stopped at the trash bin and dug through it, pulling out Collette's note and pocketing it before walking away.


	39. Chapter 39

Chapter Thirty-Nine: Manual Labor and Another Test

Peter awoke the next morning, smiling to see Sherry still curled up beside him. He rolled over to face her, stroking her arm. As her eyes fluttered open, he smiled at her. "Good morning." He whispered.

"Is it morning already?" Sherry snuggled next to him. "Didn't we just fall asleep?"

"Yeah, about seven hours ago." Peter wrapped his arms around her, burying his face in her hair. "I can't remember the last time I slept this well."

"Really?" I didn't sleep well at all."

"Why?" Peter pulled back just far enough to look at her. "Did I snore, or toss and turn?"

Sherry shook her head. "I was just very frustrated, that's all. I'm starting to realize that it's very difficult for me to behave, especially when you're just wearing boxer shorts, I'm just wearing a tee shirt and we're centimeters from each other." She stared into his eyes, then began to kiss him passionately. Peter moaned softly and pulled her close as he kissed her back. He slid his hand up her thigh, then stopped, pulling his face away from hers for a moment.

"I thought you wanted to go slowly." He panted.

Sherry shrugged. "You told me to set the pace, I'm setting it." Peter closed his eyes and muffled a moan as Sherry's hand slid down his chest and into his shorts. He pulled her close and kissed her again, his hands sliding up her shirt to cup her breasts in his hands as he rolled over onto his back, Sherry straddling him. She pulled off her tee shirt and trembled as Peter began to kiss her breasts, his fingers gliding up and down her spine.

Peter groaned as a knock sounded on his bedroom door. "Peter?" Mohinder's voice rang out. "We're supposed to be at the facility in an hour to prepare for the test on Herbert.

Sherry frowned and rolled off of Peter, breathing heavily. "We have GOT to get him laid."

"I know." He panted. He rolled over on his side, looking at Sherry. "I would continue, but an hour's not going to do it, not even close."

Sherry looked at him, raising an eyebrow. "Oh really?" She grinned. "I hit the boyfriend jackpot, didn't I?" She blushed. "I can CALL you that, right?"

"After what we came close to doing just now, you can call me more than that." Peter kissed Sherry softly, then climbed out of bed, groaning. "Now I'M the one who's frustrated!"

"Right there with you." Sherry followed Peter into the bathroom, grabbing her clothes to get dressed as Peter started the shower. "Taking a cold one?"

"Ice cold." Peter watched as Sherry put her bra on. "Not that it'll do any good."

"I'd stay and offer to wash your back, but I think that would defeat the purpose of the cold shower."

"Trust me, with you in there with me, that water could be arctic and it wouldn't make a difference." Peter watched Sherry pull her pants and shirt on. "Do you want to stay for breakfast?"

Sherry shook her head. "I'll grab something downstairs before I take a very frustrated nap." She stepped towards him, kissing him passionately. Peter pulled her close, his hands running all over her body before she stepped away. "Yeah, very frustrated. You might want to nap too when you get home. I don't think either of us will be sleeping tonight."

Peter nodded. "I'll do that after I buy Mohinder ear plugs. Unlike my other roommate, I'm fairly considerate of his feelings, at times."

Sherry grinned and walked towards the door, stopping. "Crap, if you brother-in-law sees me, you know he's going to give me serious shit for sleeping over."

Peter concentrated for a moment, activating Gabriel's super hearing, then made a face, quickly turning it off. "No worries there. He and my sister are doing in the shower what we should be doing in here."

She giggled. "There are some serious horny vibes in this building, you do realize that don't you?"

"You noticed that too, huh?" Peter grinned as he pulled off his shorts, stepping into the shower. "See you later."

Sherry's eyes widened before she looked away, her face turning red and hot. "Definitely." She walked out of the apartment before stopping and staring at the ceiling. "Hey you, Big Guy upstairs. Thank you for my boyfriend, thank you for his heart, thank you for what I just got a load of in there and what I'm getting a load of tonight, and thanks for nothing for sending Mo to interrupt us this morning. You giveth and you taketh away. Seriously? Why show me that when I have to wait all day to experience it? You're an awesome guy usually, but today, you kinda suck." She blew a raspberry at the ceiling before taking the elevator downstairs.

* * *

Olivia and Gabriel climbed out of the shower, giggling as she threw a towel at him. "I can't even take a shower in peace without being tackled by you." She laughed as she wrapped a towel around her body.

"What can I say? You drive me crazy." Gabriel nuzzled her neck.

"Well, for now, down boy. I have to get my medical game face on. I don't want to end up killing Herbert today. I kind of like him."

"Yeah, he's okay, when he's not squealing under or on top of Collette." Gabriel rolled his eyes.

"You've got to get control over that before it drives you crazy. God knows it would drive me nuts to hear what EVERYONE is doing." Olivia toweled off her hair before pulling into a damp, curly ponytail.

"If I did that, I wouldn't know that your little brother had an overnight guest." As Olivia turned to Gabriel he laughed. "But they didn't do anything. I think they were waking up when I got in the shower with you, but I decide to concentrate totally on you instead of what old Petey-boy was up to."

"Don't tease him about it." Olivia pulled on a pair of jeans. "I'm serious!"

"Oh, not even a little bit?" Gabriel shrugged as Olivia shook her head, giving him a warning look. "Fun-sucker." He frowned as the phone rang. "Hello?" He covered the phone. "Talk about fun-suckers, it's Noah Bennet." He turned back to the phone, making a face. "What KIND of manual labor?"

* * *

Peter stepped into the kitchen, nodding at Mohinder before throwing waffles in the toaster and sitting down across from him, beaming. Mohinder glanced at him over his papers, raising an eyebrow. "How is Sherry?"

"Wonderful." Peter sighed.

"Nice." Mohinder nodded as he drank his tea. "Listen, with you dating Sherry and Herbert doing whatever it is he's doing with Collette-"

"-experiencing mind-numbing forays into extreme erotic pleasures." Peter quipped as he got up to get his waffles and coffee.

Mohinder glanced at him. "Yes, with all of that going on, I feel a bit in the way. Sanjog is staying with Trevor Kelley. I was thinking about rooming with them and giving you and Herbert privacy."

Peter sat back down at the table. "First of all, you're not in the way; second of all, as loud as Herbert is when he's getting a French twist, he's never going to get privacy anywhere; and third of all, instead of moving in with a former priest and your pre-teen protégé and burying yourself in your research, perhaps you should consider getting out there and dating yourself. I know you had a thing for Olivia and it sucks that it didn't work out for you, but this building is currently teeming with women, many of whom are in our age range and would be more than willing to fall all over themselves for you. Hell, I didn't even have to LOOK for a girlfriend. I didn't WANT to look for a girlfriend. It hit me pretty hard after Simone died. I didn't want to even think about another woman, then I saw Sherry. I was attracted to her even before her little makeover, but instead of flirting with her, I yelled at her and behaved like an ass. In a weird way, I felt like I was cheating on Simone if I even looked at Sherry. It took Gabriel yelling at me for making Sherry cry before I realized what I was pushing away. Then Claire and Olivia pulled their little hocus-pocus on her and I saw what she was going through just to get my attention. I decided to stop being a jerk and give her a chance."

"You liked her before, even with all that make-up?"

"And the white blond hair, and the overly tight and short clothes." Peter laughed. "I really liked those short skirts. It doesn't make a difference to me what she looks like. I was the one who really had to change, not her. When I did, I realized that she was a great person." He looked down at his plate. "I think she could be The One."

"Congratulations." Mohinder's face broke into a genuine smile.

"Thanks." Peter grinned. "So don't move out. Invest in ear plugs, starting tonight" he wiggled his eyebrows at Mohinder "and get out there and see if there's a One for you."

Mohinder shrugged. "Perhaps you're right."

"I know I'm right!" Peter nodded. "We're going to Mexico and South America soon. Maybe we could find you a hot tamale around there. I could bring Sherry with us and she could help break the ice with girls, maybe talk you up about how great you are."

Mohinder laughed. "You just want to bring your girlfriend on the trip with us!"

"Would you mind if I did?"

"No. I wouldn't." Mohinder laughed softly as he drank his tea.

They both looked up as Hiro knocked on the door, then walked in. "Good morning, Hiro!" Peter beamed.

Hiro bowed to them. "Good morning." He spied Peter's plate. "I love waffles!"

"There's some in the freezer. You just throw them in your toaster." Peter smiled.

"REALLY?" Hiro's eyes widened. "I remember seeing them in Japan, but I never had waffles before I came here. They're wonderful."

"Help yourself." Peter laughed as Hiro rushed to the freezer and threw two waffles into the toaster. "So what brings you over here, besides your love of waffles?"

"Mr. Bennet called. He was wondering if I could help with a manual labor project today with Ando, Nathan, Trevor, Gabriel and Matt."

Peter nodded. "Probably getting Susan's cell ready."

"The woman who shoots lasers from her eyes?" Hiro asked. Peter nodded. "Better for her to be in a cell than drugged all day."

"Now we just have to find a way to beef up the security there so she'll stay in her cell when no one's around."

"Niki is running security for The Corinthian. Perhaps she knows of a way." Hiro nodded. Just then, his waffled popped out of the toaster. Hiro clapped and beamed. "WOO-HOO!"

Peter laughed. "She and D.L. left for Honolulu early this morning. I'll ask her about it when she gets back."

* * *

"It is February 3, 2007 at eight-thirty in the morning." Mohinder spoke into the camcorder set up on a tripod in the medical testing lab of the facility. "Our subject today is Herbert Smythe Osgood II, a thirty-seven year old male."

"From Dover, England!" Herbert called out in a sing-song voice. "The white cliffs of Dover is where I'm from." He smiled as he turned his head to Olivia. "You're so pretty."

Olivia laughed. "And you're so stoned!" She checked his I.V. "I see the barbituates are working well for you."

"Bloody damn right they are." Herbert sighed. "So good. I'm dating Collette." He murmured.

"Is that what you crazy kids are calling it now?"

"Yup! She's so beautiful, and so sexy, and so good in bed. She has a mouth like a Hoover and she tastes like champagne. French champagne."

Olivia's eyes widened as she looked at Peter over Herbert's body. "Okay Herb, that was too much information."

"So sorry, but it's true. I loooooove Collette." He sighed. He turned to Peter. "Peter my boy! When did you get here?"

"A while ago." Peter glanced up at Olivia again, an amused expression on his face.

"Sheryl didn't come in until this morning. She was upstairs all night with you, you naughty boy."

"She stayed at my place so she could sleep. You know, you and Collette get a little loud."

"She makes me purr like a kitten, when I'm not growling like a tiger." Herbert began to growl as Olivia turned away, laughing quietly.

"That's nice." Peter turned away, shaking his head.

"Okay Herbert." Olivia composed herself. "We're going to knock you out now and I'm going to intubate you-"

"-I've never had anything large shoved down my throat. Now last night, Collette on the other hand-"

"-That's nice!" Olivia started the anesthesia and sighed with relief as Herbert quickly went under. Olivia intubated Herbert and handed the breathing pump over to Peter. "Good Lord, I will never look at either of them the same way again." She shook her head and looked at Mohinder. "We're ready to begin."

Mohinder helped Olivia drape a cooling blanket over Herbert, and turn it on. They watched the monitors as his body temperature began to drop. His vital signs began to slow, first his heart rate dropped, then his blood pressure and finally his EEG rate dropped to a crawl. "He's now in suspended animation brought on by hypothermia." Mohinder turned to Herbert's I.V. and injected the solution into the saline. "Solution infusion is beginning at nine a.m." They watched anxiously as the solution began to drip slowly into his veins, their eyes alternating between the I.V. and the machines monitoring Herbert's vital signs. After an hour, with Peter and Olivia swapping back and forth on the breathing pump, the solution was in. "No adverse reactions so far." Mohinder wiped sweat from his upper lip nervously.

"Let's start to warm him up." Olivia changed out the empty I.V. bag for a new one with warm fluids as Mohinder flipped a switch on the blanket. It began to warm Herbert's body back up slowly. They watched nervously as his vital signs began to return to normal. "So far, so good." Olivia extubated Herbert and placed an oxygen mask on him instead as Peter injected the I.V. solution with stimulants.

After a few minutes, Herbert's eyes opened slowly. He looked around. "Is it over? How did I do?"

Mohinder beamed. "You did very well."

* * *

"Manual labor sucks." Nathan threw down a wrench as Matt sat back on his heels beside him. "The toilet and sink are working now, though."

"Good!" Noah stepped out of a shower stall. "The shower's ready now as well." He turned as Ando, Hiro and Trevor walked in, carrying panels of mirrors. "Now we just have to tile the walls, floor and ceiling, as well as the shower with these."

Gabriel rolled his eyes. "If she wants to get out, she's going to get out no matter what we do. I did."

Noah narrowed his eyes at Gabriel. "You're not helping." He muttered.

Gabriel rolled his eyes and looked around the room, shuddering. The cell they were in was identical to the one he'd previously been housed in during his stay at Primatech. The only difference was the glass viewing pane. It was replaced by a mirror. "At least when people came to gawk at me, I knew they were there." Gabriel muttered.

"It's for everyone's protection. If I remember Susan O'Neill correctly, this will be our best defense." Noah sighed. "Let's start tiling."

* * *

"So do I have this healing power now?" Herbert looked around at everyone nervously. "If someone is injured, I can heal them?"

"Let's find out." Olivia grabbed a mallet off of a table and handed it to Peter before she placed her left hand on the table. "This is going to hurt like a mother-fucker, isn't it?"

Peter nodded, cringing a little. "Are you sure we can't bring Nathan in here for this? It could be revenge for a few wedgies I've gotten in my lifetime."

Olivia shook her head. "Just do it." Peter quickly slammed the mallet down on his sister's hand and backed away, cringing as she began shrieking in pain, her hand shattered with bones sticking out of it. Mohinder took her arm and guided her to Herbert as Peter turned away, his expression miserable. Herbert closed his eyes as he placed his hand on Olivia's left forearm, taking deep breaths.

"Oh my God." Peter turned as Mohinder gasped with wonder and stepped over to see what was happening. The broken bones in Olivia's hand began to straighten out as the bleeding stopped, then reversed itself before the lacerations healed.

Olivia shivered and sighed with relief. "Okay, I never want to be the guinea pig for this experiment again."

"It worked." Herbert smiled. "I can heal with the touch of my hand."

"Yeah." Peter hugged Olivia. "Sorry about that."

"I told you to do it." She laughed softly as she stepped away, flexing her hand. "But it hurt worse than I ever thought it would."

"A healer is made." Mohinder whispered.

* * *

"So you just WHACKED her hand with a fucking hammer?" Nathan glared at Peter as they tiled the floor of the cell with mirrors. "Are you stupid?"

"She's the one who suggested it." Peter shrugged. "And Herbert healed it with the touch of his hand. It was pretty cool to watch, once I got over feeling like a shit for hitting her hand in the first place."

"You'd better be glad that serum worked." Gabriel glared down at Peter from his ladder. "Otherwise, I'd have broken your neck."

"Oh, what's the matter, did Peter break her dick hand or something?" Nathan rolled his eyes.

Gabriel started to climb down from his ladder. "You're making jokes? My wife, your SISTER got her hand shattered today and you're making JOKES about it?"

"HEY!" Matt stepped between Gabriel and Nathan. "Chill out! Get your ass off of your shoulders, Gabe, Nathan was kidding. Before you forget, I can read minds here and Nathan is just as upset about this as you are. He's just making jokes to keep from-"

"-To keep from walking down the hall and wringing my sister's neck." Nathan looked over at Matt. "Stop peeking in my brain."

"Better I peek than he rips it open." Matt shrugged and walked back to his wall with Noah.

After a few hours, everyone sat back and stared at the cell. It was completely mirrored, even the shower and a cot had been screwed to the floor against one wall. Noah nodded. "Looks like the one we had Susan in when she was previous guest."

"Yeah, I remember being a 'guest', it wasn't much fun, but I guess this is better than being zonked out on tranqs all the time." Gabriel shrugged.

"Well, you wouldn't have been a 'guest' if you had kept your psychotic tendencies in check." Noah glared at Gabriel as the younger man rolled his eyes.

"Evolutionary imperative, jackass." He muttered as he walked out of the cell. He went to the lab where Olivia, Mohinder and Herbert were studying blood samples and discussing the results of the test. He grabbed Olivia's arm. "Can I talk to you for a moment?"

"Sure." Olivia frowned as Gabriel took her into the hall. "What's wrong?"

"You getting your hand shattered in the name of whatever passes for science in there, THAT'S what's wrong!" Gabriel paced the floor in front of her. "What were you thinking?"

"I was thinking that since you won't let me TAKE the serum, at least I could contribute in other ways."

"If you EVER do something that idiotic again, I'll grab a hammer and hit you so hard, Herbert won't be able to bring you back! What is WRONG with you? Why would you do something that STUPID?" Gabriel glared at his wife before he stomped away, angrily. As he passed Peter and Nathan in the halls, he tried to shrug his brothers-in-law's hands off, but was finally subdued by both of them as they wrestled him into a room. "Don't make me get nasty with you two!" He snarled.

"Like you did with our sister?" Nathan shoved him against a wall. "First of all, if you EVER speak to MY sister like that again, I'll hit YOU with a fucking hammer. I don't like what she did, and I certainly don't like that Peter went along with it, but you will NOT take your irritation on being trapped in a room with us all day long out on HER! And second of all, let her take the serum, for God's sakes! Stop being so over-fucking-protective of her! She's a grown-ass woman, stop treating her like a child half the time and your sex toy the other half."

"Are you done?" Gabriel's eyes glittered dangerously as Nathan backed off, glaring back at him. "You are talking about my wife, not just your sister, my wife. She is the woman I swore to love and protect, which I will even if I'm protecting her from herself. You don't live with her, you don't see how obsessed she is with this whole project. For God's sake, she was willing to possibly maim herself for life in order to prove a point this morning. I'm sorry I yelled at her, but you don't watch her run off half-cocked all of the time, so determined to prove that Linderman was wrong and that she isn't weak or useless. I don't want her taking that serum for the same reasons. You weren't there the last time she took it, Nathan. You didn't watch her have seizures and go into cardiac arrest. You didn't pump on her chest while pleading to God or anyone else who was listening to make it start beating again. I can't go through that again, I won't risk losing her to her crazy need to be 'better' than she thinks she is, because she's already the best. I shouldn't have yelled at her, but you've been wanting to too, so don't give me that shit. Sometimes, as thick-headed as she is, you HAVE to yell to get your point across."

"Like with Mom." Peter nodded. "You still shouldn't have been that harsh with her." He stepped towards Gabriel. "There's one thing you keep forgetting though, when it comes to banning her from taking that serum."

"What's that?" Gabriel rolled his eyes.

"When we go to battle, you and I both know the first person Linderman's going to go after is Olivia. Don't you think she deserves a fighting chance against him? You can let her get serumed up and risk losing her to an adverse reaction, or you can watch Linderman behead her without her even being able to put up a fight in about a year and a half."

"Or I can tie her up and toss her in a closet before we embark on that momentous battle and keep Linderman away from her." Gabriel stepped past his brothers-in-law. "I'll apologize for yelling, but not for getting upset in the first place. If you guys want to kick my ass for that, I dare you to try. Oh, and I don't treat her like a child or a sex toy, I treat her like a partner, which is something she needs to start doing more with me." He left the office and went to the lab, looking for his wife. "Where did Olivia go?"

Mohinder turned to Gabriel and looked away. "She left. Apparently she didn't appreciate her husband yanking her and ordering her around like chattle. If you continue to behave that way towards her, you will lose her."

"And you'll be there to pick up the pieces with her, right? Think again." Gabriel turned and left the room and the facility.

* * *

Peter walked into Susan's room and started to undo the straps on her bed after he removed her I.V. She sat up, rubbing her arms. "Get tired of keeping me here? Letting me go?"

"Nope. Are you ready to cooperate?" Peter sighed as Susan looked away. "Let's go. We've got new accommodations for you."

"I can't wait to see them." She pointed to her goggles. "These are familiar. So how is that asshole Bennet nowadays?"

"Great." Peter unlocked one door and led her through it, then unlocked her cell. "Home sweet home until you start talking."

"Then I'll be here a while." Susan took off her goggles as Peter slammed the door in her face. She looked around at the mirrored walls and her bed, with a tray of food beside it. "Shit." She muttered.

* * *

Gabriel arrived at the apartment, glancing at Olivia as he walked inside. She was sitting on the couch, reading a book and pointedly ignoring him. Gabriel groaned as he sat in a chair across from his wife. "Okay, I'm rational now. Can we talk?"

"I don't know." Olivia glared at him. "I might be too stupid to understand you."

"You're not stupid. You do stupid things without thinking and scare the shit out of me, which pisses me off, but you're not stupid and I'm sorry for saying what I said." Gabriel watched as Olivia returned to her book. "I'm going to tell you the same thing I told your brothers a while ago, okay? I love you. I love you so much it scares the living hell out of me. The most terrifying moment of my life was when you took that damned serum and almost died on me. I'll be damned if I'll let that happen again. And today, you did something else that could have harmed you without thinking of the consequences and that scared me too. You're too reckless sometimes, Livvie. You're too cavalier about yourself and your well being and I can't let you be like that. What if the serum hadn't worked on Herbert today? What if you had injured your hand permanently?" He knelt in front of her, taking her hand into his as he stroked it. "I love this hand. I love the fingers, the nails, the wrist, I love the woman it's attached to. It would kill me if something happened to this hand, just like it would kill me if something happened to you." He looked up into Olivia's eyes as she set her book aside and looked back at him. "If someone were to hurt you, I'd kill them, and that would go double if that someone were yourself. Please start thinking, Baby. Stop doing things on the spur of the moment because you're obsessed with this project." He sat on the couch beside her, stroking her hair while he looked at her lovingly. "I can't stand the idea of losing you, or of seeing you get hurt because of this."

"I'm sorry too." Olivia sighed as she rested her head on her husband's shoulder. "I'm sorry what happened upset you, but I knew it would work."

"No you didn't, you were just going on that crazy ass faith of yours again. Please stop taking risks with any part of yourself. I can't stand to watch it or hear about it." Gabriel wrapped his arms around her tightly. "You're pretty much the only thing in this world that matters to me. You ARE my life."

"And you're mine." Olivia nodded. "I'll be more careful. Next time I'll just give myself a paper cut or something small, okay?"

"How about you not intentionally injure yourself at all?" Gabriel kissed his wife. "Keep this up, and I'll get injected with Claire's DNA."

"Why?"

"So I can jump off of the roof and scare the shit out of you, just to prove a point." Gabriel laughed. "How would you like that?"

Olivia rolled her eyes. "Point taken."

"Good."


	40. Chapter 40

Chapter Forty: New Lovers, Surfer Girl, Departures

Nathan turned to Peter as they entered the apartment building. "So will we be seeing you tonight before we go back to D.C. in the morning?"

Peter shook his head. "I've sort of got plans, but I will see you guys off to the airport."

Nathan grinned as they walked to the elevators. "Plans? With Sherry?" He started to chuckle as Peter blushed. "You DO have plans with her. She is quite the bombshell, pun intended. I like her."

Peter smiled. "Good. I'm glad you like her, because I have a feeling you and Heidi and the boys will be seeing her around, a lot."

"Good." Nathan clapped Peter on the back as they got into the elevator. "I was a little worried about you after Simone died, you took it pretty hard. I really do like Sherry though, she's a sweet kid who can hold her own with Mom. Plus, any girl who looks at you the way she does can't be at all bad."

"I remember telling you the same thing about Heidi."

Nathan nodded, smiling softly. "I know, I was saving telling you the same thing until you started seeing the right girl. I think you are now." He grabbed Peter and pulled him into a quick bear hug, then let him go as they reached Peter's floor. "We'll see you in the morning. Have a lot of fun tonight."

Peter grinned as he stepped off of the elevator and walked to his apartment. He let himself in and walked to his bedroom, yawning. He smiled as he thought about Sherry and how he'd felt waking up beside her. As he walked into his bedroom, he stopped as he spotted her curled up in his bed, asleep. He tiptoed to the bed, kicking off his shoes before he climbed in and snuggled beside her. Sherry woke up and rolled over, smiling softly at him. "Hi." She whispered.

"Hi."

"How did the test go?"

"Good. Herbert pulled through with no complications and he can now heal injuries with a touch of his hand, which is good because otherwise Olivia would be in the local E.R. now getting her hand put back together." Peter brushed Sherry's hair out of her eyes before he kissed her.

"Her hand?" Sherry kissed Peter back. "What the hell did she do, break every bone in it or something?"

"Sort of. I kind of helped. It was her idea though."

"She doesn't do anything halfway, does she? I would have started with something simple to heal, like a staple stuck in my hand, or something little like that."

"Which is why Gabriel gave her the riot act at the lab and why they're probably sniping at each other right now."

"Good lord those two are so dysfunctional sometimes." Sherry yawned.

"So I see you're in my bed."

Sherry shrugged as she rolled over on her stomach, bunching the pillow up under her chin. "I went to my apartment and I tried to sleep, but I still couldn't."

"Still frustrated?" Peter laughed softly.

"Yeah." Sherry giggled. "So I snuck back up here after you guys left this morning. I thought I might sleep better here." She shoved her face in the pillow. "It smells like you. I thought if I couldn't be near YOU, I could be near something that reminded me of you."

"So did you sleep well today?"

"Like a baby." Sherry lifted her head and rolled back over on her side. "I guess I'll have to get used to it since you and Mohinder are heading off to Central and South America in a few days. I heard that you guys were getting Susan's cell ready. Did you?"

Peter nodded. "Noah's going to talk to Niki when she and D.L. and Micah get back about security. She may know some people who can be discreet." He pulled Sherry close to him. "There's something I want to ask you about."

"What?" Sherry buried her face in his chest, closing her eyes as he began to stroke her hair.

"What if I tell you that you won't have to slip up here while Mohinder and I are gone to feel close to me? What if you came with us?"

Sherry's eyes flew open as she looked up at him. "You want me to go with you to South America?"

"And Mexico and Central America. It's not going to be a pleasure trip for the most part, and we'll be going through some pretty rough places but if you want to go-" Before he could finish Sherry began to kiss him. Peter stopped her after a moment, laughing. "-is that a yes?"

"No, that's a HELL YEAH I wanna go with you!" Sherry wrapped her arms around Peter, hugging him tightly. "I don't care how rough it is, I wanna be with you."

"It won't be all terrible." Peter grinned. "I did some research on the 'net. Guess what will be going on in Rio very soon?" Sherry stared at him and shook her head. "Carnivale."

"Really?" Sherry started giggling. "Carnivale, huh? Sounds pretty hot."

"I think it will be." Peter sighed as he relaxed beside Sherry. "Until then, what do you say to the two of us taking a nap, grabbing dinner, and then coming back here for the night?"

"Sounds good." Sherry cuddled Peter as she closed her eyes. "It sounds frustrating until later, but I'll let you rest."

"If you must." Peter teased as he dozed off, his arms wrapped around Sherry.

* * *

"Putting up mirrors, fixing a shower and sink." Hiro collapsed on the couch with Ando. "I agree with Nathan, manual labor definitely sucks."

"I'll second that." Ando rubbed his eyes. "It made me almost miss my cubicle in Japan."

Hiro nodded. "I'd like to rest. It won't happen any time soon. Olivia and Gabriel are going to the Caribbean tomorrow, Peter and Mohinder are leaving soon too. I'll be called all day with 'Hiro come get this person' and 'Hiro, we're in danger, jump us here'." He sighed. "I don't mind, it's for the greater good and a hero shouldn't complain, but-"

"-I know. It gets tiring." Ando nodded.

"Oh no." Hiro sighed again as his satellite phone rang. "Niki and D.L. and Micah are in Honolulu. I guess they're ready for me to pick them up."

"But you won't have to worry about any more calls for a day or two after this. That's good." Ando nodded as Hiro answered the phone, talked a moment then hung up. "They're ready."

"They have a new person. I'll go there now." Hiro stood up wearily and closed his eyes. He opened them and found himself standing beside Niki, D.L. and Micah on a beach. "So this is Ala Moana Beach." He nodded. "It's nice." He looked around. "So where is the new person?"

D.L. pointed to a young woman sitting on a surfboard in the water. "She wanted to hit one last wave before we took her."

Hiro squinted, staring at the woman on the surfboard as she sat in the middle of the calm surf. "Where are the waves?"

"Oh, you'll see some waves in a moment." Niki looked at Hiro and grinned. "This is going to be cool."

Hiro shaded his eyes from the son as he watched the calm waters. Suddenly, they became choppier, with bigger and bigger waves rolling into the beach. His eyes widened as a huge wave began to build and the woman began to pedal on her board out to it, then jumped onto her board as she began to ride through the tube of the wave, leaning on the front of her board as she glided through it as the wave broke behind her. The water carried her, still standing, to the beach, where she whooped loudly and grabbed her surfboard before running over to Niki and D.L. "That was righteous!" She laughed as she shook D.L.'s hand. "Thanks for letting me take that last ride. There aren't any beaches in Vegas. I'm going to miss it."

"You did that?" Hiro was flabbergasted. "You made those, you did-"

The girl nodded as she let down her ponytail. Her hair was jet-black and straight, falling down to her waist in a curtain around her shoulders. She pulled off her wet suit, revealing a tiny pink bikini underneath. D.L. suddenly looked at the sky nonchalantly as she wrapped a matching sarong around her waist. "I control the tides and I can make waves. Cool, huh? It comes in handy when you're a surfer."

Hiro nodded excitedly. "Very, very cool!" He stuck out his hand. "I am Hiro Nakamura."

The girl laughed softly as she took Hiro's hand. He gulped, his heart pounding as he took in her tanned limbs and dark almond-shaped eyes. "I'm Leilani Olan. It's great to meet you, Hiro."

"Yes, very nice to meet you too. Ready to go?"

Leilani sighed, looking out at the ocean. "I'm going to miss this. Goodbye, old friend." She set her surfboard on the beach sadly and picked up a knapsack at Niki's feet. "Let's go."

"You can take your surfboard." Hiro nodded excitedly. "I can teleport. When things are slow, I can take you to the beach. You could teach me to surf too."

"Really?" Leilani beamed. "You are seriously rad." She reached down and picked her board back up. "Reunited." She took Hiro's hand again. "So how do we do this?"

"Just hang on." Hiro squeezed Leilani's hand with one of his own, while he placed his hand on D.L.'s shoulder. He made sure D.L. had Niki's hand and that she had a grip on Micah, then closed his eyes. Moments later, they were standing in the lobby of the apartment building.

Leilani nodded as she looked around. "Now that's a pretty cool way to travel. Just 'poof' and you're there." She stood on her tiptoes and kissed Hiro on the cheek. "Thanks for the lift." She grabbed her board and headed towards the elevators as Hiro stared after her, his eyes wide. She turned for a moment and looked at Niki. "Ninth floor, apartment 901, right?"

"That's right." Niki turned to Hiro as Leilani stepped on the elevator and left. "Thanks for the lift too, Hiro. I know it gets irritating having to pick everyone up, but I always appreciate it when you come for us." She frowned as Hiro stared off into space, smiling softly. "Um, Hiro? Hiro?"

D.L. and Micah started laughing. "Hey Hiro!" D.L.'s voice boomed.

"Yes?" Hiro said, his voice faraway.

"You okay, man?"

"I'm rad." Hiro sighed and walked away as D.L. and Micah started laughing harder while Niki began to join in.

"You stay rad, man!" D.L. shook his head. "Whooo! That boy just got hit with the thunderbolt!"

* * *

"That was a great dinner." Sherry walked backwards into Peter's apartment as he followed her inside. "And then the dancing-"

"-I'm sorry about that. I'm a terrible dancer." Peter laughed.

"No you're not. You've got the spinning and the dipping part down." Sherry took his hand and twirled under his arm until she was pressed against him. "This is when you dip me." She whispered. Peter sighed and dipped her before he pulled her back into his arms and kissed her. "That's the part I like best." Sherry smiled as she kissed him again.

They both turned as Herbert and Collette stumbled into the apartment, giggling. Collette gasped as she noticed Peter and Sherry. "Oops!"

"Yeah, 'oops'! You two loud ones can get your oui-ouis on downstairs." Sherry nodded. "I think Peter and I have dibs on this space tonight."

Collette giggled. "We'll leave you two alone." She grabbed Herbert and dragged him back out of the door.

"Sorry to interrupt!" Herbert called out as the door closed behind him.

"Good lord!" Sherry rolled her eyes. "I won't miss them in South America."

"Me neither." Peter looked down at Sherry, smiling softly. "Where were we?"

"About to give those two a run for their money." Sherry kissed Peter again, their kiss intensifying as they stumbled towards his bedroom. Peter lifted her up into his arms, still kissing her as they entered his room. He kicked the door shut behind him before they fell on the bed together. Sherry quickly unbuttoned Peter's shirt, tossing it across the room as Peter rolled her over on top of him, unzipping her dress. He pulled it over her head before throwing it beside his shirt and sat up, kissing Sherry passionately, his hands working to undo her bra. Sherry finally reached behind her back, guiding his fingers. Moments later, her bra followed her dress and his shirt as she rolled over, pulling Peter on top of her. Sherry began to moan softly as Peter kissed her neck. Her hands fumbled with the button on his pants until they were unbuttoned. Peter helped her pull his pants off before his lips met hers again, his hands stroking her breasts and stomach before moving lower. Sherry gasped at the sensation of his fingers teasing her, then began to moan, pressing her face against his neck. Her hands slid down his stomach. Peter trembled on top of her as her hands began to stroke him. Kissing her passionately, he rolled over onto his side, pulling her beside him as their hands roamed over each other's bodies, gasping and moaning as their fingers stroked and explored. Sherry draped a leg over Peter's, pulling his hips against hers as they kissed, moving together. They both gasped as he entered her, moving slowly together, their foreheads pressed together. They rolled over again, Sherry on top of Peter as he sat up, holding her closely while she moved on top of him, both of them moaning softly. They made love, slowly and tenderly, their kisses long and deep as Peter ran his fingers through Sherry's hair. They began to move faster, Sherry gasping as she dug her fingers into his back until they both climaxed, staring into each other's eyes. Peter lay back as their orgasms subsided, pulling her with him to lie on top of him. Sherry shivered as Peter's fingers glided up and down her spine. She rested her head on his chest as he kissed her forehead, catching his breath. "That was-" She breathed.

"-yeah, it was." Peter sighed underneath her, burying his face in her hair. "I was worried it would be awkward or-"

"-I know. It wasn't." Sherry started to move to lie beside him, but Peter stopped her.

"Don't move." He whispered. "Stay with me like this."

Sherry looked at him smiling. "As long as we want." She sat up for a moment, grabbing a blanket to wrap around them before lying against him again. "I think I could to that." She smiled as he wrapped his arms around her and listened to his heart pound in his chest.

* * *

"Olivia, come on!" Gabriel paced the living room as Olivia finished packing. "All you need is a couple of changes of clothes and a bikini, that's all!"

"I know!" Olivia walked into the living room, dressed in a sweater and jeans, toting a duffel bag and her heavy winter coat. "And that's all I packed: jeans, shorts, tees, sandals and a new bikini." She kissed her husband. "I think you'll like it very much."

"I'm sure I will." Gabriel grabbed her duffel bag and stared at her clothes. "What's with the winter wear?"

"We're going to Canada first, remember? It's February, it's freezing there. Granted, Vancouver's warmer than most of Canada this time of year, but I'm not going to be wearing short sleeves there."

"Shit." Gabriel ran to the bedroom to grab a sweater and coat as Olivia giggled. "I forgot about that."

"You're welcome for reminding you, by the way!" Olivia smiled as Gabriel returned with his coat. "I shouldn't have said anything. I think I would have rather watched you turn blue and have to snuggle up to me for warmth."

"Hey, I could do that too. It's not like I'll need this after we arrive in Cuba."

"Yeah, but until then, I don't want my husband getting frostbite."

"It's not THAT cold in Vancouver, is it?"

Olivia shrugged. "It won't matter, we won't be there but for an hour or more waiting for our flight to Havana anyway."

"So I'm bringing this stuff because?" Gabriel held up the coat and sweater.

"Because I don't want you catching a cold." Olivia crossed her arms in front of her chest. "If you're going to get upset if I get my hand smashed, I'm going to get upset if you get pneumonia, that's the way this marriage works."

"Oh, we're such a great team." Gabriel rolled his eyes as he grabbed their bags and headed with Olivia out of the apartment. As they waited for the elevator, Peter and Sherry dashed out of the apartment, their hair and clothes wild. Gabriel turned to them, amused. "Playing musical beds? Is this a race to see who can get to the next apartment and get naked first?"

"Shove it up your ass sideways, pal!" Sherry glared at him.

"I told Nathan I'd follow the family to the airport to see them off." Peter looked around. "I'm not late, am I? We sort of overslept."

"In order to oversleep, you have to actually GET sleep!" Gabriel smirked. "It sounded to me like you two weren't doing too much of that." As they all stepped into the elevator, Gabriel giggled and started talking in a high-pitched voice. "'Oh God, Peter! You're so good, Peter!'"

"Cut it out." Olivia cut her eyes at her husband.

"'Ooooh! PETER!'"

Before Peter could say anything, Sherry got on her tiptoes and grabbed Gabriel's ear. As he yelled and protested, she pulled his head down until he was eye level with her. "Okay Smartass, that's enough! I don't like you listening to us, it's pervy as hell, but you will NOT make fun of us, or I'll start blabbing about you and the wifey giving each other a rub-a-dub-dub in the shower yesterday morning, got it! DAMN! Peter turns the hearing on and off, you'd better learn to do it too!" She let him go and smacked him in the head before he could straighten up. Sherry looked up at him, eyes blazing as she put her hands on her hips. "Do we have an understanding?"

Gabriel rubbed his ear. "Yes ma'am."

"Good, you nosy ass! You say one more smartass word and I'll pull that damn ear OFF!" Sherry glared. "Try and listen to us then!"

"Good one." Olivia laughed as Gabriel stared at her. "Oh, don't come crying to me! You asked for that one."

"Yeah you did." Peter pulled Sherry close. "You don't piss off Jersey girls."

"No, you don't." Sherry shook her head.

As they entered the lobby, Gabriel was still rubbing his ear, grimacing as Nathan stared at them with his family. "What happened, Olivia nibble too hard?" Nathan grinned.

"No, Sherry almost pulled it off." Gabriel stepped past them. "Let's head out to the airport."

Heidi glanced at Gabriel then turned back to Sherry and Olivia. "What did he DO?"

"Talked too much about things he should keep to himself, that's what he did." Sherry shrugged.

"He needs to control his super hearing, and when he can't he needs to not discuss what he overhears." Olivia smirked.

"Sounds like you gave him Hell." Heidi nodded.

"Oh, he smarts off again, he's going to prefer Hell."

Olivia looked around. "Where's Angela?"

Heidi smiled wickedly. "She's decided to stick around here for a while."

"Thank God I'm going to be in the Caribbean." Olivia shook her head.

"And I'll be off with Peter and Mohinder." Sherry shuddered. "I don't even want to know what she's going to try and pull before we go."

"Well, I like you, but I have to say, she's your problem for the time being, thank GOD!" Heidi climbed into a car with Nathan and the boys.

Sherry stared miserably at the car as it drove away, then followed Olivia to a car with Peter and Gabriel. "My problem's ass. I'll yank her damn ear off too." She muttered.

"You okay?" Olivia climbed into the car and turned as Sherry followed her. "You seem cranky."

"I need sleep." Sherry slumped in her seat as the car pulled away, following Nathan's.

"Tell baby brother to lay off for a few hours." Olivia nudged her with her shoulder. "I have a stick in my bedroom. I use it to smack Gabriel when he wakes me up sometimes. You can borrow it if you want."

"Don't believe her!" Gabriel laughed as he drove the car down the street. "That stick is mine for when she won't leave ME alone!"

Sherry laughed. "You two can keep the stick, not that I even believe it exists. Like you two sex monkeys would ever turn the other one down. I'll get over the cranky mood. I'm not a morning person. Well, I'm not a jump out of bed and start going first thing in the morning person."

"Me neither." Peter leaned back in his seat. "I'm more of a stay curled up in bed with my girlfriend all day person."

"Good." Sherry leaned forward, kissing Peter's cheek. "That sounds like a good plan for today. If your mother calls, we'll just ignore her and lock the doors."

"What do you mean?" Peter turned around as Olivia started laughing. "Mom isn't going back with them?"

"Did you see her?" Olivia asked. Peter shook his head. "You're still half asleep, aren't you? Good thing Gabriel's driving."

"So Mom's staying HERE?" Peter groaned as Gabriel started to laugh. "Shut up! It's not funny! Without you and Olivia and Nathan for her to concentrate on-"

"-She's going to be all over the two of you like stink on shit." Gabriel began to laugh harder. "If the idea of being on the Caribbean as far away from that woman as possible didn't sound like Heaven, I'd kill to stick around to watch her torment the two of you." Gabriel looked at Sherry in the rearview. "Want to really piss her off? Keep calling her 'Mom' and watch the steam come out of her ears."

"We'll just hide." Sherry nodded her head. "Until we leave for Mexico, we'll just hide. That'll work, right?" She looked hopefully at everyone, then slumped in her seat as they stared at her sadly. "Shit." She muttered.

At the airport, everyone hugged. Nathan pulled Olivia aside and smiled at her. "It was good to see you again."

Olivia pulled her brother close, hugging him tightly. "It was good seeing you too. Take care of yourself in D.C. and try not to get too corrupted."

Nathan laughed. "No more than usual. Be careful in the Caribbean. I heard about Linderman's people, try not to let them get you."

"I'll be careful." She smiled. "Gabriel and I both will be."

"Good." Nathan kissed her cheek and turned to shake Gabriel's hand. "Try to watch your temper around my sister and take care of her."

"I'll try." Gabriel smiled as he turned to hug Heidi.

Nathan turned to Sherry. "Take care of my brother and take care of yourself."

Sherry beamed. "I'll make it my duty."

"Good girl." He hugged her. "I like you and I like how Pete is with you. He's been through a lot lately. I'm glad he has you." He reached out and pulled Peter into the hug. "You two watch out for each other and be careful in Mexico and South America. I want both of you coming back in one piece, got it?"

"We've got it." Peter hugged his brother back and then let go. "Go on, you're going to miss your plane."

Nathan took Heidi's hand, then turned back the group, waving to them. "See you all soon."

As Nathan walked away with his family, Peter grabbed Olivia, hugging her tightly. "Be careful."

"We will be. That goes double for the two of you. If you need anything, you have our satellite number and we have yours too."

"Everything will be fine." Peter nodded to Gabriel. "Take care of my sister. If anything happens to her-"

"-We'll be fine and she'll be my biggest priority." Gabriel shook Peter's hand then winked at Sherry. "You two have fun at Carnivale. Try not to get too many beads."

"I'll keep my shirt on in public, don't worry." Sherry laughed.

Peter and Sherry watched Gabriel and Olivia dash off to catch their plane. "I know they'll be back soon, but I'm really going to miss them." Peter said softly.

"Even the brother-in-law you love to fight with?" Sherry grinned.

Peter shrugged. "Yeah, I guess even him, the jackass." He looked down at Sherry. "What do you say to grabbing breakfast, taking it home, eating it in bed and then spending the rest of the day there?"

"I'd say that's the best idea you've had all morning." Sherry slapped Peter on the butt and then ran out of the airport to the car, laughing as Peter chased her.


	41. Chapter 41

Chapter Forty-One: Havana, Future Hiro's Words Remembered

"So you got back okay?" Olivia paced her room in the Hotel Sevilla as Gabriel stood on the balcony, staring at the view. "And she's getting settled in? Okay, thanks for everything, Hiro." Olivia hung up her satellite phone and joined her husband on the balcony. "Hiro has returned with Rosario Castaneda and has introduced her to her new roommate, Leilani. He says they're already getting along wonderfully." She sighed as she stared out at the view of Havana. A mixture of Baroque, Neo-classical, Colonial and Art Deco buildings were scattered beneath them, with a shimmer of the ocean peeking out from the side. "It's really beautiful, isn't it?"

Gabriel nodded. "It sucks to have to pretend to be Canadian just to visit here. Remind me again why we can't visit as Americans."

"Castro, embargo, Castro, stupid political crap that should have died with the Cold War, Castro." Olivia shrugged. "I'm sure it's more than that, but looking at this view, I sort of forgot everything I was supposed to learn in college. This city is almost five hundred years old. It's one of the oldest cities in the Western Hemisphere."

"And it's gorgeous, even if parts of it are falling apart." Gabriel leaned on the railing. "When's our flight out?"

"Our flight to Jamaica leaves tomorrow morning, why?"

Gabriel turned to Olivia. "It IS also our honeymoon, right? This city is filled with museums, theaters and night clubs. I've always wanted to see what The Tropicana was like, and according to this little brochure I picked up, there's also a club called Floridita, where the daiquiri was supposedly invented."

"Sounds tempting." Olivia smiled softly.

"So, we've sent off the only 'special' person on our list in Cuba, let's check out Havana. It's mid-afternoon, we've got over twelve hours of downtime before our next destination. We've done the job portion of this trip, now let's get on with the honeymoon part."

Olivia looked out at the city again, nodding. "Let's go."

* * *

"Hurry back!" Peter slipped out of his bedroom, laughing softly as a pillow hit him in the back. He walked into the kitchen and opened the refrigerator, grabbing a few things before turning around to go back to the bedroom. He jumped, looking guiltily around as Angela walked into the apartment.

"Hi Mom." He fidgeted. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm bored and I thought I'd see what you were up to." She walked into the living room and sat down as Peter's eyes widened. He glanced back towards his bedroom. "With Nathan and Olivia both gone, it's dreadfully quiet around here."

"Why don't you go next door and visit with Kaito. You two are old friends, I'm sure he'd love to see you."

Angela turned and stared at him. "It's the middle of the day. What are you doing in your boxer shorts? And why on EARTH are you carrying around a jar of cherries, chocolate syrup and whipped cream? Were you about to make a sundae before I came in?"

"Peter? What are you doing? What's the surprise?" Sherry walked into the room, a sheet wrapped around her. She and Angela spotted each other at the same time, their eyes narrowing at each other. "Oh." She muttered. "Hi 'Mom'!"

Angela glared at Sherry then looked back at Peter, her eyes closing with disgust. "I see. I also see that you've been comparing notes with that brute Gabriel." She stood up. "I appear to have interrupted your little afternoon romp, or is it a morning romp that has gone over in time?" Peter blushed and stammered as Angela shook her head as she walked to the door. "I would like to see you for dinner, Peter, alone." She gave Sherry another glower, snorting as she opened the door.

"I will join you for dinner WITH Sherry." Peter finally spoke up. "Get used to her, she's not going anywhere."

"I'm sure you feel that way right now. There's no blood in your brain to help you think. Once you get out of this cloud of lust you two are under, I'm sure you'll see things differently." She looked at Sherry. "Word to the wise dear, no one buys the cow when they're getting the milk for free."

"Should have thought of that when you were banging Olivia's dad." Sherry smirked.

"Lovely girl you have there." Angela's eyes snapped back at Peter. "Such a charmer. I can see why you probably have such scintillating conversations when you're not rutting like dogs in heat. Enjoy yourselves."

"We will." Sherry rolled her eyes as the door slammed shut. "Not as painful as I thought it would be."

"I can't believe I forgot to lock the door." Peter sighed. "I love my mother, but she's a seriously bitchy pain in the ass."

"Tell me about it." Sherry looked over at Peter as he stood in the kitchen doorway, the jar and bottles in his hand. "And what were you planning on doing with that stuff?" She giggled.

Peter glanced down at the items in his hand, then looked back over at her, smiling boyishly. "I'll race you back to the bedroom and we'll find out."

* * *

"So you know of some people that can cover security without asking too many questions?" Noah looked over his glasses at Niki and D.L.

Niki nodded. "Trust me, if the money's right, they'll keep their mouths shut. You just need someone to guard the building and keep Linderman's people out, right?"

"And keep Susan inside. They need to be told that she is VERY dangerous. There's food in the supply room. They just need to fix her three meals a day and send it into her cell through the slot below the observation window. Stress to them how important it is that they NOT go into her cell for anything. I've got some old contacts from my Primatech days that are working on securing the building further as well. They're not loyal to Linderman. Matt, Trevor and I met with them last night. They've been screwed over by him and his organization, so they don't have a problem putting in the security codes we'll need to keep the building completely locked up tight."

D.L. shrugged. "We'll meet up with them and make them an offer." He looked at Noah warily. "And the dogs?"

Noah laughed. "From what Matt told me, the dogs will be fine. He's been going out there and feeding them twice a day. They love him."

"Good, he needs to tell me his secret. They hated my ass when they first met me."

"According to Matt, the last guards took off with Linderman and left the dogs there to starve. He said if you feed them once, they'll love you forever." He smirked. "Apparently they've been named Hans and Franz."

"They'll be named Dead and Deader if they mess with me." D.L. stood up with Niki. "We'll go talk to our boys now. You want Matt and Trevor to come along too, to make sure they're square."

"If you want." Noah shrugged. "You know these people pretty well, D.L. If you think they can be trusted, we'll trust yours and Niki's judgment in the matter. Just let me know how much money they want. Olivia put me in charge of expenses while she's gone."

"Cool." D.L. looked at his wife. "Let's go talk business."

* * *

Hiro answered the door to his apartment and smiled to see Leilani standing at the door. "Good afternoon." He bowed in front of her.

"Aloha." She handed him a book. "This is a thank you for offering to teleport me to different beaches to surf. It's called _Fundamentals of Surfing_ by Nat Young. He's this Australian surfing legend. He even tried to register surfing as a religion once. He's seriously cool."

"Oh, thank you!" Hiro smiled at her. "I'll read it right away."

"It's kind of a how-to about surfing. I think you'll enjoy it. When your friends get back from their trips and things settle down around here, I'll be taking you up on that offer to go to the beach."

"I'll be glad to do that." Hiro nodded towards the living room. "Would you care to come inside?"

Leilani shook her head. "I know you've been really busy lately and you're probably tired. I just wanted to bring this by to say thank you for everything." She glanced over at Ando as he walked into the room. "Hi!"

Ando looked at her and smiled. "Hello. I'm Ando, Hiro's best friend."

"I'm Leilani, the girl he brought back from Hawaii." She smiled at Hiro. "Get some rest." She glanced at Ando. "You'll make sure he'll do that, right? He must get so tired teleporting everywhere for everyone."

"He really does." Ando nodded. "I'll make sure he takes it easy."

"Cool." She kissed Hiro on the cheek. "See you for a beach trip soon."

"Yes, very soon." Hiro bowed to her again before closing the door and sighing. "So very pretty."

"Yes, she is." Ando smiled as he took the book. "So she's going to teach you to surf?"

Hiro laughed and jumped onto the coffee table, posing as if on a surfboard. "Yes. We are going to many beaches and she'll teach me to ride the boards like Nat Young!" He smiled and jumped down, taking the book from Ando before sitting on the couch to read.

* * *

"So the Susan situation has been taken care of." Mohinder smiled and nodded. "That was indeed the last hurdle before Peter and I could get ready for our trip. Thanks Noah, I'll let him know later. He's a little occupied at the moment." Mohinder glanced at the closed bedroom door as he hung up the phone. "At least he and Sherry don't shriek like Herbert and Collette." He went to his room and began to pull out an atlas, studying the places they would need to go while reading names off of the list as he began to make a trip itinerary.

"Who was on the phone?" Mohinder looked up to see Peter standing in the doorway.

"I was wondering when the two of you would finally come up for air." Mohinder smiled. "That was Noah. Niki and D.L. have found some people to guard the facility and feed our captive and he has a group coming in to set everything up with new electronic security measures."

"Great!" Peter nodded. "So that means we can leave for our trip soon."

"As soon as we can get packed and plot out this itinerary." Mohinder nodded.

"I'll go tell Sherry. She'll be glad to hear it. Mom stayed behind after Nathan and Olivia left and she's already driving us nuts."

"I'm sure." Mohinder laughed.

"Hey." Peter turned back to Mohinder. "One favor? Can you schedule a night in Rio during Carnivale? I've always heard how much fun it is. I know this is a business trip but-"

"-There's nothing wrong with having fun at the same time." Mohinder smiled. "I'll add it into the schedule."

"You're the best." Peter grinned before running back to his bedroom.

After Peter left, Mohinder looked around the room, sniffing the air. "Why do I smell chocolate?" He asked out loud.

* * *

"Now THAT'S a dress!" Gabriel gaped at the short red dress Olivia wore as she stepped out of the bathroom. "How did you sneak that one past me?"

"You didn't think I ONLY packed shorts and a bikini, did you?" Olivia kissed her husband. "As tiny as this thing is, I didn't have to make much room in my bag for it. How do I look?"

"I suddenly don't want to go check out the night clubs. I'd rather stay here and take that dress off of you."

"Later." Olivia grabbed his hand. "Take me out, show me off and get me drunk."

"If I must." Gabriel sighed as he followed Olivia out the door. Gabriel smiled at his wife as they left the hotel. He and Olivia had fallen in love with Havana. They'd spent the day wandering the streets, taking in the architecture and museums before returning to their hotel to change before going out for the night. "So we're going to try out the Cuban cuisine and then the Tropicana?"

"Yep!" Olivia turned to him, smiling as they stepped out into the streets. "Food, then dancing and drinking!"

"And then later-" Gabriel pulled her close, kissing her and whispering in her ear.

"-Oh, definitely." Olivia hugged her husband. "Most definitely."

As they walked away, hand-in-hand, a young man stepped out of the shadows and dialed a phone. "Si, Senor Linderman, por favor. Senor Linderman, this is Esteban Rivello. Yes, I got your pictures of the couple this morning, I have been watching them all day as you asked. Yes, they are very close, quite in love by the looks of it. I overheard them say that they're next destination is Jamaica." He listened then nodded. "Thank you Sir, I will continue to follow them. I'll send you the pictures I've taken. Gracias, Senor." He hung up the phone and followed the couple as they strolled into a restaurant together and sat down to eat. He slipped into the restaurant to watch them discreetly, taking photos of them with his cell phone as they ate and laughed together.

* * *

"So what's with the command performance?" Peter pulled out a chair for Sherry, then his mother after they'd arrived at the restaurant.

"A mother can't ask to have dinner with her son?" Angela raised an eyebrow at her son. "I haven't seen much of you since New Year's. We've always lived in the same city until recently. I'm not used to only seeing you once a month."

"True." Peter smiled as he took Sherry's hand. "And we won't have much time to catch up before I have to leave for Mexico with Mohinder and Sherry."

"Oh, she's going now, is she?" Angela raised an eyebrow at the young woman, who matched her steely glare for steely glare.

"Yes, SHE is." Sherry nodded. "Peter asked me yesterday morning."

"I'm sure it's one of many things he asked you to do."

"Behave, Mom." Peter took a deep breath. "As I told you earlier, Sherry isn't going anywhere. You can make all of the snide and hateful remarks you want, it's not going to drive her away or make me decide to break up with her."

"I suppose you're right." Angela shrugged. "For now, at least."

"For the foreseeable future, if not the distant future." Peter nodded.

"You two cannot be that serious about each other." Angela shook her head. "You've known each other less than a month. From what I heard, you two antagonized each other until very recently."

"And then we stopped antagonizing each other." Sherry leaned forward. "Peter's right, you're not going to scare me away."

"I'm sure I won't, Dear." Angela snapped her napkin into her lap. "I'm sure you've seen much scarier than me, right? What with your mafia connections and all."

"Pretty much, yeah." Sherry agreed. "Compared to watching my grandfather order a whacking in the same breath that he orders cannolli, watching you in action is a walk in the park."

Angela studied the young woman sitting beside her son. "Good. We'll need people around here who don't scare easily, if at all. Are you afraid of getting multiple doses of that serum to give yourself more powers?"

"Not at all. I trust Peter, Mohinder and Olivia and I know they won't let anything happen to me."

"And are you afraid of going into a battle that could very easily result in your death? You know that what we're doing here, Linderman is definitely doing in whatever spider hole that bastard is hiding in. God only knows what creatures he'll send after us in the desert."

"I can take whatever that old fart throws at me." Sherry turned to Peter as he began to grow pale. "Pete, are you okay?"

Peter closed his eyes, remembering Future Hiro's words, describing Linderman's massacre in the desert_: "__Almost everyone I knew lay dead: my father Kaito, Matt Parkman, Niki and D.L. Sanders, Nathan Petrelli, Angela Petrelli, Anjelica Espinoza, Meredith Gordon, Claire Bennet, Claude Raines, Sherry Bombano-"_ He shook his head for a moment as he opened his eyes. He turned to stare at Sherry. _"Did Hiro know?_" He wondered to himself. _"Is that why he mentioned her name? Did I fall in love with her in his past as well? Did I have to watch her die the way Gabriel watched Olivia die? The way I watched Simone die?" _He looked away, shaken to the core as he remembered Simone's death, the look of surprise on her face as she stood in Isaac Mendez's doorway, the way the blood blossomed in the front of her blue shirt before she died in his arms, Isaac's key in her hand. He blinked away tears as Angela and Sherry stared at him with visible concern on their faces.

"Peter?" Angela leaned over to him, brushing the hair out of his eyes. "Honey, are you okay?"

Peter closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "Yeah, I'm okay." He looked at his mother, then Sherry as Hiro's words rang through his head again. _"I could lose them both, watch them both die before Linderman kills me with Gabriel." _He looked at the women again, then stood up. "Give me a minute. I'll be right back." He ran to the bathroom as Sherry and Angela exchanged worried looks. He walked to the sink and splashed cold water on his face as he remembered the look on Hiro's face as he'd told the story. "He told me about her death." He whispered to himself. "He never told me that we were together, but he told me about her death." His chin trembled for a moment as he thought about her lying on the ground during a battle, her eyes staring unseeing at the sky. "Stop it!" He said to himself. "You're changing the future, you'll change this too." He suddenly understood why Gabriel had run after hearing the story at first. He found himself wanting to run, to leave his brother, his mother, his sister, his niece and now his girlfriend before he had to face their possible deaths. He looked at himself in the mirror, nodding to himself. "No fucking wonder he ran." Peter whispered. "I'll change this. We'll all change this." He nodded to himself again and stood up, walking back out to the table and sitting down beside Sherry.

Sherry took his hand. "Pete, are you okay?"

Peter smiled at her sadly. "Yeah, I'm okay." He took a deep breath and picked up his menu as Angela studied him, her eyes narrowed. "Let's order. I'm starved."

* * *

"I loooove Havana! I loooove the Tropicana! I loooove rum and I looooooove YOU!" Olivia giggled and stumbled drunkenly against her husband, swaying to stand up straight. "Baby?"

Gabriel looked at her, equally drunk as he struggled to hold both himself and his wife upright. "Yesh?"

"We're drunk, aren't we?"

"We've very drucking funk!" Gabriel laughed as Olivia shrieked and clung to him, her legs giving out as she tripped over her heels. "I mean, we're very frucking duck!" He snorted as he lifted Olivia over his shoulder in a fireman's carry and stumbled into the hotel. "We drank a lot of rum."

"Yes we did!" As Gabriel stumbled to the elevator, Olivia began to hum. "We got drunk, and we danced and we drank more and danced more."

"We probably looked like we were having a fit." Gabriel dug in his pocket for his room key as he leaned against the wall of the elevator. Olivia's feet began to kick as she hummed louder. "Livvie, stop it."

"Stop what?"

"Stop kicking-OW!" He grabbed his nose, sobering a little as her foot smacked him in the face. "You almost broke my nose." He stepped onto their floor and approached their room.

"I'm sorry." Olivia climbed down and touched his nose. "Poor drunk baby." She swayed as she kissed his nose. "Is that better?"

Gabriel smiled at her. "Yes." He opened the door to their room and picked her up again, carrying her into the room.

"What else do you want me to kiss?"

"Lemme think about it." Gabriel tossed Olivia onto the bed, climbing beside her and laying on his back. "Is it just me or is the room spinning?" He mused as they stared at the ceiling.

"We shouldn't have lain down." Olivia closed her eyes, then opened them quickly. "Oh God! Don't close your eyes! The world starts spinning when you do that." She reached out and grabbed her husband's hand. "We drank too much."

Gabriel stared at the ceiling, suddenly feeling queasy. "We really did."

"Oh no!" Olivia climbed off of the bed and stumbled into the bathroom. Gabriel grimaced, clinging to the bedspread as he heard her retching.

"This is not the night I had planned." He murmured miserably before he rolled off of the bed and crawled into the bathroom behind Olivia.

* * *

"What happened at the restaurant?" Sherry turned around, confronting Peter as they walked into his bedroom. "You scared the hell out of me and your mother. Was that your weird way of getting us to bond, by worrying about you?"

"I'm sorry." Peter tried to step past her, but she took his arm. "Sherry, I don't want to talk about it."

"Well, you're gonna." Sherry nodded. "You went chalk-white, Pete and you started shaking when your mom mentioned my going into battle with all of you against Linderman. Something's wrong and I want you to tell me now."

Peter looked at her miserably. "Sherry, I just can't talk about it, okay? I remembered something and it upset me, I'm okay now."

"No, you're not okay. You weren't okay at the restaurant, you weren't okay during the drive home and you're far from okay now. Talk to me." She touched his cheek. "Please tell me what's going on."

Peter touched the hand caressing his cheek, feeling tears well up in his eyes. "I'll talk about it later, okay?" He pulled her close, wrapping his arms around her as he buried his face in her hair. "Right now, I just want to be with you, alone."

"We are alone." Sherry whispered, her cheek on his shoulder. "But nothing else is going to happen until you tell me what happened earlier. You were spooked by something."

"Sherry-"

She lifted her head, her expression hard. "-It's something about me, isn't it?"

"Yeah, sort of."

"Then I have a right to know, so start talking." She pulled him to the bed and sat him down beside her, taking his hands in hers. "Go on."

Peter stared at her hands, his fingers laced in hers. "The past couple of days with you have been wonderful. It's been a while since I've felt this way about anyone. The last girl-"

"-Simone." Sherry nodded. "You talk about her, but you've never said what happened to her. Claire told me," she took a deep breath "she told me that Simone died."

"She did. It was my fault, partially. She was shot in front of me and I watched her die."

"Oh Pete." Sherry whispered. "How?"

"She was dating this guy, this artist named Isaac Mendez. He was special, like we are. He could paint the future. He also had a drug problem. They broke up over it. I knew Simone through he father, Charles Deveaux. He was a friend of the family. He was dying and I took care of him during his last days as his hospice nurse. I got to know Simone while I was taking care of Charles. I fell in love with her and after she and Isaac broke up, we started seeing each other. That's around the same time that I started manifesting. I thought I was going crazy at first and I think she did too, even though she tried to be supportive of me. I got a vision of blowing up in New York City, of me blowing UP New York City. I was scared and that's when I ran into Claude. He agreed to help me. While he helped me, Simone started spending more time with Isaac. It wasn't until later I found out he was helping her try to find me by painting me. The problem was, I was invisible, so all he was painting were landscapes. Claude tried to convince me that the only way I could control the powers I was receiving was by blocking out everyone I cared about. I thought he was full of it. He goaded me into following Simone to see if she was as faithful as I claimed she was. I followed her to the roof of her father's building and saw her meeting with Isaac. Thinking back on it now, nothing happened, but I was so jealous, seeing the two of them together. Soon afterwards, Noah and The Haitian tried to capture me and Claude, but I stopped the tranquilizer darts they shot at me and flew off of the building with Claude. He was so angry that I'd led Noah to us that he left. I realized Isaac was working with Noah and had given him enough clues to figure out where we were. I was scared. I thought that without Claude, I'd lose control and blow everyone up. I was angry too. I blamed Isaac for Noah coming after us and I hated him for his relationship with Simone. I went to his apartment and we fought. He had a gun, so I turned invisible. That's when Simone walked into his apartment. He thought it was me and shot her. It was an accident. He was just as upset about it as I was, more so, probably. We both loved her. She died in our arms."

"I'm so sorry." Peter looked at Sherry and saw that the same tears that had started to fall down his cheeks were falling down hers as well. Sherry's grip on his hands tightened. "I'm so sorry you lost her that way."

"It was my fault. I went to Isaac spoiling for a fight. He shot her because of me. She died because of me."

"No. Baby, no." Sherry shook her head. "It was an accident, Peter, just a stupid, senseless accident." She reached out, wiping away his tears before kissing him. "My poor Pete." She murmured as she kissed him again.

"That's not everything." Peter took a deep breath, looking into Sherry's teary eyes. "You know the story about Future Hiro visiting me. I remembered something he said tonight. He said in the battle, everyone died. Gabriel and I watched as everyone died fighting around us."

"I know." Sherry nodded.

"Tonight, when Mom started asking you if you were ready to fight, I remembered that Hiro mentioned some of the names of the people that died in the battle. At the time, I recognized a few names, Claude, Claire, Nathan, Olivia, Mom, Niki, D.L., Kaito, but," he took a deep breath "there was another name he mentioned that I didn't recognize at the time. I remembered that name tonight. He mentioned you among the dead, Sherry. He mentioned that you were one of the people killed fighting beside me." His lips trembled as he choked back a sob. "You die, probably right in front of me. After watching my sister fall, after watching my mother and brother and niece and friends fall, I also have to watch you die. Hiro mentioned your name, Sherry. We must have been together in his time too. He didn't want to tell me specifically that we were together, but you must have been someone that he remembered very well to mention you that night. He remembered you because we were together. I'm going to lose everyone important to me that night before I die, including the woman I'm falling in love with." He touched her hair. "I'm scared. I was scared enough already, knowing that I was fighting to save my family but now I'm fighting for you too. It scares the hell out of me."

"I'm not going to die." Sherry shook her head.

"But you DO. Hiro-"

"-When you told the story about Hiro seeing you, you also said that he came to you that night to CHANGE that future, to give your niece her parents and to give everyone a fighting chance against Linderman. We're going to change it. We're going to fight, we're going to live and we're going to be together for as long as we can stand each other and then some." She laughed softly. "You're not getting rid of me that easily, Babe."

"What if losing the women I love is my destiny? What if I'm cursed?"

"Screw that!" Sherry smiled at him. "You're not losing me, not ever, okay? No matter what, I'm here with you and I'll always be here. Not even the threat of death, or death itself is going to keep me from you." She kissed him. "Okay?"

"Okay." Peter pulled Sherry into his lap, burying his face in her neck. "You'd better mean that."

"Did you mean what you said about falling for me?"

Peter looked up at her, blinking before he smiled. "Yeah, I think I did."

"You'd better." Sherry kissed him. "And if we can't change the stupid future and all we have is less than two years to be together, I want that time to be the best of our lives, starting now. Deal?"

"Deal." Peter nodded.

Sherry began to unbutton his shirt. "So to hell with the future. This is the now we're living in and now I want you. I want you to lie on this bed with me, forget about battles and Linderman and death and be in this moment, just the two of us."

Peter smiled as he kissed Sherry. "I think I can do that."


	42. Chapter 42

Chapter Forty-Two: Sanjog's Guidance, Mama Alice

It took Peter a long time to fall asleep after he and Sherry made love. As Sherry slept, curled up beside him, Peter held her, his fingers gliding up and down her arm as he stared at the ceiling, Future Hiro's words still running through his head. Finally, he dozed off, exhausted from worrying and began to dream.

He was in Isaac's studio again, the two of them fighting. Two shots rang out and Simone stood in the doorway beside him as he materialized, blood pouring from the two bullet wounds in her chest. Peter grabbed her and helped her to the floor as tears rolled down her face and she died. As he looked at her, his heart breaking, he heard a sound. He saw a soccer ball roll by him as the landscape swirled around. He looked down and saw that Simone was no longer in his arms. "Simone?" He stood up and stared at his surroundings. It was dark. Sand crunched under his feet as he made his way towards the sounds of a commotion. He could hear voices yelling, familiar voices as his feet began to speed up. He stopped suddenly, almost falling into a ravine as he stared into the desert valley below. A battle was underway, a fierce one. People were fighting, some hand-to-hand, some swinging samurai swords and scimitars, but all of them were attacking the others with powers as well. Peter recognized Kaito Nakamura as he spun around the battlefield like a tornado, killing people left and right with his samurai sword. As soon as they'd fall, they'd stand back up until someone else would come along and decapitate them. A middle-aged blond woman, who resembled Claire somewhat was holding one man back with TK as she fought another, swinging her sword before another man crept behind her and stabbed her in the back. As she dropped to her knees, her other opponents walked to her and swung their swords. Peter watched her head fly as her body dropped to the ground, her body twitching. Claire, fighting two men on her own saw the woman fall.

"MEREDITH!" She screamed. With a fluid movement, she beheaded the two men in front of her and ran to her mother, sobbing. She began to take on her birth mother's killers, fighting not only with her sword, but with martial arts as well, her feet flying as her sword flew. Peter watched a young man begin to fight beside her. It was Nikolai. They defeated Meredith's killers and began to chase after other people as well.

"Take that!" Peter saw another woman from the back as she chopped off one man's head with her sword, her straight dark brown hair swinging around her shoulders as she kicked another man's feet from under him. Two sai knives flew from her other hand in rapid succession, knocking a woman to the ground as she fought another person. As she spun around, kicking and yelling while she fought, Peter recognized her. It was Sherry. Angela joined her in the fight, both of them fighting off the crowd of people gathering around them. Peter held his breath as both of the women fought together, cutting down people left and right before leaving that fray to join another.

"CLAIRE!" Peter's head swiveled to another place in the battle, just as his niece fell under a woman's scimitar, her head rolling away from her body. Nikolai was kneeling over her, sobbing as he pulled her body close, cradling what was left of her. "Claire no!" He sobbed. He didn't see her killer march over to him, and quickly kill him too, her dark bobbed hair flying in the light of the fires that were burning all around them.

"Nikolai NO!" Peter saw Claude materialize beside them, his eyes shocked and filled with pain. He turned to the woman. "That's the last one of us you'll kill, you bitch!" Just as he raised his sword, she blasted a ball of fire at him. Claude screamed as it engulfed him. He began to heal just as quickly as his skin burned away, but the woman took the opportunity to remove Claude's head, just as efficiently as she had Nikolai's and Claire's. As she turned to walk away, smirking, Hana appeared in front of her, her expression tortured as she quickly decapitated the woman before turning to fight others, tears streaming down her cheeks.

Tears streamed down Peter's cheeks as he watched the battle. His eyes scanned the battlefield as he finally saw himself, fighting beside Nathan and Gabriel, the three of them cutting down people left and right while blowing up bombs and TK'ing peoples heads off. Peter spotted Linderman on a ridge, watching the battle from afar, a twisted smile on his face. A woman's headless body lay at his feet. It was Olivia. Peter's guts twisted with hatred as he watched the man view the battle with sick satisfaction. Peter's eyes returned to the battle as his friends began to fall more quickly, Linderman's army getting the upper hand. In quick succession, Sanjog, Hana, Leilani and others fell under the swords of their opponents. Peter's heart began to pound as he watched Angela die behind Sherry. Sherry spun around, her eyes widening. "Angela, no!" She threw a knife at Angela's killer and blew him up with a wave of her hand. On the battlefield, Peter saw himself turn and watch with horror as Linderman's people advanced on her. Peter began to run to her, with Nathan and Gabriel hot on his heels and screamed as Sherry fell to the ground, struggling to breathe as her throat was slashed. As her throat began to heal, a tall man in an African dashiki approached her, smiling evilly. He lifted an ax and Peter heard himself scream with despair both on the edge of the ravine and in the battlefield as Sherry died with one fell swoop, her body twitching. In the battle, Peter swung his sword, killing Sherry's killer as Gabriel shoved everyone else back with TK and held them back, struggling to take on the men. Peter knelt beside Sherry's body, pulling her into his arms as he sobbed. Nathan knelt beside him, his hand on Peter's shoulder.

"Pete, I'm so sorry." Nathan was crying with his brother. "I'm so, so sorry."

Peter wailed, cradling Sherry's headless body in his arms. "She was, we were going to have-" At the ravine, Peter's eyes widened as he noticed two things, a diamond ring on her left hand, and a gentle swelling in her stomach. Peter collapsed to the ground, struggling to breathe through his sobs.

"Peter, we have to fight." Gabriel reached out and placed his free hand on the man's shoulder. "We can cry later. I'll cry with you."

"What the HELL do you know?" Peter glared up at his brother-in-law. "YOU FUCKING LEFT! YOU LEFT YOUR WIFE, YOU LEFT YOUR DAUGHTER! YOU LEFT OLIVIA TO DIE!"

"I know." Tears ran down Gabriel's cheeks. "And now you've lost your fiancée and child." He held out his hand. "I'm here now. Let's give these bastards a fight they'll never forget. We'll do it for Olivia and Sherry and Angela and everyone else. Come on."

"Come on, Pete." Nathan urged him. "Let's finish this."

Peter choked back a sob and took Sherry's hand, kissing it before placing it tenderly on her stomach. He touched her belly for a moment, then stood, wiping away tears as he picked up his sword and Sherry's, his expression tortured. "Kill them all." He growled.

Gabriel's face twisted into an angry expression. "No one leaves here alive."

They charged the group, their swords swinging as Linderman's people began to fall, left and right. Nathan soon fell, dying beside Peter as Hiro appeared on the ravine. Gabriel looked at him, his expression tortured as he sent a message to him. Hiro nodded, his eyes filling with tears as he turned away and disappeared again. At the ravine, Peter watched as he and Gabriel began to destroy Linderman's army with their powers and swords. Linderman backed away from his place on the ridge, his face filling with fear. He raised his arms and began to yell.

"DESTROY THEM! DESTROY THEM BOTH!" He turned and ran as all of the rest of Linderman's people began to circle Peter and Gabriel. They stood together, back to back as the circle closed in on them. Suddenly, a bright light and mushroom cloud filled the valley as Peter winced on the ravine, turning away as the place exploded. As his vision cleared, he was standing in the lobby of the apartment building, Sanjog was in front of him, kicking his soccer ball around.

"Why did you show me that?" Peter yelled at him. "Is that the future? What the hell WAS that?"

Sanjog stopped and turned to Peter. "It was the past, yours and your friend's. Not the friend you have now, the friend from the future."

"And you showed me this because?"

"Because you asked me to." Sanjog sat on the floor. "You came to me, I did not come to you. You asked for guidance, you asked to see what happened there."

"No." Peter shook his head, stifling a sob. "Why would I want to see that? Why would I want to see everyone I loved die?" He paced the floor. "Nathan, Mom, Claire." He glared at Sanjog. "Sherry. She was pregnant, probably about four months. We were engaged. I watched her die."

"You asked me to show you what your friend saw that night, what all of your friends saw that night. I die too." Sanjog stares at the floor sadly. "You came to me. This is how it works. I gave you guidance."

"How is THAT guidance? Watching two of the women I love die? I've already watched Simone die once, why would I want to see that again? Why would I want to watch Sherry die?"

"To figure out how to stop it. You cannot change the past, you cannot bring back the woman you loved, but now you could save us all. You saw what happened to us, all of us. Now you know how to change it." Sanjog stood and walked away. "Now you just have to figure out what to do. You have your answer, you just don't know it yet."

"BUT WHAT DO I DO? HOW DO I CHANGE THIS?" Peter called after him. "WAIT! HOW DO I CHANGE IT?"

"Peter?"

"How do I change it? She dies, they all die. I watch them all die. How do I change it?" Peter mumbled in his sleep.

"Peter." Sherry gently shook Peter awake. His eyes flew open. He turned to Sherry as she touched his forehead. "Bad dream?"

Peter sat up and touched his face. His cheeks were wet with tears. "There's a boy here, he's a dream walker, or a dream guide, something like that. He showed me Simone's death, and then he showed me the battle." He looked at Sherry. "I watched everyone die."

"It was a dream."

"You DIED." Peter slumped against the pillows. "You were wearing an engagement ring." He looked at her sadly. "You were pregnant. We were going to have a baby and you died in front of me."

"Well, I guess I'm that one percent that gets knocked up on the pill. Great."

"Sherry, I'm serious."

"I am too. Do you know how expensive those damn things are? You take one every day to prevent pregnancy and I'm apparently that one percent that shouldn't have bothered." She smiled softly. "But I was wearing a ring? I've got a stand-up guy."

"Fat lot of good that will do you, being dead and all."

"So did this kid say anything to you about why he showed you these things?"

"He said that I asked him to show me. He said that I can't change the past and bring back Simone, but I can change the future and save everyone." Peter rubbed his eyes.

"Then you will." Sherry rested her head on his shoulder. "You'll think about the battle, you'll come up with a plan. That whole force field thing, we were using it?" Peter shook his head. "Well, there's one plus, it'll be harder to kill us if we can block them."

"That's true." Peter nodded. "That will be one thing in our favor. We also apparently all learn how to use samurai swords. We were all swinging them around like we were pros and you had these knives, I think they're called sais?"

"Really? I was throwing knives and swinging a samurai sword?" Peter nodded at Sherry. "COOL!"

"You knew how to use them pretty well, too. We also all learn martial arts. We were kicking and punching when we weren't chopping and blowing people up."

"That's pretty cool." Sherry sat up and pulled Peter's head into her lap. She began to stroke his forehead. "We're going to fix this, you've done it before, you told me so. You saved the cheerleader, you and Nathan saved New York-"

"-With help from Niki and Matt and D.L. and Claire and Hiro."

"See? Now there are even more of us. We'll all save each other. You'll see."

"Do you think so?"

Sherry smiled down at him. "Are you kidding me? Do you think I'm going to let you knock me up, stick a ring on my finger and NOT get your sorry butt down the aisle in the end? Think again, Mister!" She leaned down, kissing his forehead. "Everything's going to work out. You've gotten two warnings about how this might go down. You're armed with foresight. You'll figure out a way for as many of us to live as possible and we're all going to help you."

* * *

"Come on, we need to get up." Gabriel crawled to Olivia, who lay on the bathroom floor, her head pillowed against the bathtub. "Our flight to Montego Bay leaves in three hours." 

"I don't want to fly. I don't want to move. I just want to stay here, cling to the tub, and puke up every drop of rum I ever thought about drinking."

"Me too, but we need to go." Gabriel used the sink to help himself stand and winced when he looked in the mirror. "Oh I look like shit."

"I feel like shit." Olivia tried to stand, then slumped back to the floor with a groan. "Never, ever, ever again will I drink like that. I'm not in college anymore, what was I thinking?"

"You were thinking the same thing I was, 'more rum please'." Gabriel wet a washcloth and tossed it to Olivia before he wet one for himself and began to wash his face. "I need to call room service." He stumbled out of the bathroom as Olivia placed the cloth on her eyes.

"I know you're not ordering FOOD." She groaned.

"We need something on our stomachs." Gabriel leaned in the doorway, holding a menu. "What do you want to eat?"

"Nothing." Olivia shook her head painfully. "No food."

"Liv, come on. I'll order us both some toast. Dry, simple toast. No eggs, no bacon," he grimaced as Olivia dove for the toilet, retching "yep, simple dry toast."

Gabriel ordered breakfast and went into the bathroom. He lifted Olivia up and helped her walk to the sink. "Leave me here." Olivia mumbled. "I'm going to be completely worthless today. You take the flight, I'll stay here, recover and have Hiro teleport me later."

"Nothing doing." Gabriel began to help Olivia wash her face. "We need to stick together, you know that. Linderman's got people out there, they're probably following us now. Come on, Baby." He wet a toothbrush and put some paste on it. "You really, really need this too." Olivia took the toothbrush and began to brush her teeth as Gabriel put out some towels. "I'm going to wait for room service, we're going to choke down some dry toast, and then we're going to shower and get ready to catch our plane, okay?" Olivia nodded carefully, her eyes bloodshot. "Good girl." He went into the bedroom and opened the door a few minutes later when room service knocked. He stared at the toast, his stomach churning queasily, then he spied two glasses filled with what appeared to be milk. "What's this?"

The waiter nodded. "The cook heard you and your wife were hung over. It's a remedy. You'll feel better, I promise, she's used it on me before." He leaned towards Gabriel. "Drink it before you eat and drink it quickly, it works better that way."

Gabriel sniffed the milk. "Is that RUM?"

"Milk and honey to coat your stomachs with a splash of rum. Hair of the dog, yes?"

Gabriel grimaced as he paid and tipped the waiter, closing the door behind him. He picked up his glass, shuddering before he quickly drank the concoction, trying not to gag. He sat on the bed, breathing deeply. After a few minutes, he smiled. "Damn if that didn't work." He slowly got up and went to the bathroom. Olivia was still standing, bracing herself against the sink. Gabriel took her hand and led her into the bedroom, handing her a glass.

Olivia winced. "What's this?"

"Drink it, it works. The cook made the waiter bring it."

"What's in it?"

"I'll tell you after you drink it." Gabriel pushed the rim of the glass towards her mouth. "I just had a glass and it works, I promise."

Olivia sipped it, gagging. "I hate milk and it's got rum in it."

"You have to drink it quickly, come on." Gabriel rolled his eyes as Olivia tried to hand the full glass back to him. Sighing, he pinched her nose with one hand and tilted the glass towards her mouth with the other. "Chug it quickly, now." Olivia squirmed for a moment, then quickly began to drink the liquid. When the glass was empty, she sputtered.

"That was disgusting."

"You're such a baby." Gabriel grabbed a slice of toast and began to eat it. "I already feel better, you will too, don't worry."

* * *

"They spent a good bit of the night drinking and dancing at the Tropicana before they returned to their room at La Servilla." Esteban spoke on the phone. "As you can tell by the pictures I've sent you, they were quite intoxicated." 

Linderman sat on board a small private jet, Candace and Gota sitting behind him. He looked at photos on his laptop of Olivia and Gabriel, dancing drunkenly, an amused expression on his face. "I can see that. Intoxicated indeed. They're leaving Havana today?"

"I overheard them saying they'd leave this morning. They're leaving for Montego Bay, Jamaica."

Linderman frowned. "Really. I see."

"Do you want me to stop them, Sir? I don't have to use deadly measures to keep them here."

"No, you won't use ANY measures at all, Esteban. You are to watch and observe, that is all. The woman is my daughter, as you well know and her husband is a very powerful man. You are neither of those things. If any harm came to them, you wouldn't like what happens to you."

Esteban swallowed audibly. "Yes sir. I spoke with the cook at La Servilla and had her send up one of her hangover remedies. Was that alright?"

"That was fine, as long as it's not harmful."

"Oh no Sir, not harmful at all. It has worked with me a time or two. The rum here is quite potent, tourists are not used to it."

"Then thank you for watching out for them. I want another report before they leave Cuba, do you understand? I want to hear from you that they were safely put on their plane."

"You will receive that report."

"That is all." Linderman hung up his phone and stared out of the window. He turned as Candace took the seat beside them. "Yes?"

"Why are you just sitting back and letting your daughter and her husband collect people in the Caribbean without doing anything?"

"Who said I wasn't doing anything to stop them?" Linderman looked at her, his eyes steely. "I am going myself to the Caribbean to see what I can do, am I not?" Candace looked down. "You and Gota are to go to South America after the two of you take care of your business in Kingston. I have a feeling that some of Olivia's friends will be making their way there soon."

"Why?"

"Because it's the only place that hasn't been visited yet, that's why."

Candace looked into Linderman's eyes. "I'd rather stay in the Caribbean with you. I'm worried about you being there alone."

Linderman laughed. "It's just my daughter that's there and I can definitely control her."

"And her husband? He has a violent history."

"Olivia can control HIM. I'll be safe as houses there, don't worry about me." Linderman patted her cheek. "You are sweet to worry, but I need you with Gota in South America. You're the only person besides myself in our group that has the power to locate others with special abilities. I need you there to try and be one step ahead of whoever she sends."

"Who do you think it will be?"

Linderman thought for a moment. "Most of her closest circle have been around the world, with the exception of her brother Peter, and that geneticist Suresh. I wouldn't be surprised if that's who pops up in South America." He gave Candace a sidelong glance. "You don't have a problem with following Peter, do you?"

"No, not at all." Candace looked away.

"Even though our little mole in their building tells us that he has a new girlfriend? She's quite pretty from what I've heard, and a very powerful girl in her own right. They're very hot and heavy with each other, lovers in every sense of the word. Our mole says that they've been inseparable the last few days, making love every chance they get. That doesn't bother you, does it?" He covered a smirk as Candace's eyes narrowed. "You haven't developed a crush on young Mr. Petrelli, have you? You're still MY girl, aren't you?"

Candace looked at him, smiling tightly. "I'll always be your girl. I'm only angry that he used his sister's powers against me and made me look and feel like a fool."

"Then get your revenge on him when you're in South America." Linderman hissed. "I may have told Esteban that no measures, lethal or otherwise should be taken against Olivia, but I have no problem with you taking them against Petrelli or Suresh." He smiled. "Or Miss Bombano. Make him regret his attempt to seduce you and make you feel like a fool."

Candace's jaw tightened as she ground her teeth. "Done." She muttered.

"Good girl." Linderman crooned.

Candace looked coolly at Linderman. "So while we're in South America, what will you be doing?"

He gave her an evil smile. "Going to Montego Bay. I have an old 'friend' there that I need to see."

* * *

"Feeling better?" Gabriel smiled at Olivia as she stepped out of the shower and toweled off. 

Olivia shrugged. "I still feel like shit, but at least the room isn't spinning and my stomach isn't churning. That's a good sign."

"Yes, it is." Gabriel kissed her as he stepped past her, pulling his clothes off. "I hope you left hot water for me."

"I'm sure I did." Olivia grinned at him.

Gabriel winked at her. "You could climb back in and join me." He wiggled his eyebrows at her as she smiled softly and shook her head.

"Maybe when I'm feeling better." She leaned towards him and kissed him. "Some honeymoon so far, huh?"

"It'll get better. We'll go to Montego Bay, meet with the woman on our list there, then take a huey to Kingstown, meet the man on our list there, then take a puddle-jumper to the Bahamas and spend the night in Nassau."

"With no rum or any other alcohol whatsoever."

"Exactly!" Gabriel smiled. "Just you, me, a beach and maybe a casino or two."

"That sounds heavenly." Olivia left the bathroom to dress and pack as Gabriel stepped into the shower.

* * *

"You're up early." 

Mohinder looked up at the breakfast table to see Peter walk into the kitchen. "You're one to talk. I would have thought you would be sleeping in."

Peter shook his head as he leaned against a counter, pouring himself a cup of coffee. "I didn't sleep well last night." He smiled softly as Mohinder chuckled. "Not because of that." He sighed sadly. "I had a dream visit from Sanjog last night."

"Interesting." Mohinder turned to watch him, frowning at Peter's sad expression. "And what did you see in this dream?"

"Simone's death and Future Hiro's account of the battle in the desert. Both were in full living color and I didn't want to see either one of them." He looked over at Mohinder. "I watched everyone die."

Mohinder nodded sadly. "I see. Why do you think Sanjog showed this to you?"

"He said I asked him to show me. He said I did it to find out how to change the future. Now I just have to figure out HOW to change it." Peter sat down at the breakfast table, leaning back to look down the hallway before leaning towards Mohinder. "In that future, Hiro's past, Sherry and I were engaged. I saw the ring on her finger as she died."

"How do you know she was engaged to you?"

"I saw myself kneeling over her, mourning her. I was devastated." Peter stared at his coffee cup. "Mohinder, she was pregnant, obviously just starting her second trimester. Why would I let my pregnant fiancée fight in a battle?"

"Have you MET Sherry?" Mohinder smiled. "She's a very headstrong young woman. I have a feeling that she could have been nine months pregnant and still would have kicked and screamed her way into the battle."

Peter laughed softly. "You have a point. She's pretty tough."

"What does she say about all of this? Does she know?"

"I kind of had to tell her everything. I was kicking and crying in my sleep during the dream. She woke me up. She thinks that I'm armed now with knowledge about what happens in the fight and now I know what goes wrong. She told me that now, I can change the future for all of us, the way I changed it for Claire."

"She might be right."

"Maybe." Peter sipped his coffee. "Is it crazy for me to admit I'm scared to death right now?"

"No, it's human." Mohinder sighed. "I'd worry more if you weren't scared. We're all scared, Peter. That's why we're all here."

Peter nodded. "So when do we leave for Mexico? We need to get as many more people as we can, and soon. We've got a lot of training to do."

"How does tomorrow morning sound? We'll rent a car, preferably an SUV or Jeep and we'll start out first thing."

"Sounds good. The sooner the better."

* * *

"Montego Bay." Gabriel sighed as they walked out of Sangster International Airport. "Smell the ocean air." 

Olivia took a deep breath. "It does smell nice." She turned to Gabriel. "Too bad we're only here for a few hours."

"I know." Gabriel frowned. "So who's on our list here?"

Olivia pulled out the list and address. "Alice Kent." She frowned as she read the list further. "Okay, wait a minute."

"What?"

"She's ninety years old, Gabe. How in the hell can we even think about recruiting a ninety year-old woman?"

"Maybe it's a typo. Maybe she's nineteen. Mohinder's not perfect, you know." Gabriel and Olivia made their way to their rented jeep and climbed in. "Let's just go see her and find out before we start getting all ageist on her."

"I guess." Olivia looked out at the view as they drove towards the address listed on their paper. As they approached low-lying mountains, Olivia and Gabriel both gasped in awe as they stared at the beach below them, the turquoise water shimmering and dazzling. Soon, they arrived at the address, frowning as they stared at it again to confirm it. A crumbling plantation house loomed before them, parts of it falling apart in disrepair. "Is this IT?"

Gabriel nodded. "I think so." They stepped out of their jeep and made their way to the house. A young woman stepped onto the veranda, smiling at them. Gabriel waved as they climbed the steps to the front door. "Hi, I'm Gabriel Gray and this is my wife, Olivia. We're here to see Alice Kent?"

"Mama Alice?" The woman nodded. "She's my great-great grandmother. She's been expecting visitors today, come inside." She led them into the rickety house as Olivia glanced at Gabriel.

"_So much for your theory about Mohinder screwing up her age." _She telepathed to him.

"_Yeah, either she's really ninety, or they have kids practically in infancy here."_

As they approached a room, the young woman turned to them. "A few words before you enter. Mama Alice is very old. She has the Alzheimer's and she'll forget you the moment you leave, but don't let that fool you about her power. She might be old, she might have dementia, but her power is still very strong and accurate. Whatever she tells you in there will be the truth, it will be confusing, it will be difficult to know what she is talking about, but it is indeed the truth and it WILL happen, make no mistake. Do you understand?" Olivia and Gabriel glanced at each other nervously, then nodded. "Good. Don't be too long with her. She tires easily."

Olivia and Gabriel stepped into the room. An old woman sat in a rocking chair, her mahogany skin lined with wrinkles, her hair snow-white. As she rocked, she stroked a quilt on her lap, humming softly. She turned her face towards them and Gabriel gasped to see her milk-white eyes.

_"I think she's blind."_

"_I think so too."_ Olivia nodded at him.

"Someone's there." Alice smiled a toothless smile. "Come here, whoever you are. The man first."

Gabriel looked at Olivia for a moment, then stepped towards the woman. As soon as he was within reach, her hand moved out, lightning fast and gripped his wrist. He yelped with surprise as the woman gripped him tightly, her hand strong and steely. She looked up at him with unseeing eyes.

"You're going to die." Her voice rang through the room as Gabriel stared at her in shock.

* * *

Quick note: First of all, THANK GOD for Wikipedia. I've never been out of the U.S. and honestly, I rarely leave Georgia, so in order to write the trips all of these characters have been on, I've been doing a LOT of research. Second of all: don't try that hangover remedy, I made it up and I doubt if it would do anything but make you sicker, it's just a deux ex machina to get those two off of the bathroom floor, so that's my disclaimer for the day: Don't try that nasty shit at home, people.

Thanks to everyone who has read this story so far and thanks to everyone for the encouragement I've received. You all have been so great and I hope you all continue to enjoy it, even though it's about to get dark as hell in some places (obviously, considering Peter's dream)


	43. Chapter 43

Chapter Forty-Three: Blind Prophecies, Linderman's Confrontation

Gabriel stared at Mama Alice in shock. "What did you just say?"

The woman clutched his wrist. "You have a brother, two brothers. They are your brothers in marriage, but they will be your brothers in your heart. You will unite with them to fight the evil. Your father in marriage is an evil man, he wants to destroy you and all that you hold dear. You and your brothers will fight him. The younger is your twin, your opposite. Together, you will defeat him, but only together. You must kill the one you hold dearest, your greatest love, the mother of your child. Only with her death can you and your brother defeat the evil one."

"Kill Olivia?" Gabriel shook his head. "No, I won't."

"You will, you will have no choice. She won't give you a choice. You must destroy her in the battle, or you will all perish. You will have a daughter. You will die before she is born."

Gabriel laughed softly. "Okay, how will I kill my wife after she's given birth, but die before my daughter is born?"

"Your daughter will be the key. She will be a weapon before she is even born. You will die the day she is born." Alice let go of Gabriel's hand, her hand slumping in her lap as she began to rock again in her chair, humming softly.

"What in the hell are you talking about?" Gabriel knelt in front of her, taking her hand again. "I can't kill my wife." The woman stared past him, humming. Gabriel sighed and stepped away, shaking his head.

"The woman." Alice croaked. "Come to me now."

Gabriel nodded to Olivia, waving towards Alice with one hand, while rolling his eyes and twirling the other hand beside his temple. Olivia frowned and slowly walked to Alice. As with Gabriel, the moment she was within range, Alice's hand shot out and snatched Olivia's wrist. The old woman smiled.

"You're going to die." She whispered.

"Yeah, we've heard that one already." Gabriel muttered. "Bullshit."

"The ones you love and hold dearest will kill you. Only when you feel the swords of your husband severing your neck and younger brother piercing your heart will you know that you have saved them all. Your sacrifice will save everyone and millions more beyond. Your daughter will be a weapon, a powerful one before she is even born. She will save your life against your father's people. Your father will give you a gift. He has already given it, albeit unwillingly. You must accept that gift. In your hands, it will be one of your greatest powers, greater than anyone else who wields it, including your father, use it wisely. Your mother has a gift to give you willingly, it will be the key to your life. You must accept her gift. Your husband is your soul, your soul will be killed the day your daughter is born, but it will be reborn if you accept it. You MUST accept your gifts." Mama Alice released Olivia's wrist and began to rock again.

Olivia stared at her wordlessly, her heart pounding. She turned to Gabriel and nodded towards the door. She turned back to look at the woman again. "Thank you, Mama Alice." She whispered.

"Yeah, thanks for nothing." Gabriel muttered.

Alice stopped rocking and looked in their direction. "The Baby. Protect The Baby. She will be in danger. Accept your father's gift and protect The Baby." She started rocking again, humming softly once more.

Olivia nodded. "I will." She said softly. She and Gabriel left, nodding to Alice's great-great granddaughter as they walked out of the old house and climbed into their jeep.

"That was a waste of time." Gabriel sighed. "Her gift is still strong my ass. Her mind is gone and her power has gone with it." He cranked up the jeep and pulled out of the driveway. "Let's catch that helicopter to Kingston. Maybe we'll have better luck there."

"Yeah. Maybe." Olivia whispered as she stared off into space.

Gabriel stared at her for a moment. "You don't really believe her, do you?"

"Yeah, actually I do." Olivia nodded.

"Great, so you think Peter and I will kill you."

"I think that you'll have to in order to save yourselves and everyone else."

"Then we'll all die, I guess. I can't kill you, Baby."

"You wanted to when you first met me." Olivia glanced at him. "You've admitted to that."

"That was before I fell in love with you. I'm not killing you and neither is Peter. He even tries it, I'll kill HIM." Gabriel gripped the steering wheel. "Besides, how will I kill you, when I'm already dead? I die before Faith is born, according to her, yet I'm still alive at the battle to supposedly chop your head off with Peter. She's full of shit, I'm telling you."

"I really don't think she is." Olivia sighed. "When we get back, I'm getting the serum. I'm getting Linderman's power, and Angela's too."

"No, you won't."

"You heard her. I have to accept their gifts. That's what she's talking about. If I don't-" Olivia frowned.

"-She's ninety, she has Alzheimer's and she's demented. Everything she said was a contradiction. You will not risk your life to get two serums just because she said you had to accept your parents' gifts. She could have been talking about anything or nothing."

"Gabriel-"

"-NO!" He glared at Olivia. "Just drop it!"

"Fine." Olivia frowned as she stared at the landscape on their way back to the airport.

They made their way back to the airport and climbed onto the helicopter they'd chartered earlier, flying to Kingston. They rented another jeep and drove to the next address on their list.

"So who's the lucky winner today?" Gabriel asked Olivia.

She looked at the list. "Geoffrey Jameson."

"Please don't tell me that he's ninety too."

"No, twenty-nine." They approached the apartment building, making their way to the one on their list. Olivia knocked on the door for a moment, frowning. She and Gabriel exchanged a look before she took his hand and phased them both through the door. "Mr. Jameson?" Olivia called out. "We're sorry for barging in but-" Gabriel grabbed her arm and started pulling her towards the door. "What is it?"

"He's dead."

"What? How do you-" Gabriel pointed to the wall they'd just past as Olivia gasped. Blood and brain matter was splattered against it. "That looks fresh."

Gabriel nodded. "Too fucking fresh. We're getting out of here now before you father's people track us down and start a fight with us."

"Next stop, Nassau." Olivia grabbed Gabriel's hand and phased them back through the door quickly. They ran out of the apartment building and jumped in their jeep, tires squealing as they pulled away from the curb and sped back to the airport.

After the left, the apartment swirled around them. Candace laughed as she turned to Geoffrey. The man was tied to a chair beside her and gagged, still alive as he stared at her and Gota in terror. Candace looked at Gota. "Chicken shits." She muttered as she pulled out her phone. "We've got one for The Haitian to collect and then we're on our way to South America. If you want to take a gander at your daughter and her spineless husband, they're on their way to Nassau." Candace hung up her phone and turned back to Geoffrey. "So you have a choice here. You can live and come with us, or you can die here and now. What's it going to be?"

Geoffrey hung his head. "I'll come with you." He whispered softly.

* * *

Sherry stepped out of Peter's apartment and headed towards the elevator, yawning. She had stayed up with Peter most of the night, the two of them going over his dream. She frowned, thinking about everything he'd told her. "If he thinks I'm going to die on him, he's nuts." She shook her head. "Totally nuts." She pressed the down button for the elevator. When the doors opened, her eyes widened as she spied Angela. "Hello." She nodded coolly as she stepped past her to enter the elevator. 

"Not so fast." Angela blocked her way. "You spent the night with Peter, yes?"

Sherry sighed. "So it's round one-million of the Sherry's a Slut-athon, right?"

"No." Angela rolled her eyes. "I was wondering if he confided in you. Something upset him terribly last night. I want to know what it was."

"Then ask him yourself." Sherry tried to step past Angela again, then turned on the woman as her way was blocked. "WHAT do you WANT from me?"

Angela's eyes narrowed. "You and I don't get along, that's not going to change any time soon, but my son cares about you, why I have no idea. I love my son and I think that may be something we have in common. He's my favorite, he always has been. He has a good heart and a kind soul. I always underestimated the power that came with that when others didn't. I want to know what has upset him and I would appreciate it if you would tell me. I don't like the idea of him suffering with a burden that I may be able to help him with."

Sherry cocked an eyebrow at Angela. "Say 'please'."

Angela sighed. "Please."

"'Please', what?"

Angela gritted her teeth. "Please tell me what is bothering my son."

Sherry nodded. "He told me about Simone Deveaux's death. He remembered that when Hiro came to him on Christmas Eve and told him about the battle, my name was one of the casualties he mentioned. He's scared. Not only did he die in that battle after losing his sister, brother, niece and mother, he also lost his fiancée."

"Fiancée?" Angela stepped back, her eyes widening. "How quickly are the two of you moving?"

Sherry sighed. "We're not engaged NOW, we were engaged THEN. He had a dream last night too. A boy in the building, Sanjog Iyer is a dream guide. He showed Peter the battle, the battle as it happened in Future Hiro's time. He watched as we all died: Nathan, Claire, you, me, everyone. We were engaged at that time and I was obviously pregnant. I died in front of him." Sherry smirked as Angela closed her eyes. "Let me guess what you're going to say next, right? You're going to say 'it would serve you right for trapping my son by getting knocked up', I know."

"That's not what I was going to say, you silly little girl!" Angela's eyes flew open. "I was going to tell you that I'm sorry to hear that my son had to watch another woman he cares about and seems to love die in front of him. I was going to say that the idea of him seeing that breaks my heart. I was going to say that the idea of losing my unborn grandchild breaks MY heart and I was going to say that I'm glad I died first there so I wouldn't have to bear such pain, even for a moment." As Sherry's eyes widened in surprise, Angela looked at her, her eyes shimmering with unshed tears. "And now I'm going to say this, WHEN this battle happens, if you even suspect you are in the family way, you'd better keep your ass off of that battlefield, do you hear me? If my son dies on that field, I want a part of him to go on. I want you to hide away, have that baby and raise him or her knowing what a great man Peter was. I want you to protect that child with every breath in your body or I will find a way to kick your Mafia Princess ass, do you hear me? If you break my son's heart by dying on him and taking his unborn child with you, I will curse your soul for all of eternity and don't think I won't find a way to do it. Do you understand me?" Sherry nodded silently as Angela smiled. "Good. Now do us both a favor, whatever birth control you're on, double it for the love of God." She turned and walked away as Sherry stared after her, stunned.

"NOW I'm scared of her." Sherry whispered. She turned and stepped into the elevator, going to the third floor. She arrived in her apartment to see Hana sitting on the couch, her eyes bleary as she drank a cup of coffee. Sherry poured a cup and sat beside her. "Rough night too?"

Hana sighed. "Those two." She jerked her head towards the hallway. "Some people should come with a mute button. If they continue in this fashion, I may have to take Mr. Raines up on his offer to sleep on his couch."

Sherry laughed softly. "Cheer up. Peter and I will be leaving tomorrow morning to head to Mexico with Mohinder. I'll drop a hint or two to Collette and ask him to do the same with Herbert to suggest they spend their snuggly time upstairs in the empty apartment."

Hana looked at Sherry, smiling. "Bless you."

"Of course, I don't HAVE to. I could always keep my mouth shut, let you start staying at Claude's and let nature take it's course."

"Nature's ass." Hana stood up, yawning. "You tell the sex bunnies there's going to be an empty apartment upstairs for them to hop around in, or I will. Just because you and Collette have found love and lust doesn't mean I have to as well. Mr. Raines is a friend, nothing more."

"And if would like for it to be more?" Sherry looked up at Hana.

"He'll be disappointed." Hana nodded softly. "It sounds like they've finally gone to sleep. Let's pray they continue for now. If they interrupt my nap again, I'm going to have to go into their room to tell them to keep it down. I'd rather not have to do that. I don't want to see what I'm afraid I'll see in there." She drank the rest of her coffee and trudged exhaustedly to her room.

Sherry sighed and went to her room, curling up in her bed to take a nap.

* * *

"So Jameson is dead?" Noah turned to Molly as she sat in a chair, reading a book. "Hang on a second." He turned to Molly. "Sweetie, can you do me a favor?" 

"Yes I can Mr. Bennet." Molly smiled sweetly at him. "What do you need?"

"Geoffrey Jameson is a man with special powers. Can you find him for me?"

Molly took the atlas that was always by her side and removed a push pin from the spine of the book, closing her eyes, she began to flip pages until her pin landed. "He's here."

Noah looked at the pin. It was stuck in Miami, Florida. "And he's still alive?"

Molly gave him a sweet, albeit condescending look. "If he wasn't Mr. Bennet, I wouldn't be able to find him."

"I thought so." He winked at her as he returned to his satellite phone. "Olivia, according to Molly, Geoffrey Jameson is alive and well in Miami."

"The Quiet Man is with him." Noah turned as Molly flipped through her book. "The man who takes away your memories and powers. He's with Mr. Jameson."

Noah closed his eyes. "It sounds to me like Linderman has him." He nodded. "Okay, thanks." He turned back to Molly. "I need one more tiny favor from you. Can you do it?"

Molly nodded. "Sure, what do you need?"

"Every ten minutes, see if you can find Mr. Jameson again and tell me if the Quiet Man is still with him. I think if we move quickly, we might be able to rescue him from the Quiet Man and Linderman."

"I will." She took her atlas again and stared at a clock, waiting for ten minutes to pass.

* * *

Anna-Maria George, Alice Kent's great-great granddaughter looked up from her chair on the porch of the old plantation house, frowning as a car pulled into the driveway. She beamed as a familiar face stepped out of the car. He was an older man, smallish in stature with a white beard and moustache, equally snowy hair on his head. He smiled softly as he climbed the steps to greet her, his dark blue eyes sparkling. "Mr. Linderman, how good to see you again." 

"Anna-Maria. How are you today? How is Mama Alice?" He took the woman's hands in his as he greeted her warmly.

"Oh, she's having a good day today. She had two visitors this morning."

Linderman frowned slightly, then recovered, smiling again. "Really? Describe them for me."

"They were both tall. The woman had dark curly hair and blue eyes, she was very pretty. The man was handsome and much taller than his wife. He had dark hair and eyes. They looked quite nice together."

"And they spoke with Mama Alice?"

"Oh yes Sir." Anna-Maria frowned. "They didn't seem very happy when they left though."

Linderman smiled wider. "Really? They didn't receive bad news, I hope?"

"I do not know. I was not in the room when Mama spoke with them."

"May I see her?"

"You certainly may." Anna-Maria took his hand and led him into the house. "It has been many years since you have been here. I was but a small girl the last time you came."

"I remember. You have grown up quite nicely. How is the house? It looks like it needs repairs, shall I send someone?"

"That's kind of you, Sir. We'd like that very much."

Linderman patted her hand. "You should have called if you needed anything. I owe it to Alice. She told me when I was a young man that I would be one of the wealthiest and most powerful men in the world. She was right. The second and last time I saw her, she told me that my daughter would return to me after the deaths of her adoptive parents and she did. Now, I would like to see her again. I would like to know what my future will hold next."

"She's having a good day, she may tell you many things."

Linderman nodded, his eyes sparkling maniacally. "Let's hope she does."

* * *

Geoffrey Jameson left the Miami airport with The Haitian, eyeing him nervously. He had stopped asking questions, the man refused to answer him or speak to him at all. As they made their way towards a cab, Geoffrey looked around nervously, searching for a way to escape this man. As a cab rushed past them, Geoffrey moved quickly, shoving the man in front of a moving cab before turning and running. The Haitian, caught off guard, yelped as he landed in front of the cab, grimacing as the vehicle slammed on its brakes, stopping inches in front of him. The cabbie leaned on his horn, screaming obscenities as the man stood and stepped back to the curb, his eyes searching the crowds for his hostage. Geoffrey Jameson had disappeared.

* * *

"Mr. Bennet?" Noah turned as Molly stared at her atlas. "That Mr. Jameson isn't with the Quiet Man anymore." 

"Oh?" Noah took off his glasses and sat beside Molly. "Where is he?"

"Here." Molly pushed a pin into Pompano Beach. "Here." A minute later, it went into Hollywood, Florida. "Here." A minute later, Boca Raton. "Here." Port St. Lucie. "Here." Every minute, Molly would push a pin further and further up the coast of Florida. She looked up at Noah. "Is he flying?"

"I don't know." He watched as Molly continued to move the pin up the coast, until it stopped at Jacksonville. "Has he stopped?"

Molly nodded. "Maybe he's tired."

"Where in Jacksonville, IS he?" Noah asked as he pulled out his satellite phone. "Hiro. I know you're going to hate this, but I need an extraction and I'd like to go with you."

* * *

Linderman slowly walked into Mama Alice's room and watched as the woman rocked in her chair, humming softly as her fingers played with the ties on her quilt. She stopped. "It is you." She whispered. 

"Yes, it is." As he stepped towards her, she shrank into her rocking chair. "Talk to me, Mama Alice. Tell me my future one last time."

The woman shook her head. "Shoo! You're an evil man with a rotten soul."

"That's a matter of opinion." He purred as he reached for her hand. She tried to slap him away, but he grasped it as the woman gasped, trying to pull her hand away. "Tell me what my future holds, you toothless old crone." He hissed.

The woman trembled. "There are two men, brothers in marriage, one is the husband of your daughter. They are as twins, two sides to the same coin, the darkness and the light. When they join together as brothers," the woman started to smile "they will kill you." She nodded her head. "Oh yes, they will destroy you and your plans. They will bring you low and put you in the ground, they will send you to Hell with Satan where you belong. You will plot, you will try any means necessary to keep it from happening, but in the end, they will indeed kill you, after they both die themselves at the same time. The darkness will kill his only light, his heart and soul to make it so. He will sacrifice his greatest treasure, the only one who keeps him from evil himself to bring you low with his brother. He will rise from the ashes to make it so and his heart and soul, the mother of his child will help him. She will bring him life before he brings her death and her death at his and his brother's hand will kill you. Before this happens, she will give birth to a girl-child. That child will protect her mother, even before her birth, from your evil ways and plans. She will save her mother's life before helping to end yours. Her blood is one of the keys to the victory of the darkness and the light." She nodded. "There are two Judases in your midst. They will be guided to good by the light. The light will show them the way to salvation from your evil. You cannot stop them. They will hail an exodus of your followers. You will show yourself to all as true evil and everyone will turn against you, starting with the Judases. There is nothing you can do to stop it."

Linderman dropped her hands, his eyes narrowing. "Like Hell I can't." He pulled out a gun and screwed on a silencer before pointing it at the old woman. "What did you tell your earlier visitors? Did you tell them this as well?" The woman smiled as she rocked in her chair, silent. "If I go to Hell, I suppose you'll be there to greet me. So be it." He pulled the trigger twice before stepping out of the room.

Anna-Maria smiled as he exited the room. "How was the visit?"

Linderman cocked his head as he looked at her. She gasped as he pulled out his gun and pulled the trigger twice again, putting two bullets into her brain. "It was most disappointing." He snarled as he walked away.

* * *

Geoffrey Jameson finally stopped running, the muscles in his legs trembling as he looked around, terrified. He didn't know where he was or where he could go, he only knew he couldn't return to his native Jamaica any time soon. As he turned to find a familiar setting, two men appeared in front of him, a Japanese man in a dark suit and a tall man with sandy hair, nearing middle age. The taller man smiled kindly, his eyes twinkling behind his horn-rimmed glasses. "Mr. Jameson, I presume?" 

Geoffrey backed away from them. "Who are you? What do you want?"

The man held his hands out in front of him, shaking his head. "We're not here to harm you. My name is Noah Bennet and my friend here is Hiro Nakamura." Geoffrey stared as Hiro smiled and bowed before him. "We're not with the same people that kidnapped you, I assure you. We're their adversaries. I guess you could say, we're the 'good guys' and we represent people like you and Hiro, people with special abilities. The man who took you works for a man named Linderman. He is recruiting people as are we. HE is recruiting them to enslave the world. WE are trying to stop him. Can you come with us?"

Geoffrey stared at both of them, confused. "You're not here to threaten me or kidnap me?"

Noah shook his head. "We're here to protect you, and we hope you're willing to come with us and protect others like you."

Geoffrey nodded. "I'm in, man." He looked down at his feet, laughing as he realized they were bare and bloodied. "I need to go somewhere, I ran my damn shoes off!"

* * *

"Nassau." Gabriel smiled as they walked out of the airport and hailed a cab. "It's beautiful." He smiled at Olivia. "I'm so glad we chose the Caribbean." 

"Me too." Olivia leaned against her husband. "I've got a surprise."

"What?"

"I cancelled our hotel reservation and rented a house with a private beach for the night. How does that sound?"

"Wonderful." Gabriel kissed her. "Where on the beach is it?"

"Where no one else can hear us, see us or bother us for a mile in any direction." She climbed into the cab with Gabriel and gave directions to the home. They arrived half an hour later at a small house, situated directly on the beach, palm trees swaying around it. "Do you like the surprise? It's not a mansion or anything but-"

"It could be a shack on the beach, as long as it's private I don't care." He tipped the driver and walked with Olivia to the house. "What do you want to do first, make love or swim in the ocean?"

"I don't know, both sound extremely tempting." Olivia turned to kiss Gabriel and stopped as he froze dead in his tracks, his eyes narrowing. "What is it?" She turned and stepped back as Linderman stepped onto the porch. "You." She whispered.

Linderman smiled at her as he swished the drink he was holding in his hand. "Hello, my dear." He looked at Gabriel. "And hello, Son. I can call you that, yes? After all, you are married to my daughter."

Gabriel stepped protectively in front of Olivia. "You have five seconds to disappear before I kill you where you stand. One, two-"

"-three, four and five." Linderman rolled his eyes. "Count away, my boy. I'm not here to do you harm. If I wanted you two dead, you'd have been killed in Havana while you were too sick and hung over to fight back. I just want to congratulate the two of you on your marriage and to talk, father to daughter" he smiled at Gabriel "and son. Have I mentioned how pleased I am that you married her instead of killing her?"

"I couldn't give two shits about how you feel about anything. You are leaving, NOW!"

Linderman shook his head. "We can talk as adults, or I can walk away and let the two of you dodge bullets the rest of your lives. YOU can do that, Gabriel, but my daughter cannot and you can't stay with her and protect her ever single second of the day." He turned to the front door of the house and walked inside.

Gabriel turned to Olivia. "We need to run and we need to run now." As Olivia stared at the door, Gabriel touched her cheek, turning her face to his. "Baby, we can't stay here and we can't talk to him."

"Maybe he really does just want to talk." Olivia stared at the door sadly. "He's my father, Gabriel. For better or worse, he's my father and he saved my life once. I owe him that, at least."

"You don't owe him shit. He's not going to kill us, he wants a grandchild, remember? He wants a little heir or two that he can twist and mold in his sick image."

"You heard him, if we don't talk now, he'll try and kill us every chance he gets, whether he's gotten an heir from us or not. It would just be a matter of time before that happened and who would take the bullets meant for us? Peter? Nathan? Heidi? Simon or Monty or Claire? TATIANA?" Gabriel's face fell as Olivia nodded. "Let's give him one chance, one talk to see if we can convince him to stop this. Let's try."

"It won't work." Gabriel shook his head. "I was like that once, sick with power and the need for more. He's been at this longer than I have. There's no humanity left in there, Baby. There's nothing left for even you to reach, but I'll go in there with you, if anything just to keep him from hurting you."

"Thank you." Olivia took his hand as they walked into the house.

* * *

Okay, I was on a roll Sunday and yesterday and wrote chapters 40-43. I was saving them to post all this week, but I didn't want to wait and I don't think anyone else wants to wait either, so here you go! I'm working tonight, so I'll probably be comatose most of tomorrow. The next chapter will probably be up by Thursday afternoon at the very latest. I'm off to bed to pass out until this evening, until then, enjoy! 


	44. Chapter 44

Chapter Forty-Four: Superpower Summits

Olivia and Gabriel walked into the small beach house, hand in hand as Linderman smiled indulgently at them. He took a swig of the drink in his hand, then pointed to the bar. "Can I pour a drink for the two of you, or did you have enough last night?" He smiled as Olivia and Gabriel stared at him wordlessly. "I see this is going to start out as a one-way conversation." He laughed softly as he sat down in a chair, pointing to the couch across from him. His eyes narrowed as Olivia and Gabriel didn't move. "Sit down, both of you." His voice began to fill with steel. "Don't make me angry."

"I think the same could be said for me." Gabriel pulled his shoulders back. "I'M the one you really don't want to piss off, here."

"And it finally speaks." Linderman nodded to the couch one last time as Gabriel and Olivia glanced at each other, then quietly sat in front of him, still holding hands. "Just look at the two of you." Linderman nodded approvingly. "I've had my people watching you both from the moment my daughter had you brought to St. Ignacious." He winked at Olivia. "Good girl. I must say, I'm quite proud of the initiative you took, having him followed and spirited away to the very hospital where you work. At first I worried that you'd gotten in over your head and would lose it to this man, but I'm pleased to see that my worries were for nothing. You're quite a bit more tenacious than I ever thought you would be. You're still too stubborn and idealistic and basically a thorn in my side, but that tenacity-" He sighed happily. "-I hope the two of you are planning on having children. I've always wanted grandchildren. You might want to get on that, you're not getting any younger."

"Cut the shit, Linderman." Olivia shook her head. "You've never been proud of me, you never will be and all I have ever been for you is a means to an end."

"And what end would that be?" Linderman took another swig of his drink. "Good scotch. I was quite surprised when I arrived here to see a fully stocked bar. It must have come that way. I was also unpleasantly surprised Olivia, to hear about your little bender last night. Remember Dear, I'm not just a phone call away to save you from alcohol poisoning anymore." As Olivia rolled her eyes, he chuckled as he turned to Gabriel. "She partied a little too hard for the first couple of years after Jack and Sally died."

"I was in college, there was binge drinking, it was the norm. Drop it and don't change the subject." Olivia leaned forward. "I am, to you, a means to an end. I am an opportunity for you to get more heirs, heirs that you will be more than willing to kill me and my husband for, when you think you're ready to take them for yourself."

"Now who told you a falsehood like that?" Linderman shook his head. "Oh my Darling, someone has been telling you quite the little fairy tale now, haven't they?"

"It's not a fairy tale. You've been in hiding since November, building an army."

"An ARMY?" Linderman frowned. "Now isn't that the pot calling the kettle black? And just what are you and your little friends doing in that apartment building, the apartment building that **I** built by the way? I've had you watched and followed, yes. I was worried about you. I was worried that this man" he nodded at Gabriel "would end up trying to kill you, I was worried about how you would handle my businesses after my 'death', I was worried about how your life would be. Imagine my surprise when you started recruiting people and moved all of them to Las Vegas. I heard through my sources and connections that you realized I was alive and that YOU were building an army to track me down and kill me. The people I've been surrounding myself with are for my own protection only."

"Bullshit." Gabriel leaned forward. "If you were so worried about your daughter, you would have let her know that you were still alive as soon as she thought you were dead."

"I had to protect myself and her." Linderman smiled softly at Olivia. "I had very powerful enemies, I still do. I didn't want Olivia to be targeted by them. In case you haven't noticed, she's not the greatest liar in the world. She's God-awful about it, to be completely honest and being devious and sneaky is not even close to being her strong suit. I knew my enemies would be watching her. If she'd known I was alive, she wouldn't have been able to hide it and she would have found herself getting shot at, kidnapped, tortured, God only knows what else from my enemies in order to ferret me out. I couldn't have that. Then, I discovered that she had BECOME one of my enemies. It breaks my heart to see her allying herself against me." He turned to Olivia. "It truly does break my heart. I shouldn't be surprised though," he stood and paced the room for a moment, his face sad "after all, Mama Alice did tell me once many years ago that my daughter would return to me, only to turn against me." As Olivia and Gabriel gave each other shocked looks, Linderman continued to pace, his expression sad. "I tried so hard to keep that from happening. I even tried to save your life when your parents were killed in that terrible accident and you were on the brink of death yourself. I gave you life more than once, I gave you a home and an education, I gave you everything you could have ever asked for and this is how you choose to repay me, by declaring yourself my enemy, building an 'army' to destroy me," his fingers moved in air quotes at the last comment "and now by swearing you were only doing it because you claim you were told that I-" he turned, his brow furrowing "-what exactly WERE you told about me?"

"You've met Mama Alice." Olivia whispered.

"Yes, I did. Poor thing passed away a few hours ago. Apparently someone came to visit her and was told something they didn't want to hear. Her great-great granddaughter unfortunately is dead as well."

"You sick bastard!" Olivia leapt from the couch. "You killed them!"

"I didn't say** I** visited her, I said **someone** did." Linderman glared. "Now sit back down!" He snarled. Olivia continued to stand, her arms crossed in front of her chest. "I said sit down you silly fool!"

Gabriel stood beside his wife. "I think it's time for you to leave now."

"YOU? THINKING?" Linderman rolled his eyes. "Aren't you more the 'kill now, think later' type?" He shook his head. "I'm not going anywhere because this conversation isn't finished."

Gabriel smirked. "So what did Mama Alice tell YOU?" As Linderman looked away, Gabriel laughed softly. "I see. She told you the same thing she told us, that we're going to end up destroying you. That scares the hell out you, doesn't it?"

"Does knowing you'll have to kill your wife before you can kill me scare YOU?" Linderman laughed softly as Gabriel looked away. "My God, I thought at first that Olivia ensnared you with her sexy little power, but she didn't did she? You actually love her, you poor bastard." He stepped towards Gabriel. "How does it make you feel to know that you're going to have to snuff out her life? How are you going to end up doing it? Are you going to strangle her, take off her head with your little powers?" He pulled out a gun. "Or are you just going to shoot her?" He pointed at Olivia and pulled the trigger, smiling as the bullet phased through Olivia and went into the cushions of the couch. "I knew that would happen. I like that new trick of yours by the way, Dear. Anyway-" his voice was cut off as Gabriel glared at him angrily. His eyes widened as he struggled to breathe while Gabriel smirked at him. He reached out and took Linderman's gun, throwing it across the room.

"You don't ever point a gun at my wife, much less pull the trigger, you sick son of a bitch." Gabriel began to circle Linderman as the older man fell to his knees. "I could end your life, here and now and stop Mama Alice's little predictions in their tracks." He leaned down, his mouth inches from Linderman's ear. "I'll do it, too. I'll do anything to protect not only myself, not only my wife, but everyone I've begun to hold dear." Gabriel stepped away from the man, releasing his mental grip on his throat.

Linderman leaned forward on his hands, gasping for air and coughing. He looked at Olivia. "Olivia please, talk some sense into this brute."

Olivia backed away from him, shaking her head. "He's right. He can kill you now and I won't give a rat's ass. It'll save everyone in the end from Mama Alice's prediction. It'll save the whole world." She looked at Gabriel. "Do it."

As Gabriel stepped forward, rolling up his sleeves, Linderman quickly stood, turning on them both. "You don't want to cross me again." He snarled.

"No, you're the one who's screwed here." Gabriel twitched his fingers and smiled as his father-in-law flew across the room, slamming into a wall. He held up his hands, sparks flashing from his fingers as Linderman glared at him. "So how should this be? Should I do it slowly, torturing you before I kill you, or should I just snap your neck like a twig?"

"It won't matter what you do." Linderman stood up. "I'll escape from you. I came here today to make the two of you an offer, an offer that would save both of your lives. I was going to offer to let the two of you come back with me, join me. You could have had wealth beyond anything you've ever imagined. The money I left Olivia? It's a drop in the bucket compared to what I still command and control. I was going to offer you, Gabriel, a chance to learn how to handle everything at my side. I was going to give you both more power than anyone could have ever thought possible, but now, I can see you're both beyond that. I'm disappointed really. I expected as much from Olivia. She's always been more of the idealistic peaceful type, wanting to develop the serum to share powers so they could all sit in a circle and sing 'Kum-ba-ya' but you?" He laughed at Gabriel. "You surprised me and not in a good way. You've always wanted to be special. You've always been desperate to belong and to have power to lord it over everyone else. I thought you'd jump at the chance to learn to be the most powerful man in the world. I thought you wanted a chance to truly be special."

"Do you want to know what makes me special now?" Gabriel sent bolts of electricity through his hands, throwing Linderman back as the man screamed in pain, his body contorting in spasms. "My wife. Every time she looks at me," he shocked Linderman "every time she touches me," he shocked Linderman again "every time she makes love to me I become the most special man in the world because to her? I AM the most special, the most powerful, the most wonderful man, no matter what I've done in my past. And if you think I'll betray her, our friends, or our life together just to ally myself with a sick old mother fucker like yourself, you are sadly mistaken! You actually thought you could tempt me with your brand of the dark side? Guess again, asshole, I AM the fucking dark side!" As he lifted his hands again, Olivia reached out, stopping him.

"That's enough." She whispered. She turned as Linderman lay against the wall. "I can't let you kill him."

"What?" Gabriel looked at her, shocked as Linderman began to laugh.

"She said that she can't let you kill me!" Linderman giggled maniacally. "No matter what I have done or will do, I'll always be her father, she can't let you kill me."

"That's right." Olivia nodded. Linderman's smiled faded as pulled out the gun she'd picked up from the floor. "I'm the one who truly should do it. After all, I AM his daughter." She pulled the trigger, shooting him repeatedly in the chest and throat as Gabriel gaped at her in shock. When the gun ran out of bullets, she continued to pull the trigger until Gabriel took the gun from her hands and threw it to the floor.

"I think he's dead, Baby." He turned Olivia until she was facing him. She stared at Linderman's body, looking into his vacant, glazed-over eyes, her own filling with tears. "Liv?" Gabriel turned her face to his, tilting her chin up so their eyes could meet. "Olivia? It's over. It's done. He's dead."

Olivia's chin trembled. "Is it wrong that I'm glad?"

Gabriel shook his head. "No, it's not." He pulled her into his arms, hugging her as he got his satellite phone out of his bag. "Hiro, it's Gabriel. We need an extraction now. We're in Nassau." He gave Hiro their coordinates, then hung up. He took his bag and Olivia's and took her arm, leading her outside to wait for Hiro. "We're going home, we're going to tell everyone what happened, and then we're coming back to the Caribbean to finish this."

"Why?" Olivia shrugged. "He's dead, what's the point?"

Gabriel glanced back at the house. "Because I seriously doubt this is over. He might be dead, but he had followers. They'll be coming for us." He hugged Olivia. "You should have let me do it. You should have let me kill him."

"No." Olivia shook her head. "He's always called me weak. I wanted in his last moment before he went to Hell where he belongs for him to realize that he was wrong."

Gabriel smiled. "You wanted to give him one final 'fuck you' before he died, huh?"

"Exactly." Olivia glared at the door of the beach house as Hiro appeared behind them. "I wanted him to look into my eyes and know that I was the one who was pulling the trigger."

As they turned and walked off of the porch towards Hiro, Gabriel's brow furrowed as he heard movement in the house. He quickly spun around as the door was flung open and Linderman stumbled out of it angrily. He lifted his gun and quickly shot Olivia in the chest before either of them could react, laughing.

"Did you REALLY think a few bullets could stop me? Did you honestly think I wouldn't have MORE?" He continued to shoot wildly and angrily. Gabriel lifted his hand, stopping the bullets before flinging them back at Linderman. The man fell on the porch, dead again.

"OLIVIA!" Gabriel ran to his wife where Hiro was kneeling over her. She struggled to breathe as Gabriel opened her shirt, moaning with fear as he saw the bullet hole in the right side of her chest. Every time she breathed, air would flow through the hole with a sickening sound. "Oh no." He shook his head. "No, no, no." He looked at Hiro. "Please, get us to Las Vegas and Herbert." He wrapped his arms around Olivia. "Please, Hiro."

Hiro nodded, placing his hands on Olivia and Gabriel's shoulders as Linderman began to twitch back to life on the porch. The man stood up, glaring at the trio. "YOU WILL ALL DIE!" He pointed to Gabriel. "And if she survives, you two will be the last! You'll watch everyone you care about die around you first, I swear it!" As the trio disappeared, Linderman stared down at his shirt, riddled with bullet holes. "They'll pay for this."

* * *

Peter and Sherry looked up from the couch as Hiro appeared in Peter's living room, Gabriel standing beside him with an unconscious Olivia draped in his arms. "OH NO!" Peter jumped up and ran to his sister. "What happened?"

"Linderman." Gabriel struggled to compose himself. "Where's Herbert?"

Peter shook his head. "I don't know, odds are, he's with Collette." Peter helped Gabriel place Olivia on the couch. He opened her shirt and stared at the bullet hole. "Probably a collapsed lung, at the least."

"FIND HERBERT!" Gabriel took Olivia's hand, crying. "Please don't do this, Honey. Not now." He looked around as Hiro and Sherry stared at them in shock. "Will someone PLEASE find Herbert?"

"There isn't time, she's dying." Peter took Olivia's free hand in one of his, then placed his hand on the bullet wound.

"What are you doing?" Gabriel glared at his brother-in-law.

"Shhh." Peter closed his eyes, thinking of Herbert and his powers. He thought of Olivia's hand healing with Herbert's touch as he felt an energy begin to flow from his hands into his sister's body. He concentrated, barely hearing Sherry gasp behind him.

"Look at her color." Sherry whispered. "She was so pale and now-"

"Oh my God." Gabriel sighed as Olivia's eyes began to open. "Can you hear me?"

Peter lifted the hand covering the wound. It had disappeared. He looked into his sister's eyes as they opened. "Thanks for that scare, Sis. I don't mind you dropping in, but try not to be so dramatic about it next time."

Olivia looked around, confused. "What happened?"

"Linderman regenerated after you shot him. He shot you as we were leaving." Gabriel shook his head. "I guess Claire's blood was in the samples that were sent to him before Peter and D.L. could steal them. He can regenerate now."

"Great." Olivia took a deep breath as she sat up, then started to cough. She covered her mouth as she doubled over, her face and neck turning red as she coughed harder and harder. Suddenly, she sat up, a bullet in her hand.

Sherry stared at the bullet. "EW! Gross!"

"So you SHOT Linderman? HE shot YOU?" Peter stared at her.

"Yeah." She nodded. "He found out where we were going to be in Nassau." She looked around. "We need to call a meeting and fast."

"We're in serious danger. I think the proverbial gloves have definitely come off now." Gabriel shook his head. "I knew I should have aimed those bullets I threw back at him at his head. I bet even he couldn't survive being shot in the head." He touched Olivia's cheek before backing away from her and walking out of the room. Frowning, Peter walked after him, following him into the kitchen. He leaned in the doorway as Gabriel leaned forward on the counters, bracing himself with his arms as he tried to pull himself together.

"Gabriel?" Peter cleared his throat.

"Can you give me a minute?" Gabriel kept his back to Peter. "I just need a moment alone, okay? I just watched my wife almost die after being shot by her father, of all people while I stood around like an idiot and let it happen."

"Okay." Peter nodded as he turned to leave.

"Peter?" Peter stopped and turned back to Gabriel as the man continued to keep his back to him. "Thank you. I've done a lot of things to you and your family and-" Gabriel stopped, his voice choking with emotion "-watching Olivia like that, it was my worst nightmare. Thank you for saving her."

"Hey, she may be your wife, but she's my sister." Peter shrugged. "Even if she wasn't though, it's not like I was going to let her lie there and die."

Gabriel nodded his head as Peter walked out of the room.

Olivia was sitting on the couch, buttoning her shirt back up. She glanced at Peter. "He okay?" Peter nodded as Olivia shook her head. "I don't know why I'm bothering with this shirt. It's got bullet holes in it." She shrugged. "I can't believe Linderman shot me." She looked off into the distance, frowning. "Maybe I should believe it, after all, I shot him first. Well, technically, he shot AT me first, but he knew I'd phase the bullet through. He's got people watching us, all of us. He knows what we're doing."

Hiro cocked his head to the side. "Do you think there's a mole?"

Olivia looked over at him, blinking as she thought about the question. "I honestly don't know. I hope not." She looked away again. "I shot him, I don't know how many times, four, five, SIX?" Peter sat next to her, putting an arm around her shoulders. "He was dead, completely and totally dead. I mean, pushing up the daisies, joining the choir invisible, rung down the curtain dead and yet he came back."

"He has Claire's powers now. You should ask her or Matt about the time that Matt had to shoot her. He said she was dead for a few minutes afterwards. It kind of freaked him out, to hear him tell it."

"I watched him die. I shot him and he came back. It was this blur. We were walking to Hiro and I heard a noise, a door opening behind us and then there he was. I didn't have time to phase, Gabriel didn't have time to TK the bullet, it happened so fast. I remember trying to breathe and feeling the air filling my chest and my lung collapsing." She glanced at Peter. "Not a good feeling. Then Gabriel pulled me into his arms and everything went black until I woke up to see you staring down at me."

"Olivia," Peter sighed "what did Linderman want?"

"He wanted to gloat, he wanted to lie and he wanted to try and convince us to join him. Me and Gabriel, I mean. He wanted us to join him and drop you guys like hot potatoes." Olivia closed her eyes. "We need to have a meeting, Pete. I want just the original group," she glanced at Sherry "and you if you want in, but that's all. No recruits."

"In case of a mole." Hiro nodded sadly. "I don't want to think about someone we know and trust lying to us."

"I don't want to think about it either." Olivia closed her eyes. "I'm hoping that he just has someone watching the comings and goings here, and not someone on the inside, but I don't know." She opened her eyes and shook her head. "I really just don't know."

* * *

"So he tracked you two down in Nassau and tried to get you both to leave us and join with his group." Noah paced the floor of his apartment. The group from New Year's Eve, including Sherry were seated around the living room, Nathan and Heidi were there as well, teleported in by Hiro. "Why do you think he did this?"

Olivia glanced at Gabriel. "When we were in Montego Bay, the person we met with there was a woman named Alice Kent. She was a precog."

"WAS?" Claude looked at them. "Define 'was'."

"She's dead. Linderman killed her."

"What kind of precog?" Nathan stared, worriedly at the bullet hole in Olivia's shirt. "And why didn't you change before the meeting?"

Olivia glanced down at her shirt. "Sorry. I was just so worried about getting everyone here as quickly as possible." She shook her head. "Mama Alice could touch your hand and tell you your future."

"She also was suffering from Alzheimer's disease and had dementia." Gabriel shrugged. "So basically anything she said needs to be taken with a grain of salt. Actually, scratch that. Anything she said could be thought of as bullshit."

Olivia gave Gabriel a perturbed look before continuing. "She was ninety years old. Apparently, Linderman had met her before. He showed up at her address after we left and she gave him a prediction that he didn't like."

"What kind of prediction?" Peter asked.

"The same one she gave us. We're going to win, and you and Gabriel are going to be the ones who kill Linderman in the end." Olivia nodded. "Among other things-"

"-And those other things are bullshit and we're not discussing them." Gabriel shook his head. "After we left Jamaica, we flew to the Bahamas to stay for the night. I think, among other powers, Linderman's gotten Claire's regeneration factor and Molly's tracking factor, because he met us at the house we'd rented."

"He beat us there." Olivia sighed. "I agree with you, Gabriel. He does have Molly and Claire's powers, but he also admitted that he's been having us followed. He knew where we were going before we even got there. He paid someone off to tell where I was going, or had someone search my flight records and rental records, something. Anyway, when we showed up at the house, he was already there. He claimed he just wanted to talk."

Gabriel snorted. "Talk? He wanted to gloat about having us followed and having Mama Alice murdered. He also wanted to try and spoon-feed us a bunch of lies about his real agenda. He claimed that he only kept his survival a secret from Olivia because he didn't want his enemies to go after her to make her talk about where he was. THEN he said that he was only building an army to protect himself from us and that he ONLY started building it after he heard that I had gotten all of you together."

"Obviously lying." Angela rolled her eyes. "He's never been a very truthful man, always trying to twist things to his advantage."

"Tell me about it." Gabriel rolled his eyes. "When we didn't buy that cock and bull story, he tried to rattle us with the fact that Mama Alice was now dead, so I rattled him with her little prediction. That's when he shot at Olivia."

"He was waving the gun around, first." Olivia nodded. "So when he fired, I was ready for him and phased the bullet through."

"And that's when I lost my shit." Gabriel leaned back in his chair. "First I used my TK. I choked him and then I threw him across the room. When he started talking shit about me, I started using my electrokinesis to shock him. That's when he told the truth about why he was really there. He claimed that he was there to convince us to leave you guys and join with him, so I started shocking him some more. I was about to finish him off when Olivia stopped me."

"Wait." D.L. turned to Olivia, frowning. "You STOPPED him? Why would you do a stupid-ass thing like that?"

"Because I wanted to be the one to kill him, and I did. When Gabriel choked Linderman, he took his gun away and tossed it aside. When he was shocking him, I grabbed the gun. I emptied it into him. He was dead." Olivia shrugged. "At least, he was dead for a few minutes. Long enough for us to call Hiro and leave the house."

"You should have shot him in the head." Gabriel sighed. "Actually, I should have taken his brain AFTER you shot him." As everyone stared at him, he shook his head. "Not to eat! God, I kill a few people and all of a sudden I'm no longer trustworthy? I wanted to keep it as a trophy, stick it in a jar of formaldehyde, maybe throw his eyes in there too, and flip it off when I walked by it every day."

"Personally, if you'd taken HIS brain, I'd have wrapped a bib around your neck and told you to have fun." Angela nodded. "Rotten bastard."

"Aw, thanks Mom." Gabriel smirked. "I have a feeling that I'd have gotten indigestion from it anyway. That, or food poisoning. When we left the house, I heard a noise. When I turned around, Linderman was already standing on the porch, holding his gun. He shot Olivia before I could react and TK the bullet. I TK'ed the rest of them, but that first one I let get past me." His face crumpled for a moment as Olivia took his hand, squeezing it gently. "I stopped the rest of them though and gave them back to him. I killed him too, I guess you could say. I should have put them in his brain too."

"That's not all." Hiro leaned forward. "Linderman got back up just as we were preparing to teleport. He threatened all of us. He told Gabriel that he and Olivia would be the last to die, if she survived the shooting. He said he'd kill every one of us first, to make them suffer."

"That true?" Nathan asked Gabriel.

Gabriel nodded. "Yeah, it's true. I think dying twice in a span of five minutes seriously pissed him off."

"Great." Nathan sighed. "So now he's not just sort of coming after us, he's going to start being in-your-face about it. Lovely. What now?"

"Now?" Noah sat down, his expression grave. "Now we need to start BEING an army instead of just TALKING about it. Peter, Mohinder, Sherry, you two are leaving tomorrow morning, correct?" Peter nodded. "Take guns with you. I had an arsenal transferred here from Primatech. Olivia, Gabriel, the same goes for the two of you. How many more people do you two have on your list?"

Olivia shrugged. "There's one in Puerto Rico, one in the Virgin Islands and another in the Cayman Islands."

"See to them as quickly as possible, then get back here." Noah nodded. "I know the two of you wanted to use this trip as a honeymoon on the side, but-"

"-I know." Gabriel frowned. "I don't want to be there any longer than we have to be now. Watching Olivia get shot was more than I could stand. We can honeymoon later when this is finished."

"Good." Noah took off his glasses, his expression serious. "Peter, I want your group to move through Mexico, Central and South America as quickly as possible. Hiro, please teleport them whenever you can or you can try it, Peter. We've wasted valuable time already. When everyone returns, here are my thoughts. First of all, everyone needs to get the regeneration serum, and I do mean EVERYONE! If you have special powers, you need to make an appointment with Mohinder, Herbert and Olivia as quickly as possible to get this done right away. If Linderman's looking to start picking everyone off, we need to make it as difficult as possible. Second, until that happens, I want EVERY adult to be armed whenever they leave this building. We'll pass this information along from floor to floor. If they don't know how to use a gun, they need to see me and I'll gladly teach them. Finally, along with starting the super power serum, I think that everyone, civilians included, needs to start learning martial arts and hand-to-hand combat, as well as weapons training."

"Dad, seriously?" Lyle looked around the room. "You want us all to learn kung-fu?"

"Kung-fu, krav maga, whatever it takes to fight off any attackers that come after us. For people like you and me and your mom, that'll be especially important."

"I have an idea." Hiro looked around the room. "When everyone gets back, I want to train all of you in this room on the art of the samurai sword, as well as martial arts. I'll train all of you, then after you've gotten the hang of it, everyone here will teach the others as well."

"Good idea." Noah nodded. "Thanks, Hiro."

"I will help him as well." Kaito cleared his throat. "Between our knowledge and Hiro's ability to stop time, we could make everyone experts in just a few months. You could train for twelve hours a day, without taking any time at all in this reality."

"What in the bloody hell are you talking about?" Claude stared at Kaito.

"Hiro can stop time while we train. Everything outside of the training room will be at a stand still. We'll walk into the training room at eight a.m., train for twelve hours and leave, again at eight a.m." He nodded. "We could even fit in two days of training for every one day that passes, more if we really pushed it."

"Good lord, they're trying to kill us." Claude sighed.

"It's what we have to do if we want to be an army." Hana looked around the room. "I am proficient in Krav Maga. Hiro, Kaito, I will be more than happy to teach that to everyone as well during the training sessions.

"Thank you, Hana." Kaito nodded. "I've always been interested in that form of combat.

Niki glanced at Micah. "What about the kids, Noah? They're really too little to have the serum, don't you think?"

"I've never tested it on children." Mohinder glanced at Molly. "I don't want to try it out on them."

"Then the children will need to be guarded constantly and diligently."

"I'll take the serums, anything that is needed to help." Claire spoke up. "I'll use it to help protect Molly, Lyle, Micah, Sanjog and Tatiana. Nikolai already has my powers, so he can help as well."

Noah and Nathan both looked over at her, smiling with pride. Noah winked at her. "That's my girl." He looked around the room. "Any questions?" He raised his eyebrows as everyone shook their heads. "Any comments?"

"Tell about the mole." Hiro looked at Olivia.

"Mole?" Noah frowned.

"There may be a mole here." Olivia stared at her friends. "Not in this room, mind you, but in the building. Linderman hinted about it. He's been having me followed, he admitted to it. He claims that he's been having people follow me since he faked his death for my 'protection'. He knew that Gabriel and I got falling-down drunk last night in Havana among other things. He also knew before he shot at me the first time, that I've acquired D.L.'s phasing ability. I don't know if he's just got people on the outside following me or possibly anyone else, or if he has someone inside here, spying on us."

"I'll start talking up everyone in the building with Trevor." Matt spoke up. "We'll figure out if anyone's got anything to hide."

"So that's all settled." Noah put his glasses back on. "Olivia and Gabriel, wrap things up in the Caribbean and get back here ASAP. Peter, Mohinder, Sherry, teleport when you can and don't pussy-foot around. Recruit, teleport, recruit, get back here. Everyone's going to get the regeneration serum as quickly as possible and then we'll start training to kick a little ass." He smiled softly. "Meeting adjourned."

"Krav Maga, kung-fu, weapons training and special serums." D.L. sighed as he left the apartment with Niki and Micah. "What the fuck did we sign up for, Baby?"

"Nothing we won't love and can't handle." Niki grinned.

"Damn, you're getting your 'Jessica' on at the idea of all of that, aren't you?" D.L. chuckled.

"Baby, you're not lying about that."

Nathan hugged Olivia as Hiro stood behind him with Heidi. "Are you really okay?"

"I'm fine." Olivia nodded. "Really." She grinned. "Sorry to have to drag you from D.C."

"No problem. I was falling asleep in session anyway when I got the call to report here with Heidi." Nathan sighed. "But you're really okay?"

"Will you stop being Mr. Overprotective Big Brother, already?" Olivia laughed softly. "I'm okay, really and truly."

"Fine." Nathan winked at her. "Toss that damn shirt. It's ruined."

"I know." She hugged Nathan again quickly. "Now get back to D.C. and make some laws."

"Yeah, because that's what I do all day." Nathan sighed as he turned to Hiro. "Let's roll."

* * *

After Nathan and Heidi disappeared with Hiro, Olivia quickly headed downstairs to her apartment with Gabriel. "Now that was rough." She went to the bedroom, pulling off her shirt and tossing it aside before digging in her closet to find another one. She turned to see Gabriel snatching the shirt up. He studied the bullet hole for a moment before quickly wadding it up and throwing it in the trash, his expression guarded. Olivia pulled a shirt on and went to him, wrapping her arms around his waist as she rested her cheek against his back. "I love you." She whispered.

Gabriel closed his eyes, reveling in the feeling of his wife's arms around him. He turned, pulling her close to him as he wrapped his arms around her body. "I love you too." He took a deep breath. "When Linderman shot you-"

"-I know." Olivia looked up at him. "And you've been holding it in ever since." She touched his cheek. "It's just the two of us now. It's okay."

"I know you think that Mama Alice's prediction is going to come true, that it has to come true in order to save everyone." Gabriel closed his eyes. "But I can't let it happen. I'm not going to kill you. I don't care what happens, I don't care if the whole world falls to shit around us. I'm not killing you."

"You may not have a choice."

"No, there's always a choice, Olivia. I've made mine." He kissed his wife softly on the lips. "I thought for a few minutes today that I'd lost you. Those few minutes were the worst of my life. I can't imagine actually killing you myself and I never will." He checked his watch. "When is Hiro supposed to come here and teleport us?"

"When we call him."

Gabriel smiled as he picked up his wife, kissing her passionately. "We'll call him later, then. I think he needs a rest after all of the excitement today and I think I need to make love to my wife, don't you?"

Olivia nodded. "Yeah, I think so too." She kissed him as he carried her to their bedroom, her legs wrapped around his waist, her arms wrapped around his neck.


	45. Chapter 45

Chapter Forty-Five: A New Mental Power, Linderman's Battle Plan

Gabriel lay next to Olivia in their bed, his eyes closed as he tried to sleep after making love. Sleep was eluding him that evening. Mama Alice's words of doom and images of Linderman shooting Olivia kept him awake. Sighing, he climbed out of bed, rolling his eyes as he realized it was still quite early in the evening. The day had been such a blur of travel and danger, he was sure it had to be the middle of the night. He went to the living room and opened a door, stepping out onto a small balcony. He took a deep breath as he watched the lights of the city sparkle in the night.

"You okay, Man?" Gabriel glanced to his side to see Matt standing out on his own balcony. Gabriel watched him for a moment, then nodded, looking away. Matt cocked an eyebrow at him, then turned his own gaze towards the city. "Hell of a meeting, wasn't it? It sounds like we're going to be working our butts off a lot soon. I think I'd like that. We're all sitting around these apartments all day, getting soft, getting fat, getting bored as hell, it's time for us to start learning to fight and use the new powers we're supposed to get. I'm ready for it. You?"

Gabriel shrugged. "I don't know. What if, in the end, we're all supposed to die anyway? What if we do all of this for nothing? Why should we spend our last two years on this earth ignoring our families, ignoring the ones we love, just to die in the desert anyway?"

Matt nodded. "I get it. I ask myself the same question. Do you know what keeps me going? Do you know why I'm ready to fight tooth and nail for everything against Linderman?" Gabriel turned to him, shaking his head. "I have a wife in there who's pregnant. She's due in July. We're expecting a boy. I think about my wife, I think about my son and the future that could be denied to him if I fail in this, and it pisses me off. According to Future Hiro, Linderman sends people to kill all of those with super powers, including children. I want my son to grow up. I want him to know what it's like to live, to hate or love school, to have friends, to fall in love. I want him to feel about his children the way I already feel about him. I want him to one day remember this battle and realize that I helped to truly and honestly give him the world. When you and Olivia have Faith, you'll know what I mean."

"I already do." Gabriel smiled softly. "I know she'll be here in eighteen months, but I also know that somewhere, in some other reality, there's already a Faith, and she's pulling for me to put everything right. She wants a father to teach her to ride bikes, and a mother to fuss over her messy curls. Maybe she even wants a little brother or sister to get on her nerves and mess with her stuff. I want that for her too." He looked away. "What if someone told you that you COULD give your child a future, one where a super powered megalomaniac didn't exist to enslave the world without anyone to oppose him? What if someone told you that all of that was possible, but in order to make it happen, you'd have to kill Janice? Would you do it?"

Matt stared at him. "Is that what Mama Alice told you?" Gabriel looked away as Matt's eyes widened. "Shit. You're going to have to kill Olivia?"

"It's a load of crap. I don't know why I'm thinking about it. Everything she said was confusing, really. She said that I die the day Faith is born, but then she also said that the only way to destroy Linderman, kill him totally and completely, was to kill Olivia. She said that Peter and I both do it and killing her will save everyone."

Matt let out a low whistle. "Damn. That's confusing. How do you kill your wife, after you've been killed yourself? How do you kill your wife, period?"

"I can't." Gabriel stared at the pavement ten stories below. "I'd rather die right now than kill her. I never thought I'd say something like that six months ago, but it's true. Every day and every night, there's this voice, this urge to kill and destroy. It's the Sylar in me talking. It's like having a demon inside of me. I've been fighting him ever since the day I first kissed Olivia. I keep him at bay, I've kept him pushed away so far, but there are times-" he trailed off for a moment "-I let him come out to play today with Linderman. I let Sylar have free reign to do with Linderman what I wanted. I liked how it felt to lose myself inside and let the evil out, but it's hard as hell to let Sylar go when it's over. When Olivia shot Linderman, part of me was disappointed. I wanted the kill myself, but then part of me was so proud of her for standing up and finally giving him what he deserved."

"Maybe the Sylar part of you will be what we need in the end." Matt stared off into the distance. "Maybe when the time comes, Sylar will have to be the one to finish this."

"By killing Olivia?" Gabriel shook his head. "I just don't think I have it in me in any way to put a sword to my wife's neck and end her life." He sighed. "I don't want to think about it at all right now."

"Then don't. Love your wife, enjoy the time you have with her and hope that, in the end, the fates will decide what truly happens."

"Maybe." Gabriel shrugged and headed back inside. "I need to eat. I'm not hungry, but I need to try and eat something before we head back to Puerto Rico." He glanced at Matt. "Thanks for the talk."

"You're welcome." Matt grinned. "Who'd have thought the two of us could have a pleasant conversation?"

"I wouldn't have thought that a few months ago, that's for sure." Gabriel stared at Matt. "Listen, don't tell anyone about that prophesy thing."

"I won't. You need to sit down and examine it more, anyway, maybe talk about it with Peter since this little prophesy involves him too." Matt nodded at him. "Have a safe trip back."

"We'll try." Gabriel went inside the apartment and looked around for a moment before going into the kitchen. He pulled out bread and meat and started making a sandwich.

"Making two of those?" Gabriel smiled as Olivia walked into the kitchen, wearing her favorite beat-up tee shirt from the Georgia Bulldogs.

"I thought you were sleeping."

Olivia walked to Gabriel, wrapping her arms around his waist. "I couldn't sleep without you."

"I tried to be quiet when I got out of bed." Gabriel finished one sandwich and placed it to the side for Olivia before he started on his own.

"You were, I just knew when you left. The bed was empty without you." She ignored her sandwich as she rested her head against his back, listening to his heart beating. "I like that sound."

"What sound?"

"Your heart. I like to listen to it."

Gabriel smiled as he finished his sandwich. "Sort of like how I like listening to yours. Unlike you though, I don't have to press my head against you to listen, I can hear it whenever you're near. I can hear it speed up when you sense I'm around, and slow down when you think you're alone. And when we're together, making love, I like the way it pounds, it sounds like it's going to leap out of your chest."

"It feels that way. It feels like it's going to explode every time you touch me."

Gabriel glanced behind his shoulder, his eyes meeting hers. "I can tell." He winked at her as he turned back around, grabbing two plates. "So are we going to eat what passes for dinner in the Gray residence, or are you going to cling to me like a spider monkey all night?"

Olivia giggled. "You mean I can't do both?" She let him go and grabbed her plate, kissing her husband on the cheek. "Thanks for making dinner."

"It's the least I can do." Gabriel followed Olivia to the table and sat beside her. They started eating, stopping occasionally to lean against each other or touch the other's hand or body, neither of them wanting to lose contact with the other for too long. "I could hear your heart this afternoon in Nassau." Gabriel stared at his plate. "I heard it start to slow after Linderman shot you. In Peter's apartment, it got slower and slower, I knew I was losing you."

"Good thing he absorbed Linderman's power from Herbert." Olivia looked over at her husband. "But I knew, even though he shot me, that I wasn't going to die. You're not going to lose me yet, it wasn't my time."

"That's right." Gabriel finished his sandwich, pushing his plate aside. "According to Mama Alice-"

"-I know." Olivia shook her head. "That's why I knew I wasn't going to die when I was shot. It hurt like a son of a bitch and I owe him for that, big time, but I knew it wasn't time."

"And it won't ever be time, as far as I'm concerned." Gabriel stared at the table. "I'm not doing it, Olivia."

"Okay." Olivia sighed. "There's something else she said, though. There's something that's been bugging me ever since we left her home. She said to 'Protect The Baby'. What do you think she meant? Do you think she was talking about Faith? She said 'The Baby' was in danger."

"Maybe she meant Faith." Gabriel stared off into space. "I don't know. Maybe the project? It's sort of your baby and she could have been speaking metaphorically. She was cryptic as hell, not that I believe a word of what she said, mind you."

"Oh, of course not, that's why you left our bed to stand on the balcony and discuss it with Matt, because you didn't believe a word of it." Olivia smiled as Gabriel stared at her. "I told you I knew when you left the bed."

"Sneak."

"I know." Olivia stretched as she stood up. "I think we've hidden out here long enough, don't you? We need to finish our Caribbean trip and return here to start learning to kick some bad-guy ass."

"I know." Gabriel sighed as he stood up to follow Olivia into the bedroom to change clothes. "I don't even want to know how much Hiro and Hana are going to wear us out. Did you hear Kaito? He's talking about stopping time for twelve hours so we can train first thing every morning. So what are we supposed to do with the rest of our day?"

"Sleep, until we return that night to train for twelve hours again."

"So every training day will, in essence, last forty-eight hours?"

"Yep!" Olivia pulled her clothes on and grabbed her duffel bag, turning to watch her husband do the same. "Stop time at eight a.m., train for twelve hours, leave at eight a.m., you'll probably sleep while Mohinder, Herbert and I head to the lab to inoculate people with the serum, then I'll come home and crash, we get up, report back to Hiro at eight p.m. and train for twelve hours again, leaving, once again, at eight p.m. to study weapons and then sleep like the dead until the next morning."

"Shit." Gabriel closed his eyes. "You know, when we started talking about creating an army, I didn't realize we were actually going to have a boot camp. Is someone going to start marching the halls with a trumpet to wake us up twice a day?"

Olivia laughed. "Well, if we can find someone with the energy to do it, maybe. It'll only be for a few months, until we can master what Hiro and Hana teach."

"And then we'll all break off and divide our recruits into teams to train THEM!" Gabriel sighed. "I'm starting to realize why the Gabriel that Future Hiro remembered hauled ass, and I don't think it was only because everyone shut him out. I think it's because he wanted to actually get some fucking rest."

"You poor baby." Olivia rolled her eyes. "Let's go find Hiro and get to San Juan. The quicker we find this," she checked her list "Oscar Solis-Jimenez, the better."

As they left their apartment, they ran into Peter, who greeted them with a grin. "Ready to teleport?"

Gabriel stared at him. "Yeah, we're ready for HIRO to teleport us."

"Hiro decided that, if I'm going to be bouncing my team around South America, I needed some practice." Peter reached out to place a hand on Gabriel and Olivia's shoulders.

Gabriel shrugged him off. "Practice on someone else, freak-show! I don't want my head in San Juan and my nuts in Grand Cayman!"

"Actually, I thought those were in Olivia's pocket, guess I was wrong." As Peter reached out to both of them again, Claude stepped out of the elevator with Tatiana and Nikolai.

"Whoa!" Claude called out as Tatiana ran to Gabriel. "Someone heard the two of you were here and wanted to say goodbye first."

Gabriel grinned as he swept the little girl up in his arms. "How's my favorite little girl doing? Have you missed me?"

Tatiana smiled as Nikolai translated for Gabriel. She nodded quickly. "When you are returning?" She asked.

"Very, very, very soon, Princess." Gabriel kissed her cheek. "I can't be away from you for too long. I don't want you learning English without me." He hugged her quickly before handing her back to Claude. "Take care of her."

"Always." Claude winked at Gabriel. "You know how much I love the baby."

"Yeah, I love her to pieces too." Gabriel ruffled Tatiana's hair, getting a giggle from her before turning back to Peter and Olivia. Olivia stared at him, then back at Tatiana as he heart dropped into her stomach. Gabriel glanced at her, noticing the color draining from her face. "You okay?"

Olivia nodded. "I'll tell you later. Let's get to San Juan." She took Gabriel's hand as Peter placed a hand on both of their shoulders. They all closed their eyes, then opened them to find themselves standing in an alley. Gabriel touched his head, then his legs, sighing with relief. "Still have your balls, Baby?" Olivia smirked. Gabriel nodded, rolling his eyes at his wife.

He glanced around, staring at the old buildings and cobblestone streets. "Great, Peter! You teleported us to the past!"

"Oh for crying out loud!" Olivia shook her head. "Read a travel book, you dink! We're in Old San Juan."

Peter followed them as they walked out onto the streets, checking the address listed on the paper. "So who have you two got to find here?"

"Oscar Solis-Jimenez." Gabriel read the address. "You're pretty good, Pete. He lives here in Old San Juan."

"Cool." Peter followed them as they began to wander the streets, searching for the address listed on their paper.

Gabriel finally turned to him. "Okay, you got us here in one piece, and I thank you for that. Why are you sticking around? Wouldn't you rather be playing footsie with Sherry?"

"Yeah." Peter shrugged. "There's one little catch."

"Which would be?"

Peter looked away. "I'm still a little shaky with teleportation. I can teleport, but then I sort of have to wait a while before I can do it again." He gave them a quick, embarrassed grin.

"SHAKY?" Gabriel glared at Peter. "You're not teleporting us anymore!"

"I got us here, didn't I?"

"And thank God we DID make it in one piece! Holy crap, Peter!"

"Oh give him a break." Olivia shook her head. "He's still learning."

"He can learn with someone else." Gabriel sighed, exasperated.

"Here's the address." Olivia pointed to a brightly colored apartment building. "Well, maybe Peter can practice by teleporting Mr. Solis-Jimenez back with him to Vegas when he goes."

"Let's not tell the poor sap that he's teleporting with a freakin' trainee who's still 'shaky'!" Gabriel smirked as Peter rolled his eyes, muttering insults at his brother-in-law under his breath.

They walked into the apartment building and walked up the stairs to the apartment listed on the address. A man greeted them, smiling warmly at them after they knocked on the door. "Yes?" He asked.

"Are you Oscar Solis-Jimenez?" Olivia asked.

"Si, I am DOCTOR Oscar Solis-Jimenez, how may I help you?" He nodded as Olivia studied him. He was tall and handsome with deeply tanned skin, wavy dark brown hair and warm brown eyes.

"I'm Doctor Olivia Gray, this is my husband Gabriel, and my brother, Peter Petrelli. May we have a moment of your time?"

Oscar nodded as he stepped aside, allowing them into his apartment. "Of course, come inside."

* * *

Linderman stepped off of his helicopter, glaring as he stomped into his compound. People milled around the lobby, stepping out of his way warily as he made his way downstairs to a laboratory. A doctor looked up at him nervously as Linderman approached. "Yes sir?" He asked, his voice quavering with fear.

Linderman looked around the empty lab. "How many people have you imbued with the serums lately?"

"We've got about half of the people here injected with the regeneration serum, so far."

"Anything else?" Linderman glared at him.

"Not yet, Sir. They're very reluctant to-"

"-Reluctant?" Linderman's eyes narrowed. "Let them know that they will either begin to receive every serum of every power we have in stock, or they will die, do you understand me?"

The doctor swallowed. "Yes Sir. I'll have my team on it right away, Sir."

"Good." Linderman made his way to his apartment, stopping for a moment to motion to a small man that walked past him. "Furkan, I must speak with you."

"Yes Sir." The man bowed to Linderman and followed him into his suite and office. "What may I do for you?" He asked, in heavily accented English.

"Your time in the Turkish army, what did you learn? What modes of self-defense and attack were you taught?"

Furkan Kaya thought on the subject for a moment. "I was a commando in the Turkish Army for many years before you found me. We were taught Krav Maga and jujitsu. We were also taught how to use many forms of weapons and artillery."

"What about sword play?"

"I am proficient in fencing, Sir. Also, my grandfather kept a scimitar, a kilij that had been in our family for generations. He taught me how to use it."

"Good." Linderman paced the floor. "I have given orders to the doctor downstairs to begin to imbue everyone here with powers to help them in combat. When they are finished, I want you to begin training everyone in combat situations and fencing. I want them all to be proficient in the use of the kilij. Can you do that?"

Furkan nodded, smiling softly. "So it begins?"

Linderman beamed. "Indeed it does. When I am confident that we are ready, we will descend on our little friends in Las Vegas and teach them all a very humbling lesson."

"I cannot wait." Furkan crossed his arms in front of his chest. "Anyone who is thoughtless enough to think they can contend with someone possessing the greatness that you have, must be put in their place."

"And that place is under the ground." Linderman laughed softly. "We will take no prisoners, we will indeed exterminate them all."

* * *

"So you are a part of a group that is trying to defeat this other man?" Oscar sat back in his chair, studying Olivia, Gabriel and Peter. "What is his final goal?"

"Destroy anyone who possesses a power that can bring him down." Peter leaned forward. "He wants to dominate the world with the powers he's possessing, he doesn't want competition."

"I see." Oscar sighed. "I was afraid it would come to this, one day." He stood and paced the floor. "I knew the power I possessed wouldn't be mine alone forever. I knew it wouldn't be kept a secret."

"So will you join us?" Olivia asked. "Will you help us defeat him?"

Oscar bowed his head. "I don't see how my power will help you, but yes, I will come with you. I own a private practice here in San Juan. I am a psychiatrist by trade, my power has helped me in that, but I am willing to drop my practice here in order to come with you. If this man has his way, I won't be alive much longer to help others anyway, yes?"

"I'm afraid so." Peter nodded. "He knows who among us has powers and he's collecting anyone he can. If you don't come with us now, he could find you himself and kill you."

"I see." Oscar nodded. "Let me call my secretary and have her make arrangements to send my patients to my partner. I'll tell her only that pressing matters are sending me to the United States for an undetermined amount of time."

"Thank you." Peter smiled.

"No, thank you." Oscar turned to stare out of the window of his apartment. "I've always wondered if there were others out there with abilities similar to mine. Now I know. I'm not alone. It's a good feeling."

"If you don't mine me asking" Gabriel stared at Oscar "what exactly IS your power?"

"Memory retrieval." Oscar turned to Gabriel, smiling. "Good thing for a psychiatrist to have, no? I can touch your mind, pull up any memories you have, be they what you had for breakfast this morning, or memories you've long since forgotten and display them to you or transfer that memory to others. Let me demonstrate." He walked to Olivia and touched her forehead. "Relax, this won't hurt." He closed his eyes as he reached out and touched Gabriel's forehead as well. "You are both about to experience something your wife long since forgot about."

Gabriel closed his eyes, gasping as he realized he was standing with Olivia and Oscar in a hallway. "Oh my God." Gabriel turned as Olivia took a deep breath, smiling softly. "It's home. It's the house I lived in with Mom and Dad before they died." She began to walk around the hallway, pointing to a door. "This was my bedroom." Gabriel followed her as she walked into the room. It was dark, a nightlight casting a faint glow around the bedroom, decorated in pink. He noticed a small child asleep in her bed, and recognized immediately that it was Olivia as a child. She slept peacefully, her long chestnut curls tangled around her pillow. Olivia stared at herself. "That's me."

"You were pretty beautiful." Gabriel winked at her. "You'd have charmed me right off of my tricycle."

Olivia turned to Oscar. "She can't see us?"

Oscar shook his head. "We're in your head, your memories, not actually in the past."

"Okay." Olivia turned around, staring at the room. "I can't be more than three or four, so what memory is this?"

"You tell us." Oscar leaned against a wall.

Gabriel and Olivia turned as they heard a doorbell ringing. They glanced back to see little Olivia sit up in her bed, frowning as voices began to speak downstairs. Olivia recognized the voices. "It's Mom and Dad." She frowned. "And Angela?" They watched as little Olivia climbed out of bed, her curls tumbling down her back as she tiptoed out of her room. They followed her as she crept down the hall, clad in pink pajamas, listening to the voices below.

"-But why can't I see her?" They heard Angela's voice downstairs. "I swear I won't tell her who I am."

"Angela." They heard a man's voice. "You can't keep doing this, popping up unexpectedly. You have a life and a husband, you have two beautiful sons. Be happy with that."

Olivia watched as her younger self knelt beside the stairs, staring at the people below in the foyer. She was hidden from them as she peeked through the banister at the adults below. Gabriel watched as well as a younger Angela paced the floor of the foyer, fighting tears as a couple tried to calm her down. The man was in his mid-thirties and handsome, with wide brown eyes and fiery red hair. His wife was of a similar age, petite and pretty with blond waves and green eyes. The woman walked over to Angela, hugging her. "You knew this was going to be difficult, we all knew that, but you entrusted Olivia to us. We promised you that we'd take care of her and love her as our own, and we have, but YOU promised to stay away. Let Olivia lead a normal life, please."

"Does she know anything? Does she know that she's adopted or who I am? Does she know what kind of power she could end up possessing one day?" Angela leaned against he friend, tears streaming down her cheeks. "Will you ever tell her about me, or her brothers?"

"No." Sally Greene shook her head. "We'll tell her one day that she was adopted, but Angela, we can't tell her about you or Nathan or your baby son and we hope to God we never have to tell her about any of the powers that you or I or Jack or anyone else have."

"You know she'll manifest. It's going to happen eventually. Both of her birth parents have powers, don't you think she'll have them too?" Angela sighed. "I never should have let Dallas and Linderman strong-arm me into giving her up. I should have gone with my first instinct the minute I realized I was pregnant. I should have taken whatever money I could have gotten my hands on, grabbed Nathan and made a run for it."

"They would have found you." Sally looked at her old friend sadly. "You know this was the only way to keep everyone safe, especially Olivia. Besides, if you had left, you wouldn't have Peter."

"I know." Angela smiled sadly. "He's such a sweet little boy. Dallas wanted a girl when I got pregnant with him. I was glad when it turned out to be a boy. I'd already had my little girl, if Dallas had wanted one so badly, he should have let me keep her." Angela looked fiercely at Sally. "Linderman doesn't come around or ask about her, does he?"

Sally shook her head. "You're the only one of our old group that we see. We've cut off ties with everyone else, especially Linderman."

"And if anything ever happens to you-"

"-We have it in our will that should anything at all happen, Olivia is to be sent to you, an old friend of the family." Sally nodded reassuringly.

"Good. I don't want Linderman to ever, EVER get his hands on her. The look on his face when he found out I was pregnant-" Angela shuddered. "-You're right. Giving her to you was the best way to take care of the situation. I just wish I could see her and know she's okay."

"She's perfect." Sally turned and handed Angela a picture. "Keep it. It was taken last month at her birthday party."

Angela took the picture, her eyes filling with tears. "She looks like me."

"She really does." Sally smiled. "She has her father's eyes, but she looks so much like you."

"Sally, Angela-" Jack interrupted them as he nodded towards the stairs. "-we have an eavesdropper, I can sense her presence."

Sally sighed and headed towards the stairs. Suddenly, she paused as her expression changed. Behind her, Angela's expression went from sad to surprised as Sally smiled softly and ascended the stairs. "Angela, wait!" 'Angela's' body cried out from the stairs.

'Sally' turned, winking. "I'm just putting my daughter to bed, I'll be back down in a minute."

"This isn't funny, Ang! It wasn't funny when you swapped us out when you were in labor so I could 'experience' her birth and it's not funny now!"

'Sally' climbed the stairs, smirking as Jack stared in shock at 'Angela' beside him. She spotted Olivia sitting on the floor beside the stairs. "Couldn't sleep?"

Little Olivia shook her head. "I heard a doorbell."

Gabriel leaned over to his wife. "You know, I thought Tatiana was the most adorable kid I'd ever seen, but I swear I could just eat you up."

"Sssh." Olivia stared intensely at her younger self as her mother reached down and picked her up.

"It's time for you to get tucked back into bed." 'Sally' lifted Olivia in her arms and carried her down the hallway as 'Angela' called to her from the foyer.

"Angela, this isn't funny, dammit! Jack, will you go up there before she ends up telling Livvie something we don't want her to know?"

Olivia turned in her mother's arms at the voice downstairs. "You said I was too big to carry, Mommy."

"You're not too big tonight."

"Why does that lady call you Angela? Who is she?"

'Sally' winked at her daughter. "An old friend of Mommy's from years ago. She used to be my best friend."

"Like Daisy's mine?"

"Daisy?"

"The doggie outside."

'Sally' laughed. "Yes, like Daisy." She carried little Olivia into her bedroom and set her on the bed. "Now, you need to lie down and get some sleep, okay?"

"Okay." Olivia stretched out on the bed as her mother tucked the covers around her. "Mommy?"

'Sally' looked at her. "Yes?"

"What does 'dopted mean?"

"It means your mommy and daddy love you very much." 'Sally' looked down at her, touching her cheek and hair. "You do know how much I love you, don't you Sweetie?"

"Uh-huh, you tell me all the time."

"I'm glad I do. I love you very, very much." She smiled sadly and leaned down, kissing Olivia's cheek. "Now, close your eyes and go to sleep, okay? I love you."

"Okay. I love you too, Mommy." Olivia yawned sleepily as 'Sally' stood up and walked to the bedroom door, watching sadly as Olivia closed her eyes and went to sleep.

Olivia and Gabriel both opened their eyes, realizing they were back in Oscar's apartment. Oscar smiled down at them. "Interesting memory, Dr. Gray."

"Yeah." Olivia touched her cheek and realized she was crying. "Very interesting."

"What did you remember?" Peter asked them.

Gabriel smiled as Olivia looked away, tears streaming down her cheeks. "Apparently when Olivia was four, your mom showed up to see her, switched bodies with her adoptive mother and tucked her in." He took Olivia's hand, squeezing it. "She loved you."

"I know." Olivia stared at the floor, her voice tight. "She really had no choice in giving me up, she never wanted to give me up." She looked around. "But my parents promised her that if anything happened to them, SHE would take me instead of Linderman. They never wanted me with him. What changed?"

"I don't know." Gabriel shook his head. "Maybe Linderman twisted some arms to take you instead."

"Do you want me to ask Mom about it?" Peter asked.

Olivia shook her head as she took a deep breath. "No. I'll talk to her about it one day." She stood up, smiling at Peter. "So do you think you're ready to head back with the good doctor?"

Peter nodded. "Yeah, I'm ready." He turned to Oscar. "Can you call from Vegas?"

"Si." Oscar nodded. He went to his bedroom and packed a few things. While he was gone, Olivia turned to Peter.

"I have a message for Claude, make sure you tell him this."

"Sure, what?"

Olivia glanced at Gabriel. "Tell him to keep a close eye on Tatiana. Tell him that she may be in danger. It's something Mama Alice said and I think she was referring to Tatiana when she said it."

Gabriel's eyes widened. "Oh my God! You think she's 'The Baby' who's in danger?"

"Yeah." Olivia nodded. "I do."

Peter shook his head. "I'm going to have to hear all of that prophesy of Mama Alice's soon."

"You will when we all get back." Olivia sighed. "Even if Gabriel doesn't believe in it, I do."

"I'll tell Claude to protect Tatiana." Peter smiled as Oscar returned to the room, carrying a bag. "Ready to go?"

"So we just, teleport?" Oscar looked warily at Peter.

"Yep. Just close your eyes and when you open them, we'll be in Vegas."

"Yeah." Gabriel whispered. "If you're lucky." He shrugged as Olivia gave him a look. "What? Just being honest!"

"Stop it." Olivia shook her head as Peter grinned at them before closing his eyes, putting his hand on Oscar's shoulder and disappearing.

"Well," Gabriel shouldered his bag. "that's Peter and our latest recruit taken care of. What do you say to the two of us finding a hotel and getting some sleep?"

"I say that sounds wonderful." Olivia nodded. "Lead the way."


	46. Chapter 46

Chapter Forty-Six: San Juan Water Sports, The Weather Girl

"You know, if you keep slipping out of bed and leaving while I'm asleep, I'm going to think I kick or snore or something even worse." Gabriel turned to see Olivia walking towards him on the beach, their hotel looming behind her. She sat beside him on the beach blanket he'd spread out, resting her head on his shoulder.

Gabriel kissed the top of her head. "I'm just having trouble sleeping, that's all." He stared out at the ocean, watching the way the moonlight played on the waves. "I thought I'd get sleepy if I came out here and listened to this."

"It's a wonderful sound, isn't it?" Olivia sighed. "Reminds me of home."

"The home I saw in your memory tonight?" Gabriel asked.

"Yeah, the home on Tybee Island. The beach there was my backyard. The earliest memories that I have are of me playing in the water, building sand castles with Daisy."

"The dog?" Gabriel grinned at her. "Your bestest early friend?"

Olivia smiled. "Yeah. She was this little blond mutt. My parents had her before I was born, she was sort of their first 'baby' and I loved her to pieces. She died of old age when I was thirteen, I was devastated. Mom and Dad wanted to get another dog, but I wouldn't hear of it. I thought it was betraying her memory, or something like that."

"We can get a dog." Gabriel looked at Olivia as she stared out at the ocean.

"Yeah. After this is over and we have Faith, I'd like that." She turned to Gabriel. "I want to raise her on Tybee, in the house where I grew up, okay? I was thinking about that. I want her to have the childhood I had: swimming before she could walk, snorkeling, scuba diving, learning to sailboat-"

"-You do all of those things, huh? You were taught all of that as a kid?" As Olivia nodded, Gabriel laughed softly. "I spent my days dodging bullies and working in my dad's shop. Different worlds entirely."

"And yet look how well they mesh. The spoiled trust fund princess and the working class-"

"-working class serial killer."

"Stop that." Olivia shook her head. "Why do you do that? You're so much more than you think you are. When will you realize that?"

"I realize that every time I see myself through your eyes, but I also realize I can't change my past."

"But you can make your future better."

Gabriel smiled. "We both can." He kissed Olivia. "I'd like to raise Faith on Tybee Island."

"Actually, I'd like to split it. Tybee Island, Georgia and Queens, New York. She needs to know where both of her parents came from and realize that she has to earn everything she gets in this world. My parents did that for me. I didn't GET an allowance, I EARNED it. I never got anything 'just because', I got it for a job well done, whether it was for getting straight A's, or cleaning my room, or setting the table, or helping wash dishes. My parents didn't employ maids or cooks or butlers, they taught me to take care of myself, except for the cooking part. I never quite got that down. I want Faith to be the same way. I want her to know that just because her parents have money doesn't mean SHE has money or that she's better than anyone else because of it."

"I like that idea." Gabriel nodded. "I also like the idea of teaching her that the Yankees are so much better than the Braves."

"Oh, like HELL they are!" Olivia pushed at her husband playfully. "Yankees suck!"

"No, YOU suck!" Gabriel pushed back at her, laughing.

Olivia grinned. "Yeah, and you like it when I do." She stood up, stretching. "I think I know something we can do to wear ourselves out and get some sleep."

Gabriel stretched out on the blanket, resting on his elbows. "Oh, I do too, but you have to get back down here with me to do it."

"Not that!" Olivia laughed. "At least, not yet." She pulled off her tee-shirt, revealing a bikini underneath.

Gabriel stared at her body hungrily. "Oh, now you're just teasing."

"No, I'm getting ready to swim." She pulled off her bikini top. "NOW, I'm just teasing." She started backing away from her husband towards the surf.

Gabriel sat up as Olivia began to pull off her bottoms. "What if someone sees us?"

"First of all, it's two a.m. and everyone is asleep. Second of all, we're not in the prudish U.S., just one of it's territories. I don't think anyone will mind a naked woman swimming in the water in the middle of the night."

"You want to go skinny-dipping in the ocean?" Gabriel shook his head, glancing at the hotel over his shoulder. "You can't be serious."

"If you can catch me, you can have me." Olivia winked and threw her bikini at him as she turned and ran into the surf.

Gabriel watched as she ran into the water, and began to swim away. He glanced at the hotel again. "She's insane. We're going to get caught, we're going to get into trouble." He laughed. "But then again, when did I ever give a damn about getting into trouble?" He stood up, pulling off his clothes before running into the water after his wife. With powerful strokes he swam towards her until he reached her, pulling her close to him. "I caught you."

"Yes, you did." Olivia panted as she held onto him, her hands gliding over his body under the water, making him moan. "Where did you learn to swim like that?"

Gabriel kissed her neck, tasting the salt water on her skin. "Just because I grew up in Queens, don't assume I didn't learn how to swim and swim well."

They drifted back towards the shore on the waves, kissing and touching each other until their feet hit the sand. Clinging to each other, they climbed out of the water and stumbled back to the blanket, falling onto it together, their hands and legs twining together as they kissed. Gabriel closed his eyes, moaning as Olivia's mouth traveled from his neck to his chest and then lower. He shuddered with pleasure at the sensation of her mouth, enjoying it until he finally pulled her into his arms, pressing her mouth against his as she straddled him and began to move on top of him quickly. The sound of the waves crashing on the beach masked the cries of pleasure from the couple as Olivia and Gabriel made love passionately. As Olivia moved faster, trembling and moaning on top of her husband, Gabriel grasped her hips, guiding her movements until she began to moan even louder. As she began to climax, he quickly rolled her over, moving on top of her as he began to thrust quickly, joining her in ecstasy as he shuddered and collapsed on top of her, breathing heavily as Olivia wrapped her arms around him, digging her nails into his back. They lay together, entwined on the beach, their breathing heavy as their bodies cooled down from the cool breezes that blew over them from the waters. Gabriel rolled onto his side, pulling Olivia to him, spooning her as they dozed off together on the beach, exhausted.

"Ever do THAT on Tybee Island?" Gabriel whispered sleepily.

"With my parents living right on the beach, watching me like a hawk?" Olivia shook her head as she began to drift off to sleep. "Not a chance in Hell. I didn't even kiss a guy until college, much less have sex." She yawned. "And when I started doing that, I never took any guy I was seeing to Tybee. I only planned on bringing the man I wanted to marry there, it was too special a place to waste on some random fuck-buddy."

"So you'll be taking me there."

"Mmmmh, hmmm. We'll live there one day. You, me, Faith, any other kids we have . . ."

" . . . Oliver, gotta name a boy Oliver . . ."

" . . . Jackson Oliver, after my Dad. We'll call him Jack, okay?"

"Okay." Gabriel finally found sleep, naked with his equally naked wife beside him on the beach in San Juan."

* * *

Sherry moaned loudly in bed, her breath hitching in gasps of pleasure. As she began to moan louder, she grabbed a pillow, shoving it over her face to muffle the sounds as she began to orgasm. As her breathing began to slow, Peter's popped out from under the covers, pulled the pillow away and began to kiss her. "Thank you." She whispered.

Peter grinned. "I'm not done yet." He entered her, moaning with her as they began to move together.

Sherry giggled. "Best boyfriend, ever!"

In his bedroom, Mohinder packed as he listened to music on his mp3 player, and thanked his lucky stars that he'd finally gotten enough sense to buy one. Peter and Sherry were nowhere near as loud or obnoxious as Herbert and Collette, and they tried to keep the sounds of their lovemaking to a minimum, but Mohinder understood that they were falling in love and occasionally couldn't help making noise. He didn't mind the noise usually, but sometimes it was a sad reminder for him that he was alone in a building where everyone seemed to be pairing off, like Noah's Ark. Even Hiro and Ando seemed to have found people to spend their free time with, hanging out and visiting Leilani and her roommate Rosario. He thought of his ex-girlfriend Mira, and how much he'd once loved her. He wondered if she was thinking of him, then frowned, realizing she'd probably moved on with her life. He found his mind drifting to Sarah Ellis, the woman he knew as Eden McCain, and thought of the way she'd kissed him the last time he'd seen her. She'd died by her own hand, choosing to take her own life rather than let Gabriel take it for her. The thought of Gabriel with the latest woman he'd taken a liking to made his blood boil with anger. He'd been responsible for Eden's death and now made love daily to Olivia. "Bloody bastard." He whispered to himself. He knew there was no reason to blame Gabriel for Olivia's feelings, but it still irked him to no end to see the two of them together. He turned off his music player, relieved to hear that the loud thumps against the wall had finally ceased. "And at last, blissful silence." He smiled to himself, then frowned as the thumps began again, harder than before. "Oh bloody hell." He picked up his music player, inserted the earphones and turned it on again. "I have a feeling our trip is going to be pure torture, for me at least." He sighed.

Peter and Sherry lay in bed together, wrapped in each other's arms as they tried to catch their breath. "We have to head off to Mexico today, huh?" Sherry asked.

"Yeah." Peter nodded. "The sooner we go-"

"-The sooner we can make an excuse to go to Rio, dance the streets during Carnivale and have sex on the beach before heading around the continent to find more recruits-"

"-and then the sooner we'll be able to get back here." Peter sighed. "I think I'm going to miss this bed."

"Me too. We've barely left it all week." Sherry sat up, grabbing one of Peter's shirts. "What do you say to you grabbing a shower while I make breakfast?"

"I think you should shower with me, and then we'll make breakfast together." Peter grabbed Sherry around the waist, pulling her back to the bed and tossing his shirt aside.

"You can't be serious about doing this again! You're wearing me out, you do realize that."

"You love it and you know it." Peter nibbled on her neck. "Come on, let's hit the shower."

Mohinder looked up from his paper and cup of tea as Peter and Sherry finally left the bedroom, both of them showered and dressed. "Finally up for air?" He teased.

"I decided that we need to have breakfast." Sherry began to move around the kitchen, elbowing Peter out of her way. "Unlike my supposedly better half here, I can't live on sex alone, no matter how fun it is." She began to pull ingredients out of the refrigerator. "And I'm making breakfast for you too, as a thank you for having to put up with all of the noise. I know we make a lot of it." She made a face at Peter. "And to think of all the times I made fun of Herbert and Collette."

"You're not as loud as they are." Mohinder sipped his tea. "Close, but not quite there yet." He watched as she began to crack eggs into a bowl and chop up peppers and onions. "What are you making?"

"Omelettes. Sound good?"

"Yes, thank you." Mohinder smiled.

As Sherry began to cook, she looked around the kitchen. "Do you have potatoes?"

Peter shook his head. "No, why?"

"Hash browns." She turned to the freezer. "I saw some frozen ones in here, I think." She set a box of fish sticks on the counter as she dug around. "Here they are." She set the box of hash browns on the counter, then picked up the box of fish sticks, frowning as the top cracked open. "What the hell?"

"Don't open that!" Peter stepped towards her, then stopped as she opened the box, her eyes widening as she spotted the contents inside. "Oh hell."

"BLOOD?" Sherry turned around, making a face. "You're keeping BLOOD SAMPLES in your freezer? What the hell is this?"

"It's our secret weapon."

"In your freezer? Next to your microwave dinners and whatnot? That's gross, Peter."

Mohinder stared at them. "Whose blood is it?"

"It's Faith's." Peter closed his eyes. "It's samples of Faith's blood. I promised her and Hiro that I'd keep it a secret until right before the battle so Linderman wouldn't be able to get his hands on it."

"This is the force field." Sherry stared at the vials of blood, suddenly interested. "Wow." She set the box to the side and began to finish cooking. "Babe, you're going to need to find a safer place to keep it than your freezer, at least while we're gone. If I found it, Herbert and Collette could."

"Like they eat." Peter smirked. "Those two come up for air even less than we do."

"Yeah, but the minute you think they won't find it, they will. I did."

"You have a point." Peter sighed as he took the box. "I think I know who to give it to for protection. I'll be right back." He picked up the box and went upstairs to the Bennet apartment. Glancing at his watch, he grimaced as he realized how early it was. He decided against knocking, instead choosing to phase through the door, tiptoeing into the apartment. He could smell bacon cooking and smiled with relief as he realized someone was awake. Clearing his throat as he walked into the kitchen, he smiled sheepishly as Sandra spotted him. "Sorry to sneak in."

"If you hadn't made some noise first, I swear to God." Sandra placed her hands on her hips, shaking her head. "What brings you up here THIS early in the morning? Claire's not up yet."

"Is Noah?"

"Of course." Sandra grinned. "He went downstairs to get the morning paper." She smiled and nodded as Noah entered the apartment. "We have a surprise guest. Damn near scared the daylights out of me by slipping in here."

Noah frowned at Peter. "Why are you here this early in the morning?" He spotted the box of fish sticks. "And you're bringing food."

"No." Peter shook his head. "Remember how I told you about the secret weapon? It's in here."

Noah stared at the box. "Continue."

"I have vials of Faith Gray's blood in here. When Future Hiro visited me with Faith, they suggested I collect it."

"Her force field power." Noah raised an eyebrow. "And you're keeping it in a box of fish sticks because?"

"Because I promised them both I'd keep it hidden and secret until a few days before the battle."

"To keep Linderman from getting his hands on it." Noah shrugged. "Good idea. So why are you bringing it here?"

"I'm going away today with Mohinder and Sherry. I like Herbert and Collette and I do trust them, but they don't know about this and I don't want them getting the wrong idea if they get hungry, open this box and find blood samples in it."

"So you were wondering if we could keep it here." Noah sighed as he turned to Sandra.

"I think I can find something else to put it in besides a fish stick box." Sandra laughed as she took the box. "With three kids running around here, it would get opened in a hurry." She took out the vials and placed them in a zipper bag, then wrapped the bag in butcher paper, wrote 'liver' on it and taped it up. "I know none of them will ever consider actually opening a wrapper of liver." She laughed. "I could have written 'broccoli' on it and gotten the same results."

"Or brussel sprouts." Noah grinned.

"Thanks, both of you." Peter sighed. "I know it'll be safe up here."

"You're welcome. And you be safe in Mexico and South America." Sandra hugged him warmly. "Take care of yourself, your pretty girl and Dr. Suresh, okay?"

"Want a souvenir?" Peter smiled.

"Maybe some pretty pictures of Machu Picchu, or something like that." She winked. "Some beads from Carnivale, but only if Sherry doesn't have to get them the way girls have to get them during Mardi Gras."

"I don't think she'd mind either way." Peter laughed softly. "And speaking of Sherry, she was making breakfast, so I'm running back downstairs. Thanks again you, two."

"Think nothing of it." Sandra turned back to the stove to finish breakfast as Noah walked Peter out.

"You've got the guns I sent downstairs last night?"

Peter nodded. "And the extra clips. Good thing we're teleporting."

Noah laughed. "Yeah. I don't think you guys would have much luck explaining that much gun power." He handed Peter a note. "From Molly. It's Meredith Gordon's address. She's in the Yucatan, near Chichen Itza."

"Thanks. We'll go to Guadalajara first to meet Anjelica Espinoza, then head to the Yucatan for Meredith before we head to Belize." Peter pocketed the note.

"Be careful. Linderman's probably on the warpath, which means that his people are as well."

"I'll watch over everyone as much as I can." Peter nodded. "I'll see you when I get back. Take care of the family." He paused. "I told Claude something last night, but I want you to do the same. Mama Alice told something to Olivia, she told her to protect 'The Baby', that 'The Baby' was in danger. Olivia thinks it might be Tatiana. Claude didn't seem to think much of it, but I wonder if Olivia may be right."

"I'll keep an eye on them as well. Nikolai is up here a lot with Claire, studying. I'll suggest he bring Tatiana whenever he can as well."

"Thanks." Peter smiled and left Noah's floor, heading back down to his own apartment. Mohinder and Sherry were laughing as he entered, eating their breakfasts.

"Yours is in the warming oven." Sherry smiled as Peter walked in. "Get that matter taken care of?"

"Yes, I did." Peter grabbed his plate and sat down, digging into his breakfast. "This is good."

"It's very good." Mohinder nodded. "She's an excellent cook."

"She's an excellent everything." Peter kissed her cheek.

"Thank you." Sherry finished her breakfast. "Mohinder and I were talking-"

"-Oh damn." Mohinder shook his head. "Sherry-"

"-and I asked him about this Anjelica we're going to meet in Guadalajara. Mohinder met her once before. She came to visit him in Texas when he was calling people on The List. She controls the weather. She's also very pretty."

"I said she was attractive."

"You had a gleam in your eye when you said it."

"And I also said she had a boyfriend named Chris that she was desperate to return to. I don't think she'll come with us."

"People break up!" Sherry nodded. She glanced at Peter. "Well, not US, but other people. Maybe she and her guy split up and now she's pining away, thinking about that adorably handsome scientist she met in Texas, with the dark wavy hair and the dreamy eyes and the adorable accent. Women are suckers for accents, Mohinder. I speak from experience." She frowned. "I speak from really bad and stupid experience, but experience nonetheless. Maybe she's just waiting for you to show up and sweep her off of her feet."

"I highly doubt that." Mohinder smiled. "But it's very sweet that you seem so determined to get me 'hooked up' as you kept putting it."

"Well, I just hate the thought of you getting carpal tunnel syndrome while the rest of us are getting laid." Sherry laughed as she stood up, taking her empty plate and Mohinder's.

Mohinder glanced at Peter. "You realize she's incorrigible."

"Yeah." Peter grinned. "But she does have a point."

* * *

"Senor? Senora?" Olivia and Gabriel slowly woke up to see a concierge of the hotel glaring down at them, yelling in Spanish.

"What's he saying?" Olivia whispered.

Gabriel looked around, blushing. "Um, he's saying this isn't a nude beach, it's seven a.m., people are going to be coming down here soon and we should put our clothes on, go back to our room and check out as soon as possible."

"SI!" The man hopped around angrily. "This is NOT that kind of hotel! This is a family establishment!"

"Does it count if we're trying to build on our family?" He glanced around. "Turn around while my wife and I dress, please?"

The man turned his back to them. "I don't know why I should. I've seen more than enough, Senor." He muttered under his breath as Olivia and Gabriel pulled their clothes back on, avoiding eye contact to keep from laughing. "Family establishment! This is unacceptable behavior!"

"I'm terribly sorry, it's my wife's fault. OW!" He gave Olivia a look as she popped him on the arm. "It wasn't MY idea to get freaky naughty and go skinny dipping!"

"Yeah, but you didn't seem to be too worried about it, or about having sex on the beach." Olivia stood up, pulling her bikini bottoms on.

"That's because my brain stops working when you get naked." Gabriel grinned at her.

"Ah, something else we have in common." Olivia winked as she and Gabriel finished dressing. They grabbed their beach blanket and made their way back to the hotel room, the concierge following them, glowering. In the room, Olivia pulled money out of her purse, tipping him. "I apologize for the inconvenience. My husband and I are going to grab a shower and then we'll be on our way, is that alright?"

The man counted the money, then leaned in towards them, his demeanor suddenly changing. "You know, I could close off the beach for a few hours for VIP's, if you two would rather-"

"-That's okay." Olivia nodded. "We don't want to put you out any more than we already have. We will remember the next time we visit though to stay here. We might take you up on that offer then."

"Gracias." The concierge nodded. "I would say that I hope you've enjoyed your stay here, but I believe you have." He smiled. "Take your time and remember to visit us again soon."

"Oh, we will." Gabriel laughed as the man left. "Money really does talk, doesn't it?"

Olivia rolled her eyes. "And bullshit walks, so let's walk to the shower, clean up and get the hell out of here before we end up getting arrested. Our flight for the Virgin Islands leaves at noon. Don't forget, we're Parker and Evelyn McKirk from Vancouver again."

"Yeah, how can I forget that? Thanks to that trigger-happy sperm donor of yours." Gabriel followed his wife into the bathroom, pulling their clothes off as they jumped into the shower together.

* * *

"So we're ready to go?" Peter looked around as Sherry and Mohinder both shouldered their bags, nodding at him. "Okay, Guadalajara, here we come." He placed a hand on both of their shoulders, and closed his eyes, concentrating on their destination. They opened their eyes, staring at the city around them.

"Wow! Big city!" Sherry gaped as they began to walk around.

"I know." Peter nodded.

They made their way to the address listed and knocked on the apartment door, a cello could be heard playing inside. "And she's cultured too! Ready to meet your new girlfriend?" Sherry giggled at Mohinder.

"Hush." Mohinder blushed as an attractive Hispanic woman answered the door, holding a cello bow.

Mohinder frowned slightly as the woman cocked her head to the side, studying the trio. "Yes?"

Peter cleared his throat. "Anjelica Espinoza?"

"No, I'm Christina Martino. Are you here to visit her? Friends?"

Mohinder cleared his throat. "I'm Doctor Mohinder Suresh."

"Oh yes!" The woman smiled. "Querida was telling me about you. Come inside, I'll get her."

"Uh-oh." Sherry looked at Mohinder. "I'm apologizing in advance."

"Why?" Peter stared at them.

"I think I was getting ready to try and push a puppy onto a girl who fancies kittens, so to speak." Sherry blushed as Anjelica walked into the room with her friend, arm in arm. Both of the women were beautiful, with wide-set brown eyes and shoulder length dark brown hair. They looked almost like sisters.

"Dr. Suresh!" Angelica beamed. "It's good to see you again. I see you've met Chris?"

Peter's eyes widened. "Whoa." He whispered. He leaned towards Sherry. "Hot."

"Shut up." Sherry shook her head.

Mohinder smiled as he stood, shaking Anjelica and Christina's hands. "It's a pleasure to meet you Chris and it's good to see you again, Anjelica. I only wish we were here under better circumstances. These are my friends, Peter Petrelli and Sheryl Bombano, they work with me for Greene Technologies. We're here because we have a problem, and we need your help."

* * *

On the plane, Gabriel leaned back in his seat beside Olivia. He glanced at her and started to laugh. "What?" She looked at him.

"That poor concierge! 'This is a family establishment!' At least we got to spend a little bit of 'quality time' together on our honeymoon, without getting falling-down drunk or shot at." He started laughing harder.

"It wasn't that funny." Olivia smirked. Finally she started to giggle. "Okay, it was a little funny. I'm just glad we didn't get thrown in jail. Can you imagine Peter or Nathan having to come and bail us out and having it explained to them WHY we were in jail?"

"Peter or Nathan would be cool about it. Now Angela or Noah on the other hand-" Gabriel whistled.

"Hell yeah. Angela alone would take our heads off."

"Noah would just leave us there a while to sweat it out."

"Next time, we've got to remember to pay off the concierge BEFORE we skinny dip and get crazy on the beach." Olivia grinned. "Or we can just do it on the private beach on Tybee Island for free."

"It has a private beach too!" Gabriel gaped. "Spoiled ass rotten, you were."

"I know." Olivia leaned back in her seat. "And you love me anyway."


	47. Chapter 47

Chapter Forty-Seven: Meredith, Central America Dangers

Peter, Sherry and Mohinder waved goodbye to Anjelica and Christina as Hiro teleported them back to Las Vegas. "I'm sorry again, Mohinder." Sherry shrugged. "When you said 'boyfriend Chris' I assumed-"

"-I did too." Mohinder looked around thoughtfully. "Maybe she didn't say 'boyfriend' maybe she just said 'Chris' and I assumed it was a guy." He sighed. "That's what happens when I assume, I made an ass out of you and me."

"Not me." Sherry shook her head. "Not really, anyway. Peter, on the other hand-"

Peter stared at her. "What?"

"You were practically drooling over them! The minute you realized they were two girls and they were 'together', I didn't have to even be a mind reader to know the porny 'Dear Penthouse' things that were running through your mind!" Sherry shook her head. "Seriously! Like they'd let you watch."

Peter blushed and looked away. "I wasn't thinking that at all."

"I sort of was." Mohinder shrugged. "I'll admit it."

Sherry closed her eyes. "I'm traveling with pig-men."

"It's still kind of cool having them in the building." Peter nodded. "Our first same-sex couple."

"No they're not!" Sherry laughed. "My neighbors are gay!"

"Claude?" Peter frowned. "I don't think so, not the way he chases Hana."

"NOT Claude! Finn O'Shea and Patrick Flanigan, across the hall? They're a couple, Peter."

"No, they're dating those Scottish twins that live with them."

"Bonnie and Mary McCleary are twins, but they're not dating Finn and Patrick, they're just roommates. Bonnie has her room, Mary has her room and Finn and Patrick SHARE a room because they're a COUPLE." Sherry started laughing as Peter stared at her. "I thought you KNEW that? You've hung out with Patrick and Finn. You didn't notice?"

Peter shook his head. "I just thought they were really chummy."

"Yeah, they ARE. Amy and Keisha on the sixth floor are 'chummy' too, as well as Derek and Tariq on the second floor." Sherry sighed as Peter's mouth flew open. "So cute, so clueless. Let's head to Chichen Itza."

"Okay." He put his hands on Sherry and Mohinder's shoulders, then looked at Sherry. "They're REALLY a couple?"

"You can ask them when we get back if you don't believe me. They're wide open about it."

"I believe you." Peter closed his eyes and Sherry and Mohinder followed suit. When they opened them, they were standing near the Temple of the Warriors.

Sherry turned in a circle, staring at the ruins, her mouth hanging open. "Wow." She whispered. "Now this is gorgeous. The Mayans knew how to build some beautiful things."

"Tell me about it." Peter smiled as he took Sherry's hand. With Mohinder, they strolled around the area, staring at the different temples. After a couple of hours, Peter shrugged. "I guess we need to find out exactly where Meredith Gordon is." He pulled out the address written on a note while Sherry pulled out a travel atlas. He checked the notes and the atlas and nodded. "She seems to be camped out somewhere a couple of miles west of here. Let's go." He threw his arm around Sherry and they started walking west. After they had walked a couple of miles away from the ruins, they looked around, confused.

"So where's this campsite supposed to be?" Sherry frowned.

"It's not exactly a campsite, I think. From what Claire's said about her, Meredith is sort of a nomad, so she's probably just parked in her trailer-" Peter nodded as they spotted a trailer parked in the distance. "-I bet that's her."

Mohinder followed Peter and Sherry towards the trailer. As they approached it, a blond in her mid-thirties stepped out the door, watching them, her arms crossed. When they got closer, Peter noticed her resemblance to Claire. He waved to her, and frowned as she didn't wave back. Finally, she held out her hands. "Come closer, and you'll wish you hadn't!" She yelled to them.

"What?" Sherry rolled her eyes. "You'll set us on fire or something?" She nodded as Meredith's hands began to lower. "Try it and I'll blow you sky high, we have similar powers."

Meredith stared at them. "Who do you work for?"

Peter held out his hands. "We're not here to attack you or hurt you, just talk."

Meredith's eyes widened. "Oh my God." She cocked her head to the side. "You're Peter, Nathan's brother, aren't you? I remember seeing a picture of you once. You were just a little kid then, but you haven't changed a bit." She straightened up, crossing her arms in front of her chest again. "Let me guess, Nathan had a change of heart about the money he sent me after he won that election, right? Well you can tell him to piss up a rope, I'm not giving back a dime."

"We're not here about any money." Peter shook his head. "Claire told us-"

"-You know about Claire?" Meredith smiled. "How is she? Have you seen her?"

"Yeah, she's great!" Peter nodded. "We're all in this group together: me, Claire, her parents, Nathan, our sister Olivia, my girl Sherry here, and others. That's why I'm here with Sherry and my friend Dr. Mohinder Suresh. Can we talk?"

Meredith studied Peter for a moment, then nodded. "Let me grab a few lawn chairs. It's nice out here today and it's really cramped in my trailer."

* * *

Meredith sat back in her chair, looking almost deflated as Peter finished telling her about Linderman and his plans. "Son of a bitch." She whispered. "He wants to kill everyone with powers? EVERYONE?" 

"Yeah." Peter nodded.

"And you guys are building an army to stop him. Nathan and Claire too?"

"They're in it." Peter nodded again.

"And this sister Olivia?" Meredith shook her head. "I don't remember Nathan mentioning her."

"We just met her a few months ago."

Meredith laughed. "Interesting year you two have had. Nathan's long-lost daughter shows up and now your long-lost sister. So, whose bastard was she?"

Peter grinned. "Mom's."

Meredith laughed louder. "You've GOT to be kidding me! After she looked down her nose at me and called me and Claire 'Nathan's Texas Folly'? You're saying SHE had a little 'folly' of her own? That's good. So it's you, Claire, Nathan, and Olivia in this army, among others?"

Peter nodded "Claire's dad, Noah Bennet, is helping us too. He's sort of become our leader."

"I would say more like our General." Sherry grinned. "He's very Schwarzkopf-esque."

"Her dad." Meredith nodded. "And you guys want me to join in this?"

"You're a very powerful woman, Ms. Gordon." Mohinder leaned forward, bracing his elbows on his knees. "I'd say you're definitely needed by us."

Meredith smiled softly at him. "Really? Needed, huh?"

Mohinder sat up, looking around nervously. "You've got a very interesting power, and it could be quite useful in a battle situation. Even if you don't come with us though, you'll need to be careful. Linderman is able to find others with special abilities. He's been sending people out to recruit people to his side as well. Those that tell him 'no' end up with a bullet in their heads."

"And what do you do with the people who tell you 'no'?"

Peter shrugged. "We wish them luck, tell them to be careful and to watch out for Linderman's henchmen." He looked earnestly at Meredith. "So are you in?"

"A chance to stop evil AND possibly reconnect with Claire?" Meredith nodded. "I'm in. I'm tired of running anyway." She stood, digging a pack of cigarettes out of her pocket, lighting one with her finger. "Las Vegas is a few days away from here. My feet have been itchy, I've been wanting to get back out on the open road." She took a drag from her cigarette. "A road trip to Sin City sounds like fun."

"We have someone who can teleport you back there." Peter said.

Meredith snorted under her breath. "TELEPORT? Can they teleport my trailer, Hot Shot?"

"I don't think so." Peter shook his head.

"Then I'm driving." Meredith glanced at her trailer. "It's not much, but it's mine and it's been my home for fourteen years now. I'm not leaving without it."

"And if Linderman's people catch up with you?"

"Then I'll burn them down." Meredith shrugged.

Peter sighed. "At least tell me you're armed."

"I'm my own weapon, Kid."

"Meredith," Peter walked to her, placing his hands on her shoulders. "He has someone who can negate your powers. You'll be helpless against them."

Meredith's eyes narrowed. "I've never been helpless a day in my damn life and I won't start now. I'll drive to Las Vegas, or I won't go at all."

Mohinder sighed. "I'll ride with her. I'm armed. After we get back to Las Vegas, I'll have Hiro teleport me back to the two of you."

"You sure?" Peter asked.

Mohinder rolled his eyes. "She can't travel alone and unarmed. If she were to run across The Haitian-" He shook his head. "-We need her."

"Okay." Peter turned back to Meredith. "Do you mind if Dr. Suresh escorts you back to Las Vegas?"

Meredith studied Mohinder. "I don't mind, I suppose. You're not a really chatty person, are you? I hate people that talk my ear off on trips."

Mohinder shook his head. "You'll barely know I'm there."

Meredith grinned. "Oh, I doubt THAT. A cutie like you, I'll know you're there." She began to pack her things into the trailer. "If we're going to go, I guess there's no time like the present to start, right?"

"The sooner we get there, the sooner I can return to help Sherry and Peter." Mohinder nodded as he turned to his friends. "You two going to be okay?"

Sherry grinned. "We'll be fine." She hugged Mohinder. "You know, she's very pretty." She whispered.

"Don't go there." Mohinder whispered back. "Something tells me that she's a brand of crazy I don't feel like subscribing too." He let her go. "Thank you though, for trying to help. I'll find someone, I'm sure. It just has to happen organically, like you and Peter." He winked at her before he shook Peter's hand. "See you soon."

"Be careful." Peter nodded. "Have fun."

Mohinder glanced at Meredith as she packed up her trailer, a cigarette dangling from her lips. "Oh loads." He muttered. "I guess you two need to head over to Belize."

"I think I've had enough downtime before I can teleport." Peter grinned and turned Sherry. "You ready?"

"Belize, here we come." Sherry turned to Meredith. "See you in Vegas!"

Meredith stared at them. "What are you two doing?"

Sherry giggled. "Teleporting!" She waved as she and Peter blinked out of existence.

Meredith gasped. "Holy shit!" She turned to Mohinder. "That was trippy."

* * *

Peter and Sherry opened their eyes to find themselves standing on the waterfront of Punta Gorda, Belize. "Nice trick." Sherry grinned. 

"Thanks." He took Sherry's hand as they headed into the city. "Next on our list is a man named Paul Adams."

Sherry glanced at the address as she pulled out her travel atlas. "Let's find his place." They found the address and made their way there, looking around the city as they walked. Finally, they found the house and knocked on the door. "I hope he's home."

Peter looked around nervously as no one answered the door. "I don't have a good feeling about this." He made sure no one was watching, then phased his head through the door, quickly pulling it back out as he grabbed Sherry's hand. "We have to go, now."

"What?"

"He's dead." Peter looked around nervously as they began to quickly walk away from the house. "I can't teleport for a few minutes. I'm not ready."

"How long has he been dead?" Sherry looked around, her eyes wide.

"Not long. The blood wasn't even dried." Peter turned a corner in the town and cursed, realizing they were in a dead-end alley. He turned and realized their paths were blocked. He recognized Candice as he grabbed Sherry's arm, stepping protectively in front of her. His eyes narrowed as he recognized the other woman from his dream with Sanjog. She was the dark-haired woman who'd killed Meredith, Claire, Nikolai and Claude, before being killed by Hana. He glared at both of them. "What do you want?"

Candice smirked. "Cute girlfriend, Peter. I'm prettier though, don't you think?"

"Please." Sherry rolled her eyes. "Like he'd even give you a second look."

"He did in his sister's little facility on New Year's Eve." Candice glared. "Of course, I think he was just playing me, trying to escape."

"Can you blame him, Skank?" Sherry smirked.

Candice shook her head. "You don't want to piss me off. I know your history, Meadow Soprano. I know everything about you, especially about your brother Johnny." She morphed into a tall man in his mid-twenties. He had dark brown hair and brown eyes. Blood poured from a bullet wound between his eyes. "Remember me, Shortcakes? Remember how Ma cried when she and Pop found out that the Gorgano Brothers had me popped? Remember how I used to let you pal around with me and the boys when you weren't even a teen yet. You thought I was the coolest brother, didn't you? You were a pain in my fucking ass, though. You were always whining, always crying about wanting to hang with me. The night I got popped, I was supposed to take you to the movies. I went out with the boys instead to the strip club. You cried and cried when I didn't come home. I'm happier dead than putting up with you. If I were alive now, I'd be ashamed of you, whoring around with your bleached hair and your fucked up nails, dressing like a tramp-"

"-SHUT UP!" Sherry shook his head. "You can look like Johnny all you want, but you didn't know SHIT about him?" Tears began to roll down her cheeks. "He never hated me, he was never ashamed of me, he WAS the coolest brother, you stupid bitch!" She whipped out her gun, pointing it at Candice.

Candice morphed back to her normal state, laughing. "I see the two of you are armed. Cute." She pulled out a gun as Gota followed suit. "So are we."

Peter shook his head. "I don't see The Haitian around. How exactly do you expect to shoot us?"

"By pulling the trigger, dumbass!" Candice and Gota began to shoot at them as Peter took Sherry's hand and thought of Faith. A red glow surrounded them, blocking the bullets.

Peter glanced at Sherry. "When they run out and stop to reload, blow up the ground in front them, then grab onto me."

"You gonna teleport us out of here?"

Peter shook his head. "Just grab me."

"SHIT!" Candice lowered her gun as she and Gota ran out of bullets and began to dig into her pocket to reload.

"NOW!" Peter yelled. Sherry stepped forward quickly, waving her hand. Candice and Gota yelped and fell back, coughing as the pavement blew up in front of them, bursting into flames and smoke. Sherry turned and wrapped her arms around Peter's neck as they flew up into the air, then zoomed across the skies, leaving Punta Gorda, Belize, and their attackers behind them.

They landed in a garden near a cathedral. Sherry looked around. "Where are we?"

Peter pulled out his atlas, closing his eyes as he though of Molly and concentrated on Sherry. "You're here." He pointed to a place on the map. "Which means WE'RE here."

"Leon, Nicaragua." Sherry nodded as she smiled at Peter. "We flew all that way?" She kissed him. "Superman has nothing on you."

Peter grinned as he hugged her. "Thanks. You're pretty awesome yourself. You're okay, right?"

Sherry nodded, her expression turning stony. "That bitch, making herself to look like Johnny? Dirty fucking pool. She didn't know shit about him either. There's no way he would ever have been ashamed of me, not ever."

Peter looked down at her. "You never talk about your family. Can you tell me about him now?"

"He was the coolest." She smiled. "He was ten years older than me. I was the only girl in a house full of boys and he was the oldest of them. My twin brother Anthony and I were sort of the mascots of his group of friends. I knew what he was, don't get me wrong. I knew about La Cosa Nostra, I knew that he and his friends were deadly and dangerous and-" She looked down "-and he was a drug dealer. He was my brother though, you know? And he loved me to pieces. He used to tell any guys that even looked at me, 'look at my sister like that again, and I'll cut out your fuckin' eyes', he was really protective of me. I was sixteen when he got popped. Candice was right about the strip club thing, it happened outside of one, but he hadn't stood me up to go there. He took me to a matinee first. There was some silly movie, I can't even remember what it was now, but I bugged him and bugged him to take me to see it, so he did. He was a good brother."

"I'm sorry he died." Peter wrapped an arm around her shoulders as they walked through the garden.

"The night he died, Anthony and I raided his stash and got seriously fucked up on pot and 'ludes. We stayed that way until after his funeral, then we never touched that shit again. We tossed the rest of his stash before Ma could find it, that and his porn. Actually," she laughed "I think Anthony ended up keeping most of the porn until he went to Afghanistan."

"That's the one that's in the Army."

Sherry nodded. "My twin. We turned eighteen on September 10, 2001. We graduated early from high school, so when the planes hit the towers, he joined up. Ma and Pop were seriously pissed at him for that. He was shipped first to Afghanistan, then Iraq. He's done three tours there since then. He's on his third now. Ma goes to church every day to pray for him and light a candle." She rested her head on Peter's shoulder. "I remember when he joined up, Ma was crying in the living room, Pop went out to get plastered after he trashed the house and I asked Anthony why he did it. He looked at me and said 'What am I gonna do? Stay here and end up whacked like Johnny or in jail like Grandpa and Uncle Lou?' He had a point." She looked over at the cathedral they stood in front of. "Can we go in?"

Peter nodded. "It's been a while since I've been in one."

"Me too." Sherry took his hand and went inside the cathedral with him. He sat in a pew and watched, smiling softly as Sherry walked to the altar, burning with candles. She knelt in front of them, her head bowed. Peter watched as she stayed that way for a few minutes, then stood, crossing herself as she lit two of the candles on the altar. She walked back to him and sat beside him. "I lit one for Anthony and one for us. I think we might need it on this trip."

"If you want to go back to Vegas and let me do this alone-"

"-No." Sherry shook her head as she took his hand. "If you try to ditch me on this, I'll kick your ass as hard as I'll kick that Candice chick's when I see her again. She seriously screwed up bringing Johnny into this." She looked at Peter. "So what's your history with her?"

"She's the girl I told you about. The one that was in Olivia's facility that I had to put 'the whammy' on to get away from."

"Ooooh!" Sherry laughed softly. "The one that tried to rip your clothes off? Can't blame her for that. I feel that urge every time I look at you."

Peter grinned. "You realize we're in a church."

Sherry kissed him softly. "Then let's leave it and find a hotel."

"I have a better idea." Peter took her hand and led her out of the cathedral.

They grabbed lunch at a café, then went to a sporting goods store. Sherry frowned as Peter bought camping goods. "I hate to tell you this, but do I LOOK like someone who enjoys camping?"

Peter grinned. "We're going to have to go incognito as much as we can for now. Backpackers are well known in Central America. Besides, I think you'll like where we're going. I read about it once, it's always interested me to go there."

"Where?" Sherry's brow furrowed as they left the store and made their way to an alley.

"You'll see." Peter winked as he knelt down and began to repack everything into his and Sherry's new backpacks. He finally stood up, shouldering his as he handed Sherry hers. "They're kind of heavy but-"

"-I'm not going to break." Sherry sighed. "So what now?"

"Now, we go where I've always wanted to go." Peter placed a hand on Sherry's shoulder as they closed their eyes.

* * *

"They're so fucking DEAD!" Candice stomped towards their helicopter, with Gota following behind her. "I'm going to track them, and kill them." 

"Yes, because it worked so well earlier." Gota rolled her eyes.

"We'll just catch them off-guard, that's all." Candice climbed into the helicopter, nodding. "We'll follow them, I'll find them and I'll wait until they're asleep or something, then BOOM!"

"You have the right idea, sort of." Gota looked bored as their helicopter lifted off, flying south. "I have another idea."

Candice sulked. "They're such saps. Did you see them? He was stepping in front of her like she was this delicate little thing. I want to kill her first and make him watch. I want to see the pain in his eyes when he realizes that she's dead and there's nothing he can do to help her. And her? God, so goody-goody, not wanted to get her hands dirty by actually killing us. What's that all about? She could have blown US up instead of the street. What a waste."

"They're weak fools." Gota snorted in derision. "They never kill anyone! You know they're still holding Susan in that facility? They never kill the people that refuse to go with them either. Weak, spineless fools, the lot of them."

Candice's expression changed. "Why do WE kill the ones who refuse us?"

Gota glared at her. "Because if they're not for us, they're against us. Use that thing on your shoulders and think for a moment, you idiot. Why should we let anyone go who could come back later and oppose us?"

Candice looked away. "I've heard rumors though. Children. Is it true that some of us are killing children?"

Gota glanced at her. "They're just rumors. We don't kill the children of the ones that refuse us. It's a lie."

"Have YOU killed children, Gota?"

"No." Gota shook her head, refusing to look at Candice as their helicopter flew away. Candice stared out her window, her expression suddenly pensive.

"They're all weak for not joining us anyway." She whispered. "We're going to change the world for the better."

"Of course we are." Gota smiled.

* * *

Sherry opened her eyes, gasping in awe at their surroundings. "Where are we?" 

"We're in the Amistad International Park, in the Cordillera de Talamanca mountain range of Costa Rica."

Sherry smiled as she saw a stream flowing past them. She followed it, hearing the sounds of rushing water. Peter followed her, smiling at her as she stopped short. "A waterfall." She whispered.

"Feel like camping here for the night?" Peter asked. Sherry nodded wordlessly as he pulled off his backpack. "I thought so. I read about this place once. It sounded beautiful." He looked around. "It's even more beautiful than the pictures I saw."

"It's gorgeous." Sherry nodded as she pulled off her pack and began to help him set up camp. "Should we be camping here though? What if someone catches us?"

"You're dating a guy who can make himself and others invisible." Peter grinned. "We're not going to get caught." He set up the tent and sleeping bag and turned to Sherry, pulling off his shirt. He nodded at the waterfall. "Last one in-"

"-Makes dinner!" Sherry kicked off her shoes and ran towards the falls laughing, pulling her clothes off as she ran.

* * *

Thanks again to Wikipedia! I love that site so much. 

Coming Attractions:

Peter and Sherry are reunited with Mohinder in Rio de Janiero during Carnivale

Mohinder catches a woman's eye

Sherry finds herself in serious danger from Candice and Gota, but gives as good as she gets, for a moment anyway

Peter deals with his limitations and fights to save the woman he's falling in love with

Candice begins to rethink whose side she's really on

Everyone soon returns to Las Vegas to train

Meredith clashes with the Bennets and Nathan as she tries to reconnect with Claire

The tragic event from an earlier spoiler finally occurs, breaking everyone's hearts

Sylar takes revenge the only way he truly can

The Las Vegas group discovers a new ally and gains a mole in Linderman's group


	48. Chapter 48

Chapter Forty-Eight: Meredith and Noah's Confrontation, Dangerous Carnivale

"We're here!" Mohinder woke up from his nap in the passenger's seat of Meredith's truck to see the apartment building in Las Vegas looming up at him. Meredith pulled into the parking lot, parking her truck and trailer towards the back of the building. She whistled under her breath as she stared at the building, and then at the gardens and swimming pool fenced in behind it. "Nice." She said. "Looks like Peter and Nathan's sister set you guys up really well."

"It's a nice place to live, you'll see."

Meredith shook her head. "Nope. I'm not living in there. I'm used to my trailer." She climbed out of her truck as she headed towards the trailer to unhitch it. "I'll talk to someone about getting an electrical source and water out here. Who do I talk to since Ms. Big Shot is off in the Caribbean somewhere?"

Mohinder laughed softly. "She's not a big shot, by any means. She's spoiled and wealthy, but she doesn't throw her weight around, you'll see what I mean when you meet her. The person you'll want to talk to about everything will probably be Noah Bennet."

"Claire's dad." Meredith whispered. She turned, hearing the sounds of laughter and children playing. She walked to the fence and watched a group of children splashing in the pool together, while three teenagers lounged by the pool, watching the children and laughing, two boys and a girl. Meredith realized the girl was Claire. She watched her daughter as she stood up from her chair, laughing as she helped a younger girl with dark brown hair out of the pool and handed her a towel. A taller, handsome boy with sandy hair stood beside Claire, helping a smaller sandy-haired girl out, wrapping her in a towel as he hugged her tightly.

Meredith jumped as Mohinder moved to stand beside her. "That's Claire."

"I know." She nodded.

"The dark-haired girl is Molly Walker. The Bennets are her foster parents. The boy beside Claire is Nikolai Urovitch, with his younger sister Tatiana. They came here from Prague after their father and sister were murdered by Linderman's people. Nikolai and Tatiana barely escaped them. The other teenager is Lyle Bennet, Claire's brother. The other two boys that you see getting out of the pool are Sanjog Iyer and Micah Sanders. All of them with the exception of Lyle have powers. Sanjog is an orphan from Chennai, India. Micah's parents are Niki Sanders and D.L. Hawkins. They live here as well. They also have powers."

"Claire and Nikolai look very close."

"They've become very good friends since he arrived, all of them have. Tatiana and Molly usually spend the night at each other's homes, even though there's a bit of a language barrier." Mohinder chuckled under his breath. "Lyle and Sanjog have discovered a common ground in soccer and Micah is very close with Molly as well. Claire and Nikolai are sort of their guardians, most of the time, like big sisters and brothers usually are."

Meredith stiffened as Claire took Molly's hand and started to walk towards the building with her. She looked up and froze as she spotted her mother. She turned to Nikolai and Lyle and handed Molly's hand to her brother as she walked to the fence, frowning. "You're here."

Meredith nodded. "Yeah. How have you been?"

Claire shrugged. "Fine. How was your trip?"

"It was good." Meredith smiled shakily. "Dr. Suresh was nice enough to ride with me. He drove part of the way. We made good time, two days. Not bad, huh?"

"Not bad." She turned to Mohinder. "Peter and Sherry are in St. Charles in French Guiana, according to Dad. He said they're about to head into Brazil."

"It sounds like they're making good time as well."

"Well you know, teleporting." Claire laughed softly. Mohinder beamed and laughed too. "They'd probably have made better time if they hadn't spent a day and a half in Costa Rica."

"Sounds like they've been having quality couple time." Mohinder shook his head. "I guess it's time for me to find Hiro and go back to being the fifth wheel."

"I doubt they see you that way." Claire shook her head, then glanced back at Meredith. "Welcome to Las Vegas. See you around."

"I will." Meredith watched as Claire quickly turned around and headed back to her friends before entering the building through a back door. She half-smiled at Mohinder. "We've still got some catching up to do."

Mohinder nodded. "So did you want to come inside and meet with Noah?"

Meredith shook her head quickly as she looked away. "No, no. I'll just get settled in here first before I start bugging everyone about water and electricity." She cut her eyes at him for a moment before she turned and walked back to her trailer. "Sounds like you need to get to Brazil and join your friends."

"I do." He held out his hand. "It was nice meeting you, Meredith. I'll see you soon."

"Yeah." She ignored his hand for a moment, then shrugged and shook it. "You take care of yourself. See you around." She dropped his hand and went inside her trailer, slamming the door behind her.

Mohinder sighed softly as he headed into the building. He got into the elevator and made his way to the Bennet's apartment, ringing the doorbell. Noah smiled as he opened the door. "I see you made it here in one piece?"

"Yes, I did." Mohinder walked inside. "Meredith is outside in her trailer. She says she'd rather stay there." He sat down on a couch. "She seems a little nervous, so handle her with care."

"I'll try." Noah sat down across from Mohinder. "Claire just came up a moment ago. She saw her."

"It was a tense little meeting." Mohinder sighed. "They're going to have a difficult time reconnecting, if they ever do."

"I'd like to see that happen." Noah looked off into the distance. "Claire's always wanted to meet her mother. She told me about the time she met her in October, but they didn't get a chance to know each other. I've always felt responsible for what happened."

"Claire's had a good life with you and Sandra, I know she doesn't regret having the two of you for parents."

"I know." Noah sighed. "It's just sad how it's all worked out. She's becoming close with Nathan and his family, I'd like to see her and Meredith become close also. I know that Sandra and I will always be her Mom and Dad, but she needs to know her birth parents too." He looked at Mohinder. "So she's doing okay?"

"A little shaky, a little anti-social, but okay. She smokes like a bloody chimney though. She wanted to know if someone could hook her trailer to electricity and water."

Noah nodded. "I'll go down and visit her, see what I can do." He stood up. "And you need to head to Brazil to meet Peter and Sherry. They called a few minutes ago. They're officially in Rio de Janeiro, just in time for Carnivale."

"Sounds like fun." Mohinder laughed as he stood. "I'll definitely have to join them then."

"The next person the three of you need to collect lives in Nova Iguaçu, near Rio."

"I'll let them know." Mohinder shook Noah's hand. "Any word on Olivia and Gabriel?"

"They've sent their last two in this morning, both from the Cayman Islands. Hiro said they told him to tell me that they'll return when the three of you get back from South America. Apparently they've decided on taking that honeymoon anyway. They should be okay, as long as they keep their phone handy and travel under their British Columbia aliases. Hiro said they were talking about spending a few days in St. Kitts and Nevis."

"Nice." Mohinder rolled his eyes.

"Well, if I had a choice between a tropical island with no one to bother me or coming home where my mother and mother-in-law was climbing the walls, I'd choose the island too. Angela's been hanging around here lately, trying to 'bond' with Claire." Noah smirked. "Perhaps I should send her to 'visit' Meredith."

"I don't think either of them deserve THAT!" Mohinder laughed. "I'll find Hiro and head to Rio."

"See you soon." Noah let Mohinder out of the apartment, then sat on the couch for a few minutes. He looked towards the hallway. "You can come out now, I know you were listening."

Claire stepped into the living room. "Busted."

"Yeah, you are." Noah patted the couch cushion beside him. "You heard?"

"I saw her, like I said."

"What's wrong?"

Claire sighed. "I remember the things she said. Dad, she lied to me."

"About?"

"About Nathan. About how he really didn't want to have anything to do with me, about the money he paid her. I just don't know if I can trust her." She curled up on the couch, resting her head on his shoulder. "I wondered for so long about what my birth mother was like, and when I finally met her, she let me down."

"Nathan did too, at first though, didn't he? You've given him another chance and look at the two of you. You two get along, you spend time together when he's here. Heidi and the boys adore you."

"I know." She shrugged. "But you're my Dad. Nathan's a good guy, but you're the one who raised me."

Noah smiled as he hugged Claire. "And no matter what I always will be and Sandra will always be your mom, but you can never have too many people in your life who love you and care about you and worry about you."

"I guess."

"So, I'm going downstairs to the parking lot to meet with Meredith, try and convince her to live in the actual building and if not, see about hooking her up with some electricity and water. Would you like to come with me?"

Claire shook her head. "Nope. I'm just not ready to talk to her again yet." She looked up at Noah. "Besides, I told Nikolai that we'd take Tatiana, Molly and Lyle to the movies."

"Okay." Noah stood up, turning to Claire. "You and Nikolai are becoming very close. Should we be having 'the talk'?"

Claire blushed. "No. Mom and I already had 'the talk' and Nikolai and I aren't even dating, not really."

"When you are, I'll remember to pull out my shot gun and polish it in front of him while telling him how protective I am of you." Noah laughed.

Claire smirked. "Another reason to NOT ever date ANYONE!" She laughed as she stood up and went to her room.

Noah laughed to himself as he stood and went downstairs to the parking lot. Meredith was sitting outside of it in a lawn chair, staring out into the distance while she smoked. She raised an eyebrow as Noah walked over to her. "Hello." He held out his hand. "I'm Noah Bennet."

Meredith threw her cigarette down, grinding it under her heel as she stood. "Meredith Gordon, but you already knew that." She stared at him. "It's been fourteen years and you have glasses now, but I recognize you anyway." She looked angrily at the hand he was offering until he finally pulled it away, placing it in his pocket. "You're one of the guys that showed up at my apartment that night. You tried to kidnap me and Claire and now you're raising her."

Noah sighed. "I was hoping you wouldn't recognize me. For the record though, we weren't there to kidnap you. We were told that you had a special ability. The group I worked with at that time was collecting people with abilities to monitor. If you hadn't set your apartment on fire and been presumed dead, odds are you would have been observed and released to continue raising your daughter."

Meredith's eyes narrowed. "Does Claire know the whole story?"

Noah nodded. "I sat her down recently and told her everything. She knows what I used to do for a living. I told her that I and my partner at that time, a man named Claude-you'll meet him, he's here-were sent to your apartment to bring you in. You set the place on fire and ran, abandoning her and I rescued her from the fire. You were definitely presumed to be dead, so the organization I was with decided to leak that she had been presumed dead as well. She was given to me and Sandra to raise, which we've been doing for the last fourteen years. We love her, Meredith. We've been great parents to her."

Meredith snorted. "Yeah, that's why she came looking for me and why when she found out about her father, she showed up with her bags packed ready to go to him."

"She told me all about that as well. There were some things going on in our lives at that time. My job was starting to catch up to my private life and my family was suffering for it. Leaving that organization and finally being honest with my family about what I do for a living has helped mend fences. We're all very close again." Noah looked around. "There's an RV hook-up in the gardens behind the building. You can get electricity and water there, as well as hooking up to a septic system."

"Thanks." Meredith glared at him. "I'm going to get to know her again, fair warning."

"I want you to." As Meredith rolled her eyes and smirked, Noah nodded. "She's been getting to know Nathan and his family very well, it's only fair that she get to know you. Sandra and I aren't any more threatened by you than we have been by Nathan. Claire's made it very clear to us that, no matter what, she considers the people who raised her to be her real parents."

"Only because you stole her."

"Only because YOU set an apartment on fire; an apartment with a toddler inside, and you then ran without giving her a second thought." Noah turned and walked away, reentering the building as Meredith glared daggers at him.

"Self righteous asshole." Meredith threw her lawn chair back into her trailer before she hooked it back to her truck and drove towards the gardens in the back.

* * *

"Mohinder?" Mohinder turned in his apartment to see Collette standing behind him, holding up a dress bag. "You're preparing to return to Sherry and Peter, yes?"

"Yes, I am." He nodded. "I'm waiting for Hiro to come back to teleport me there."

"Ah yes, he's in the Great Barrier Reef of Australia with his friends, learning to surf." She held up the bag. "Sherry called a few hours ago and asked that I give you this to bring to her if I saw you when you arrived. She said it would be a huge favor and that she would owe you a dance at Carnivale if you brought it to her, s'il vous plait."

"I'll bring it." Mohinder smiled as he took the bag. "I packed an outfit for tonight as well."

"Sounds fun. I hope the three of you enjoy yourselves."

"I think we will." He smiled as Hiro appeared in his living room. His smile widened as he noticed Hiro's outfit. The young man was dressed in a Hawaiian print shirt over a surfing wetsuit, with flip-flops on his feet. "Enjoying Australia?"

"I'm learning to surf!" Hiro said happily. "I'm wiping out so far, but Leilani says I'll be surfing tubes in no time flat. She says that Ando, Rosario and I are excellent students."

"Then let's get me to Rio so you can return to your surfing lessons." Mohinder beamed at him. "Leilani's a nice girl."

"She's great." Hiro smiled softly as he took Mohinder's shoulder, closing his eyes. They appeared in a hotel hallway in Rio. Hiro looked around. "I think this is your stop."

"Thanks again." Mohinder nodded. "Hang ten."

"Definitely!" He pointed to room seven. "Peter said that he and Sherry are in there. Have fun tonight!" He blinked out of existence as Mohinder walked to the door and knocked.

"Please God don't let them be shagging as usual." He whispered to himself. He sighed with relieve as Peter quickly opened the door, fully dressed.

"You made it!" Peter hugged Mohinder and showed him in, handing him a room key. "You're in room eight next door and our bed is NOT against the wall to your room, so you don't have to worry too much about the noise." He laughed.

Mohinder stared at Peter's outfit. He was dressed casually in a white oxford shirt and khakis. "You look nice."

"Sherry picked it out. She dragged me shopping after we got here so I could get something to wear tonight. I wanted comfortable, she wanted nice, we sort of compromised."

"Is that my dress?" Sherry stepped out of the bathroom in a robe and took the dress from Mohinder, kissing him on the cheek. "I owe you a dance!"

"Collette told me." Mohinder smiled as she giggled and ran back into the bathroom. "While she's changing, I'll go to my room and change as well. I'll meet you both back here in a few minutes."

"Okay." Peter grinned. "I'm glad you made it back. By the way, how was your road trip with Meredith?"

Mohinder shrugged. "I survived a road trip with Sylar once, I can now survive one with anybody." He left Peter and Sherry's room and went to his room next door to change.

* * *

Candice's eyes narrowed as she surveyed the streets below. Parades snaked their way along the streets as people celebrated and danced. "This is going to be perfect. Everything going on down there will create enough distraction and confusion to pull this off."

Gota rolled her eyes. "Which is why I don't understand why we don't just kill them in the streets."

"I want them to suffer first, both of them." Candice smirked. "Peter and his little Mafia Princess. I hope they've celebrated already, because tonight, they're both going to die."

* * *

Mohinder whistled at Sherry as she stepped out of her hotel room with Peter. Her hair was hanging down, as she wore her trademark stiletto heels. Her dress was hot pink and strapless with a flared skirt. "You look lovely."

"Doesn't she?" Peter kissed her cheek as they made their way to the stairs.

"Here's my favorite part of the dress." Sherry took Peter's hand and twirled into him, her skirt flying up as she did it. She laughed and blushed as she pushed her skirt down, hiding her pink lace undies. "Maybe I should change."

"Don't you dare." Peter kissed her as they headed down to the street below. They began to join the crowds, watching the parades and dancers in the streets. "You know what Carnivale is, right?" He asked Mohinder. "It's a celebration before Lent. See, during Lent, for forty days, Roman Catholics are supposed to abstain from the pleasures of the flesh-"

"-Which we WON'T be doing!" Sherry laughed.

"Not even." Peter winked at her. "Anyway, Carnivale is the festival before Lent. There's drinking, dancing, rich foods, among other things. It's a way to say goodbye to those pleasures before those forty days begin."

"Interesting tradition." Mohinder nodded and smiled.

"So, ready to celebrate?" Peter grinned.

"Let's party." Mohinder followed Peter and Sherry as they wandered the streets, stopping to buy food and drinks from vendors before joining the other dancers as parades passed them by. Mohinder stopped for a moment to buy another drink as Peter and Sherry kept going ahead of him. After a moment, he stood up and looked around as he quickly downed his drink and looked for them. He bumped into a woman and stepped back as she turned around, staring at him. "Sherry! Where's Peter?" He asked.

"Around. I think he went into one of the bars across the street." Sherry smiled at him. "Wanna dance?"

"You do owe me one for bringing you that dress. You really look lovely in it."

She raised an eyebrow at him as she moved towards him. "You think I look lovely?"

"In that dress, absolutely."

"Then let's dance." Sherry moved close to him and began to dance with him, her body pressing against his with every move. Mohinder stared down at her, realizing she was looking up at him and looking deep into his eyes as she draped her arms around his neck, pressing her hips against his. "You're a very good dancer." She stood up on her tiptoes as she pulled his face to hers. Mohinder stepped away, holding Sherry at arm's length as he glared at her. "What's wrong?"

Mohinder let go of her, shaking his head. "Peter is one of my best friends."

"Best friends share, don't they?" She smirked as she stepped towards him again.

"We don't share girls." Mohinder shook his head. "I'm surprised at you! I thought the two of you were in love."

Sherry rolled her eyes. "LOVE? Who actually believes in that shit?" She spun around on her heel, her dress flying up around her waist as she walked away.

Mohinder's eyes widened as her skirt flew up, noticing the white undies underneath. "Oh my God!" He breathed. He searched the crowds for Peter and spotted him, a block away and across the street, dancing with Sherry on a street corner. Mohinder looked around, realizing the woman who had been standing in front of him had disappeared. "Oh God no!" He started to run across the street, just as the parade approached, pushing him back onto the sidewalk. He tried to fight his way through the crowds as he kept his eye on Peter and Sherry. He groaned as a large float passed by him, blocking his view. "I have to get to them! I have to warn them now!" His eyes widened as the float passed and realized that his friends were gone. "No! No, no, no, no, no!" He continued in vain to push his way through the throng of people to search for his friends across the street.

* * *

Peter and Sherry giggled as they ran down the street, holding hands. Sherry stopped for a moment, looking back. "Where's Mohinder?"

"He'll find us, unless he finds a hot woman first." Peter kissed her, holding her close as he pressed her against a wall. "Wouldn't you rather sneak back to our room for a while?"

Sherry shook her head, laughing. "We'll revel in THOSE pleasures later." She took his hand and led him through the crowds of people dancing around them in masks.

Peter stopped her and nodded towards a crowded bar. "Come on, let's get another drink."

"You'd better not drink too much." Sherry pressed against him as they entered the bar. "Not if you really do want to revel more later."

"Good idea." Peter kissed her passionately. "Much reveling later, not so much drinking now." He looked around the crowded bar. "Get us a booth?"

"What am I, your booth bitch?"

"Be my booth bitch now, and I'll be YOUR bitch later."

"Kinky." Sherry grinned. "I like it."

"I know you do." Peter kissed her once more before he turned to wade through the crowds to get to the bar. As he turned away, he didn't notice the tall person dressed in black with a mask approaching Sherry. The person covered her mouth with one hand, while injecting a syringe into her neck with the other. Sherry slumped against the person as they lifted her up and carried her out of the bar and into an alley.

* * *

Peter searched the bar for his girlfriend as he carried two drinks. He finally spotted her sitting at a table near the door. "Couldn't find a booth?"

Sherry shook her head. "Nope, the booths were booked." She took her drink and smiled seductively at Peter as she quickly drained her glass.

"Slow down!" Peter wrapped an arm around her, pulling her close. "And you were telling ME to take it easy."

"I don't know why I'd say something as insipid as that." Sherry grabbed him and began to kiss him passionately.

Peter began to kiss her back, then suddenly stopped, pulling away from her, his eyes wide. "You're not Sherry." He whispered.

'Sherry' morphed into Candice as Peter's eyes widened more. "No, I'm not." She stood up, laughing.

"Where is she?" Peter's eyes scanned the bar. "What have you done with her?"

"Aw! What's the matter? You want your little pretty plaything back?" Candice taunted.

"WHAT THE FUCK DID YOU DO WITH HER?"

Candice smirked as she grabbed a mask. "Want her? Come and find her. Say goodbye to her before we kill her." She put the mask on and quickly morphed as she ducked into the crowds outside.

Peter stumbled out of the bar, his mind racing as his heart began to pound with terror. "SHERRY!" He searched the crowds for his girlfriend, or for her kidnappers, tears springing into his eyes. "SHERRY!"

Mohinder spotted him on the sidewalk as Peter began to stumble down the street, screaming and searching for his girlfriend. "Peter!" Mohinder ran to him as Peter fell against a wall, sobbing. "Peter, where is Sherry?"

"They took her! Candice-" he sobbed. "-They're going to kill her."

"Then we have to find her. Concentrate, Peter!"

Peter's mind and emotions were running everywhere as things began to fly around the street and small explosions began to go off. Mohinder looked around with fear as Peter tried to stand and stumbled again, finally half-crawling into an alley. "She's gone!" Peter sobbed. "She's gone and they took her and they're going to kill her!"

"Peter dammit! Concentrate!" Mohinder shook Peter by the shoulders as the young man cried with terror. "We have to find her before it's too late."

Peter stared up at Mohinder blankly, his expression bleak as his hands began to glow. He looked down at his hands, trying to control the nuclear energy trying to come to the surface. Finally, his eyes rolled back in his head as he fainted, falling against Mohinder. "Sherry." He whispered as he finally passed out.


	49. Chapter 49

Chapter Forty-Nine: Firefight in the Hotel

Peter's eyes flew open as he sat up with a start. "Sherry!" He looked around to see Mohinder and Hiro standing beside his bed. He looked around. He was back in his hotel room. "Where is she?"

Mohinder shook his head. "We don't know. I've been too busy calling Noah. Hiro was called in to help me bring you back to the hotel."

"How long have I been out?"

"It's been thirty minutes."

Peter groaned. "I can't believe I lost control like that. It was just like in New York." He jumped out of bed as Mohinder steadied him. "I have to get to her, I have to find her."

"Molly was looking for her a while ago. She could find her, which means she's still alive, but as of twenty minutes ago, she was being moved somewhere, so she couldn't' pin down her exact location."

"I have to find her now." Peter began to rush around the hotel room, grabbing his gun and Sherry's, loading them with bullets.

"First you have to pull yourself together. Then we can make a plan to get her back." Mohinder tried to stop Peter. "Peter, you can't go rushing off to find her and get yourself killed as well."

"They took her because of ME!" Peter stopped, glaring at Mohinder. "Candice told me if I want to see her again, I have to find her. They're going to kill her, Mohinder!"

"I know." Mohinder nodded, his expression grave. "But what if it's a trap? They know you're unstable with your powers, they know that you're taken with Sherry-"

"-TAKEN?" Peter snorted. "Try love. I love her." He looked away sadly. "I've never really declared that out loud, not even to her. I've always said to her that I'm falling in love, but never that I truly, actually loved her." He looked at Mohinder, his expression determined. "I'm going to find her, I'm going to rescue her, and then I'm going to tell her exactly how I feel."

Hiro stepped forward, dressed in black with his sword slung across his back. "I'll go with you. Gabriel and Olivia have also been informed of what's happening. They've offered to be here for you and Gabriel wants to help you find Sherry. I can teleport to them and return with them if you want our help."

Peter smiled softly. "GABRIEL offered to help?" He nodded. "Tell him thanks, but I'm doing this on my own."

* * *

Sherry was slumped unconscious in a chair in Candice's hotel room across town. Her hands were tied to the chair behind her back. Candice paced in front of her impatiently while Gota pulled out a syringe and drew a vial of blood from Sherry's arm. After she placed the blood into a container, she turned to Sherry and gently slapped her cheeks to wake her up. 

"That's not how you wake up a Mafia Princess!" Candice grabbed a syringe and walked to a kit filled with different drugs. She filled the syringe with adrenaline and walked to Sherry, injecting the drug into her arm. When she was finished, Sherry started to moan, her eyes fluttering. Candice smirked, reached back and slapped Sherry hard across the face, making the girl scream as her eyes flew open. "THAT'S how you wake up a Mafia Princess!"

Sherry sat up in her chair and struggled for a moment against the binds holding her wrists to the back of the chair. "What in the hell do you think you're doing with me, Skank?"

Candice's eyes narrowed. "We're going to play a little game. It's called 'Peter's Going to Watch His Bimbo Die Right Before We Put a Bullet in His Brain'."

"So I'm basically bait?" Sherry giggled.

"What's so funny?" Candice stepped towards her.

"You've kidnapped a walking bomb, dumbass! What's to stop me from blowing you and your bitchy Eurotrash girlfriend to bits right now?"

Candice whipped out her gun, pointing it at Sherry as Gota did the same. "We thought of that, and here's the thing. Ever hear of a 'Mexican Standoff'? You blow me up, Gota shoots you, if you blow up Gota, I shoot you, get it?"

"What if I just blow you both up right now?" Sherry leaned forward as far as her bindings would allow. "What if I blow us ALL up right now?"

"And damage a hotel packed with innocent people in the process?" Candice laughed. "You're not going to do that, you're one of the 'good guys', remember?" She smirked as Sherry rolled her eyes and sat back, crossing her legs. "Until Loverboy gets here though, you and I are going to have a little fun. Maybe I'll drive you insane before I kill you, how would you like that?"

Sherry smirked. "There's nothing you could show me that would make me any batshit crazier than you already are, so bring it, Bitch!"

* * *

Peter stepped out of the bathroom, changed into jeans and a black tee-shirt. He checked his and Sherry's guns again before putting them in their holsters. He put the holsters on, making sure both guns were snugly nestled under each arm before he grabbed a black oxford shirt and pulled it on to hide the guns. Mohinder and Hiro watched as Peter grabbed more ammunition clips and began to load them as well. "What are you planning to do?" Hiro asked. 

"I'm going to find her, teleport to her, and make them pay for ever thinking they could use her to get to me." Peter stuffed the clips in his pockets.

"You seem to have calmed down since the kidnapping." Mohinder stared at Peter.

"I have to get control of my emotions." Peter swallowed a lump in his throat. "I can't lose it like I did earlier. Sherry's counting on me and I've already let her down once tonight by losing my shit, and wasting our time." He pulled his shoulders back. "I have to be ready to use any and all powers that I can as quickly as I can." He pulled out a map of Rio de Janeiro and began to concentrate, calling up Molly's power. He stuck a pin into an area across town from where they were. "Gotcha." He whispered.

* * *

Sherry's eyes were closed as Candice stood in front of her, morphed into Peter. "I can't believe you ever thought I'd love a disgusting little whore like you." 'Peter' snarled. "You know I was just using you for sex, right? You were so easy, too. From the first moment I looked at you, I knew you'd be a fun lay, but you had to try and tag along on this trip and act like we were actually a couple, right? I've been leading you on, Sherry. You've been fun, but you'll never be Simone. I actually DID love her." 

Sherry opened her eyes, glaring at 'Peter'. "Do you honestly think I don't know his true heart, you silly bitch? Conjuring up an image of him saying hateful things that I know he'd never say to me in a million years isn't doing anything but making me want to kick your ass." She smirked. "You're jealous, aren't you? You really wanted to give him your goodies that night in Olivia's facility, but he was disgusted by you. You made his skin crawl and you fucking KNEW it!" Sherry giggled. "He's really good in bed, too. A tiger. Rowr."

Candice morphed back to her usual state. "Shut up!" She smacked Sherry across the face with her gun. "Just shut the fuck up!"

Sherry giggled harder as blood trickled out of her mouth. "Ooooh! I think I hit a nerve!"

"This is stupid!" Gota rolled her eyes. "Why don't we just go ahead and kill her? We've gotten what we need from her and I'm tired of listening to the two of you fight like teenagers over a boy."

"We'll kill her when I'm ready to kill her." Candice smirked. "She hasn't suffered enough yet."

As Candice and Gota argued, Sherry noticed Candice's suitcase behind them on the bed, her clothes scattered out of it. She moved her fingers along the ropes tying her hands, feeling the knots as a plan formed in her mind. She grinned and started laughing harder. Candice turned to her. "What are you laughing about NOW?"

"I'm going to kill you both, that's what I'm laughing about!"

"Really." Candice morphed into another woman as she stood in front of Sherry. She was beautiful, with light eyes, caramel curls and lightly tanned skin. "Peter always loved me. You were just sloppy seconds to him."

"And who are you supposed to be now?" Sherry half-listened to Candice as she concentrated on the sounds of the parties taking place outside, smiling as firecrackers and fireworks began to go off.

"You never met me. I died before you could. I'm Simone, Peter's one true love. You think you're so great, being with him now." She leaned forward, her face inches from Sherry's. "You're only with him because I died. His heart belonged to me then, and it still belongs to me now. You can't beat a dead woman, Baby. If I were still alive, you'd be standing on the outside, looking in and you know it. I'm prettier, I'm classier-"

"-but you're still fucking dead." Sherry listened as more fireworks went off and timed two quick, small explosions to go off with them, masking the sound of Candice's clothes detonating, along with the knots holding Sherry's hands behind her. She grinned as she felt the ropes give way behind her and watched as Candice's clothes began to smolder behind Gota's back. "Try another illusion, 'cause that one ain't working either." She grasped the back of the chair, trying to move her arms as little as possible.

* * *

"So we can't come with you?" Hiro sighed. 

Peter shook his head. "I have to do this alone. Pack everything up. If I'm not back in an hour, leave without me."

"Be careful." Mohinder shook his head.

"I'm not the one who has anything to worry about." Peter crossed his arms as he reached into his shirt, getting a grip on each gun as he closed his eyes, cleared his mind, took a deep breath and prepared to teleport.

* * *

"That's it!" Gota stepped forward, pulling out her gun. "I'm tired of these stupid games, Candice! I'm killing her now, if anything just to shut her up, and we can kill her boyfriend if he ever grows a pair of balls and decides to show up." 

"No you're NOT!" Candice glared at her. "NOT YET! I WANT TO BREAK THIS BITCH FIRST!"

Gota looked around, sniffing the air. "What's that smell?" Her eyes widened as she spotted Candice's clothes burning. "SHIT!"

She ran for a fire extinguisher as Candice turned around, her eyes wide and disbelieving as Sherry quickly stood and smashed her in the face with her chair. Gota turned from putting out the fire as she heard the commotion and reached for her gun. Sherry grabbed Candice and pulled her up, using her as a human shield as Gota began to fire at her. Candice shrieked in pain as the bullets hit her, then Gota screamed as Sherry grabbed the gun from Candice's hand and pumped bullets into her would-be assassin. As Gota slumped to the ground, dead, Sherry let Candice go, tossing her back to the floor, as dead as her companion. "Told'ja I was going to kill you, BITCH!" She kicked Candice in the ass as she tossed the gun down. "And THAT'S for pistol-whipping me!" She grabbed her purse and stomped out of the hotel room, slamming the door behind her.

As the door slammed shut, Peter appeared in the room, immediately whipping his guns out. He surveyed the damage to the room, his eyes widening in surprise. He heard a moan and ran over to the bed to see Gota lying on the floor. She rolled over and began to retch, coughing up bullets. "Where's Sherry?" He asked. Gota glanced at him and reached for her gun. With a twitch of his fingers, the gun flew across the floor, out of her reach. He pointed his guns at Gota. "WHERE'S SHERRY?"

Sherry stood on the landing of the hotel stairs, pulling off her high-heeled shoes with a wince. Her head whipped around as she heard Peter's voice. "Peter?" She beamed as she ran back up the stairs, towards the hotel room. "PETER!"

Peter turned at the sound of Sherry's voice. Gota tried to stand up, but was knocked unconscious as Peter twitched his hand again, sending her flying across the room. He ran to the door as it flew open and smiled with relief as Sherry stood in the doorway, her shoes dangling from her fingers. "Sherry?"

"I'm okay." She grinned and ran to him, hugging him tightly. "I knew you'd come for me, but I knew as soon as you appeared, they'd kill me. I escaped! I killed them and escaped! I heard your voice and I had to come back for you."

"Thank God." Peter hugged her tightly, stroking her hair. "Oh Baby, thank GOD!"

As they held each other, neither saw Candice begin to stir. She opened her eyes and saw Peter's back as he hugged his girlfriend. Glaring, she rolled over and reached for her gun.

Sherry opened her eyes and spotted Candice sitting up, pointing her gun at Peter. "NO!" She screamed, shoving Peter out of the way. Candice fired her gun repeatedly, hitting Sherry in the chest and stomach.

Peter spun around, creating a force field to protect himself and Sherry until Candice's gun was emptied, then lowered the field and pulled out his guns, shooting Candice and killing her again. He turned around to see Sherry, his expression filled with anguish as she lay slumped against the wall, her eyes closed as blood began to pool around her. "Oh Honey, no." He listened closely, relieved to hear that her heart was still beating. He gathered her into his arms as his eyes filled with tears.

She moaned in pain as he held her close to him, cradling her against his chest. Her eyes fluttered open for a moment. "Get me out of here." She whispered. "I don't want to die here with Them."

"You're not going to die." He turned as he heard a sound and realized Gota was starting to come around. "It's like a fucking zombie movie." He shook his head. "They won't stay dead." He spotted a window, leading to a fire escape. "Hang on just a few minutes longer, Baby." Peter whispered against Sherry's ear. "Stay with me, please. Don't die on me like Simone."

"Love you." Sherry whispered as her head fell back.

Peter choked back a sob, concentrating on the sound of Sherry's heartbeat slowing down as he ran, phasing through the window onto the fire escape before he jumped off and flew away from the hotel. He flew a few blocks, then landed on the roof of another building. He knelt with Sherry bleeding to death in his arms and placed her on the roof. "Sherry?" He kissed her forehead. "Sherry, stay with me."

Her eyes fluttered again. "Had to do it. Candice. She was going to shoot you. I had to. I'm sorry, Peter. I had to."

"I know." Peter stroked her face as he placed his other hand on the bullet wounds. "I'm not going to let you die. I love you too much." He closed his eyes, concentrating on her injuries, feeling Linderman's power that he'd acquired through Herbert surging through his hands as Sherry's heartbeat slowed even more. Suddenly her eyes flew open as she gasped for air and Peter smiled with relief as he heard her heart begin to pound. He smiled down at her. "Welcome back." He pulled her into his arms and kissed her passionately.

Sherry kissed him back, then pulled her face away for a moment. "Did I hear you correctly?"

Peter grinned. "What did you hear?"

"Say it again. Don't toy with me."

Peter hugged her and then looked into her eyes. "I love you, Sherry."

"You mean it. You're not falling in love-"

He shook his head. "-I'm IN love. I fell a long time ago, I just couldn't say the words until I realized I might lose you." He kissed her forehead, then her cheeks. "I love you."

"I love you too." Sherry held him tightly. "Take me back to the hotel."

"With pleasure." Peter closed his eyes as they teleported back.

Mohinder jumped up in shock as Peter and Sherry materialized on the bed beside him, kissing. "You're back!"

Peter looked up at him, smiling. "We're back." He stood up and turned to help Sherry off of the bed. "I told you I'd bring her back."

Mohinder stared at the blood and bullet holes in Sherry's dress. "I see there were complications."

Sherry grinned as she snuggled against Peter. "Nothing my awesome guy couldn't fix."

"It's my fault she got shot." Peter laughed. "She'd already gotten away! She heard me and came back."

"Really?" Mohinder hugged Sherry, then stepped aside to let Hiro do the same. "You'd already gotten away?"

"Probably seconds before he showed up, but yeah." Sherry nodded. "I heard fireworks outside of the window, so as they went off, I blew up Candice's clothes and the ropes tying me to the chair. While Gota fought the fire, I beat up on Candice's ass, then shot Gota and ran. That's what happens when you piss of a Jersey Girl."

"I'll have to remember that." Mohinder sighed. "So what now?"

"Now?" Peter looked at his friends gravely. "Now the three of you go back to Las Vegas. I'll collect the rest of the people on the list and return there soon as well."

"What do you mean by 'the three of you'?" Sherry glared at him. "I'm not going ANYWHERE and you can't make me!"

"Sherry, you got shot." Peter looked sadly at her.

"Only because I came back for your ass! I was free and clear, Babe!" Sherry crossed her arms in front of her chest and gave Peter a stubborn look. "I'm not going anywhere except with you." As Peter took a deep breath she shook her head. "And you CAN'T say anything to change my mind and don't you DARE try and teleport out of here without me. If you do THAT, just remember, you'll have to come home and sleep some time."

"I'm scared, okay?" Peter placed his hands on Sherry's shoulders, looking into her eyes. "I love you. I almost lost you tonight. Those people are after us, and right now, they're after ME. They've already used you once to hurt me, and you might be okay now, and you might have gotten away this time, but the next time we might not be so lucky. Please. Go back to Las Vegas with Mohinder and Hiro."

"You're going to need back-up." Sherry shook her head. "It's not a good idea for you to be out here alone." She turned away from Peter and grabbed her knapsack as she went to the bathroom. "I'm going to change clothes so we can head over to collect the next person on the list. When I come back, you'd better be here, or you had just never bother EVER speaking to me again, got it?" She slammed the bathroom door behind her as Peter slumped on the bed.

"Got it." He whispered. He looked sadly at Mohinder. "And just what in the hell am I supposed to do now?"

Mohinder shrugged. "Protect her, let her protect you and finish the list. Do you want me to go back with Hiro?"

Peter nodded. "I'm probably going to have my hands full just keeping an eye on her."

"I don't NEED you keeping an eye on me! I can take care of myself!" Sherry yelled through the closed door.

"Right! So what did you do when you got SHOT?" Peter yelled back. "Be sensible! What if they'd shot you in the head! I can only heal someone who's injured, not dead!"

"I'm NOT dying on you, you ass!"

Peter shook his head. "Apparently not if I can help it."

* * *

"So you let her get away?" Linderman's voice on the speakerphone was tight. Candice cringed for a moment as she heard the edge in it, knowing he was barely controlling his anger. She dug through her clothes, cursing under her breath as she noticed that anything that hadn't been burned was covered in smoke and foam from the fire extinguisher. "You let them BOTH get away?" 

"It's not MY fault!" Gota shook her head. "It's Candice! She wouldn't let me kill the girl. She kept on toying with her, saying she wanted to break her. She let that bitch blow up the suitcase and set her clothes on fire. If Candice had let me kill her when I wanted to, she wouldn't have been able to distract us and we'd have been ready for Petrelli when he showed up to reclaim her."

"Take me off of speakerphone, Gota. I want to talk with you privately."

Gota smirked as she picked up the phone and began to listen to Linderman's instructions. Candice watched her as she giggled girlishly and agreed with everything he said. Candice studied Gota as she smiled and laughed, talking with Linderman and occasionally blushing at the things he said to her. She looked away, feeling her heart fall into her chest. Gota laughed again, then handed the phone to Candice, her lips twisting into a smirk. "He wants to talk to YOU now." She walked out of the room, smiling. "I have to go and pack. He's called me back to the compound. We're going to India to check on Ombasa's recovery."

Candice closed her eyes as a tear slid down her cheek. She placed the phone to her ear. "Let me explain-"

"-Explain what? I told you to kill Sherry Bombano. You didn't do as I said. I told you to kill Peter Petrelli and you let him slip through your fingers as well. You still have the list with you, do you not?"

"I do." Candice's voice was thick as she fought to keep from sobbing at the icy coldness in his voice. "I have it."

"There is a name on the list, a woman named Katharina De la Vega. She lives in Nova Iguaçu. You are to collect her or her blood. Then you will continue the search of people on that list and when you have finished, you will return here to Montana. You will not fail me again, do you understand?"

"Yes." Candice nodded. "I understand."

"When you return, you will find another place to stay in the compound. You've been replaced, do you understand that as well?"

"Lindy-"

"-Don't call me THAT again!" Linderman's voice was filled with rage. "We are finished in that sense. I can't bear the idea of sharing myself with someone as weak and ineffectual as you! You have a lot to make up for, you will start by finishing that fucking list on your own, do you understand me?"

"I understand."

"'I understand' what, Candice?"

Candice's face twisted into an ugly expression. "I understand, MISTER Linderman."

"Good girl. Watch that tone or I'll rip your tongue out. Sure, it'll grow back, but it'll hurt like a son of a bitch."

Candice stared at the phone as it unceremoniously went dead. She set the phone down as she lowered her head, tears falling into her lap. "Bastard." She whispered. "I hate you."

Gota returned to Candice's room, smirking. "He tell you EVERYTHING?" Candice nodded wordlessly, never lifting her head. "Good. I'm glad." She grabbed the medical kit with Sherry's blood sample. "At least we got this before you fucked everything else up." She pulled out the sample and tossed the kit at Candice. "Remember, everyone we kill, we take a sample of their blood. Let their powers live on, right?"

"Yeah. Right." Candice nodded. After Gota left, she stood up, wiping away tears. She was hurt and angry. "You said you would heal the world." She whispered. "What are you really doing with it?" She shook her head. "I have to get answers. I know who to get them from." She pulled out an atlas and closed her eyes, quickly stabbing a push pin into Nova Iguaçu. She looked down at it, then stared at the address on her list. "I guess you guys are beating me to the punch." She stood up and pulled a jacket on over her bullet hole riddled clothes before grabbing the kit and walking out of the hotel.

* * *

"I still wish you'd have agreed to leave with Hiro and Mohinder." Peter held Sherry's hand tightly as they sat in front of Katharina de la Vega's apartment, waiting for her to return.

"And I wish you'd drop it, because I'm not leaving you." Sherry rested her head on Peter's shoulder. "I love you. I'm not leaving your side."

"I love you too." Peter closed his eyes as he squeezed Sherry's hand gently. "When you took those bullets for me, I thought I'd lost you. I can't bear the thought of that."

"I know." Sherry kissed his cheek. "But I'm okay. We're a team, remember? You wouldn't leave me behind and I'll be damned if I'll leave you."

They turned as they heard footsteps on the stairs and stood up, waiting. "I hope that's Ms. De le Vega." Peter sighed. "I'm ready to get out of this town."

"Me too." Her eyes widened as the person stepped into view, holding up their arms in surrender. "HOLY FUCKING SHIT JESUS CHRIST ON A RITZ CRACKER!" She whipped out her gun, pointing it at Candice as Peter followed suit.

Candice looked at them miserably, tears streaming down her cheeks as she looked at Peter and Sherry. "I can't stay there anymore." She sobbed. "Kill me, don't kill me, I don't care." She lowered her hands as she leaned against the wall, then slowly slid down it, sobbing loudly as Peter and Sherry stared at her in shock.


	50. Chapter 50

Chapter Fifty: Dumped Double Agent

Peter and Sherry stared at Candice in shock as the woman sat on the floor in the hallway of an apartment building and sobbed openly. Sherry spoke first, raising an eyebrow as she trained her gun on the crying woman. "So what bit your ass?"

Candice looked away, tears streaming down her cheeks. "I don't know what I'm doing here. I came to you for answers, but I know I'll never get them." She stared at the floor. "I thought he was going to heal the world, but I was wrong. I thought he was my mentor, my friend, even more than that, really, but he wasn't. The only true friend I've ever had in my life is dead, and he died because of me. I don't belong anywhere, I don't belong with anyone. I have nothing."

Sherry covered a giggle. "What? Did Grandpa break up with your or something?"

Candice looked up at Sherry. "You're loving this, aren't you? I don't blame you." She shrugged and looked away again. "He's been using me from the beginning. First he used me for my powers and what I could do for him with them, then he used me for-" Her voice trailed off. "-But nothing I've ever done or will ever do has ever been good enough for him. He's right, really. I'm useless. I'm worthless and I'm stupid. I sold my soul to him. I've done things that I'm not proud of, things that I can never take back. Shooting and torturing you was just the tip of the iceberg really, and what did I do all of it for? I did it for someone who used me and treated me like shit." Candice tilted her head back, staring at the ceiling. "He's killing kids, isn't he?"

Peter nodded. "Yeah, he is."

"You're sure?"

"There's a boy with us from Prague. His father and twin sister were murdered by Linderman's people, specifically speaking, that scary Swedish chick from tonight."

"Gota." Candice's face twisted into something ugly. "His new whore."

"EW!" Sherry grimaced. "At least you're cute, in a skanky sort of way. She's just, EW!"

"Gee, thanks." Candice's breath hitched as she sobbed again. "Finish telling me about the boy from Prague."

"His father and twin sister were murdered, he and his baby sister barely got away. He's seventeen and his baby sister is nine. Gota would have killed them without batting an eyelash if they hadn't gotten away from her. Nikolai watched as she put two bullets into his twin's brain. Also, Hiro Nakamura and his team found two children dead in Osaka, Kazuo and Kei Arakawa. They were murdered with their mother, shot in the head execution-style at point-blank range."

"There were two kids at his compound. They were British, sweet kids. I think their name was Bunton. They talked about how their parents were killed in front of them by Gota and how they were brought to the compound. No one wanted to believe them. No one wanted to think that he was capable of ordering such a thing, scarring children for life like that. They cried all the time. They disappeared a couple of weeks ago. I asked about them. No one knows what happened to them, that or no one's talking." Candice stared at her hands. "I didn't want to believe he'd be capable of doing that."

Peter frowned. "He's going to be capable of much more if he's not stopped."

"I know." Candice face crumpled as she pulled her knees to her chest. She buried her face in her arms and sobbed louder.

Sherry grabbed Peter's arm as he stepped towards Candice. "What are you doing?"

"She's crying."

"She shot me, remember? It was a little over two hours ago. She pointed a gun at you, I pushed you out of the way and she SHOT me! She would have killed me if you hadn't been there. She tried to torture me, Peter."

Peter looked at Candice as she cried, her body shaking. "It looks like she's the one tortured now."

"What if it's a trap?" Sherry raised an eyebrow.

"How is her showing up here, crying her eyes out a trap?" Sherry shook her head and continued to point her gun at Candice as Peter sat down on the floor across from her. "So what do you want?"

"I don't know." Candice looked up, her eyes meeting his. "I'd like to go back to when I first met him and run like hell from him. Would that be a good start?" She shook her head. "Why couldn't I have met guys like you first? Why do I always have to hook up with the bad guys?" She snorted as Peter shook his head. "Not like good guys like you would have given two shits about me, the way I used to look."

"How'd you used to look?" Sherry asked.

Candice glanced at her. "Not like you, that's for sure."

"So you don't look like this normally?"

"Now? Yes. Actually, I have no idea how I really look now, but this is the way I see myself, so this is the way I normally project myself, when I'm not impersonating someone. In high school, a Buffy like you wouldn't have said two words to me, unless those words were used to make fun of me."

"How do you know what I would or wouldn't have been like in high school?" Sherry glared at her.

"Because I know what girls like you were like, okay? You traveled in packs, you ruled the school and you made fat girls like me feel even shittier about ourselves than we ever thought possible."

Sherry laughed. "Yeah, you know ME so fucking well. Let me tell you what MY high school experience was, okay? I had no friends, basically. Most of my classmates were either scared of my family's Mob ties, or their parents were and wouldn't allow them to hang with me. My 'best friend' was only hanging with me to hit on my brother Salvatore all the time, and she dropped me the minute he fucked her at prom, knocked her up and then refused to have anything else to do with her. And speaking of boys and proms? Try having three older brothers and a twin brother, all with the reputation of kicking ass first and asking questions later, cockblocking any boy who even looked in my direction, okay? I didn't go to dances, I didn't go to parties, I didn't hang out. I went to school where people parted like the Red Sea and looked away when I walked down the halls, for fear that my brothers would beat their ass or my family would blow up their house if they looked wrong or said the wrong thing to me; and then I went home and dealt with a delusional mother who, at five foot one and three hundred pounds, dressed like she was Britney fucking Spears and a father who lived in a bottle of Boone's Farm, because he was too fucking cheap to buy good red wine, okay? Don't sit there and categorize me so you can justify treating ME like shit! So your high school experience sucked, BIG FUCKING DEAL! Everyone's high school experience sucked on one level or another. So you were fat and people made fun of you, get the hell over it already! None of that is an excuse to screw a man old enough to be your grandpa, join up with his league of evil scumbags, and kill people, INCLUDING CHILDREN, who refuse to hang out at your treehouse of horror! That's not an excuse to kidnap people, including children, INCLUDING ME, and try to torture and kill them, you stupid, narcissistic, whiny, emo bitch!"

"Damn, Sherry." Peter stared at her.

"Oh, don't you dare defend her!" Sherry shook her head as Candice turned to watch her. "Bitch. Shot. Me." She crossed her arms in front of her chest, leaning against a wall as she glared at Candice. "Fucking shit hurt, too! You'd better be glad my boyfriend picked up your senior discount fuck-buddy's little healing powers after it was imbued into one of our friends."

Candice stood up, wiping away tears. "I got the answers I wanted anyway. Thanks." She glanced at Sherry. "Sorry about what I did. I'm being serious here. If things were different, if we'd gone to high school together, I probably wouldn't have had a problem hanging with you, Mob family or not, if you wouldn't have had a problem hanging with this." She morphed into an overweight teenaged girl with lank, greasy dark hair, her face covered in pimples.

Sherry shrugged. "You look like my cousin Veronica, actually. She washes her hair and dresses a little better though. I think she's fatter too, not that she lets that stop her. Girl goes through more dicks than _Bewitched_." As Candice and Peter stared at her, confused, Sherry sighed. "You know, how for Samantha's husband, they kept replacing the actor and his name was always Dick? God, if I have to explain it, it's not as funny."

Peter covered a grin. "It really wasn't funny anyway, but you're still cute as a button."

Sherry smirked. "Thanks, really." She looked at Candice as she morphed back to her normal state. "So what caused old Grandpa to toss you in the bin, anyway? Get tired of sleeping with the same girl, but a different girl every night?"

"I let you both get away." Candice sighed. "I think it was just an excuse though. I think he and Gota have had something going on for a while now."

"Gross." Sherry made a face. "I haven't seen this guy yet, but if he's old enough to have fathered Olivia, he's too old for girls our age."

"So what are you going to do now?" Peter asked.

Candice shook her head. "I have no clue. Run? Hide? It won't matter, he's been imbued with Molly's power. Actually, he imbued me with it too, along with Claire's healing ability. He told me to round up as many people in South America as I could, or face the consequences. I guess I have to do it."

"Why? Why not run?" Peter asked.

"Because he'll be able to find me, that's why. Staying with his group doesn't sound great, but the alternative is worse."

"You could always join us." Peter shrugged.

"Are you INSANE?" Sherry shook her head. "And why do I have to keep saying this: BITCH SHOT ME?"

Candice snorted. "Join up with the 'good guys'? Yeah, right. I'm sure everyone there would welcome me with open arms."

"Here's the thing about 'good guys', Candice: we're willing to give someone a shot and a second chance, IF they're sincere about wanting to actually do something good and decent in the world." Peter raised his eyebrows at her as he stood up. "We've got Sylar with us, don't we?"

"You can't be serious, Pete." Sherry stared at her boyfriend in shock. "You're trying to recruit HER?"

Candice stared at her. "And what's wrong with ME finally deciding to do some good, huh?"

"I don't believe you have it in you." Sherry nodded. "In fact, I believe all of this you're saying right now is total bullshit. I think it's a trap."

"A trap." Candice glared at her.

"Yeah. I think Linderman ordered you to come here, pretend like you two'd had a little lovers spat, so we'd take pity on you and let you join up with us, thus creating a mole in our group. You pretend to be our friend, while running back to tell Linderman all of our secrets." She turned to Peter. "I can totally see her telling him about how you found out about what he's up to, or your little secret weapon you had in that fish stick box."

"That's where you're wrong. He already HAS a mole in your building, dumbass!" Candice rolled her eyes.

"Who?" Peter stared at her, stunned.

Candice shook her head. "I don't know, but whoever they are know that you guys have been having meetings, they know that you're all preparing to do some training, they know how far along you're coming with the serum, and they knew that the two of you have been sexing it up for the last week, because they've been telling Linderman EVERYTHING."

"Shit." Peter sighed. "But you haven't heard anything about a secret power we've been keeping hidden, or about how we originally found out about Linderman's plans?"

"Nope." Candice shook her head. "And don't tell me, because I don't want to know. He got his hands on a sample of Parkman's blood and can read minds now, so I don't need to know anything else."

"What other powers has he got?" Peter asked.

"Well, Parkman's, Molly's, Claire's, Niki's," she looked at Sherry "yours now. Gota took a sample of your blood while you were out." She frowned. "He's got a couple of others too, that I'm not supposed to know about. He's got them hidden away in cold storage in his office. I found them one day when I was snooping." She stared at the floor. "I was suspecting him of sleeping with Gota at the time. I was right."

"Whose blood is it?" Peter frowned.

"I don't know." Candice shook her head. "Whoever they came from, he's got them secret for a reason, apparently."

"Where is this little hidey hole of his located?" Sherry asked.

"Beartooth Mountain range in Montana. It looks like a resort hotel. It's hidden away in the mountains. Even in the summer, it snows there, so if anyone tried to escape-"

"-they'd die of exposure." Peter whispered.

"Yeah." Candice shuddered.

They all turned as they heard footsteps on the stairs. A young woman stared at them warily as she arrived on their floor. She was in her mid-thirties, pretty and heavyset, with shoulder-length brown hair and dark brown eyes. "Yes?" She asked.

"Are you Katharina De la Vega?" Peter asked. The woman nodded, frowning. "I'm Peter Petrelli, and this is my associate, Sheryl Bombano."

"Who's this?" Katharina nodded at Candice.

Candice smiled. "I'm waiting for the hottie next door to you to come home. I met him at Carnivale last night. He gave me this address and asked me to meet him here in the morning."

Katharina shrugged and turned back to Peter. "What do you want?"

Peter smiled. "We're with Greene Technologies, out of Las Vegas, Nevada in the United States. Can we talk to you for a moment?"

The woman stared at them, then nodded, leading them into her apartment. Peter's eyes widened as he noticed the two hash marks on her neck as they followed behind her.

* * *

"Okay Noah, I've just found Katharina. She's willing to come with us, but she claims not to know about any special powers. She's got the same marks on her neck that Parkman and Hana have, so what gives?" Peter paced Katharina's bathroom as he spoke to Bennet on the phone.

"She's never been aware of her powers." Noah sighed. "We found her through the Human Genome Project and brought her in for testing and observation. It was during the same time that Matt Parkman was brought in, actually. That's how we were able to figure out what she can do."

"And that would be?"

"She can block others from reading her mind."

Peter's eyes widened. "You don't say. ANYONE?"

"It worked on Parkman. We tested them together. He was never able to get anything from her. After we were finished testing, we cleared their minds and sent them back to their homes and jobs. She's a nurse, by the way."

"Yeah, she told me. We bonded over that, actually. I think that's how I was able to convince her to join us." Peter grinned. "Send Hiro here to collect her and then Sherry and I'll teleport to our next destination."

"Will do."

Peter hung up the phone, grinning. "I just got a VERY bad idea!"

* * *

"Double agent?" Candice gaped at Peter as he told her his plan in the hallway after Hiro had come and gone with Katharina. "Let me get this straight, you want ME to go back to Linderman like nothing's happened and start getting dirt on him to pass to you guys?"

"Are you nuts?" Sherry shook her head. "She can't be trusted, Pete!"

"I can SO!" Candice closed her eyes. "Let me repeat this to you, slowly apparently. He. Can. Read. My. Mind. The minute I show up there, pretending everything's all sunshine and roses, he's going to see through my little ruse and behead me."

"That's the beauty of it." Peter grinned. "He's not going to be able to read anything you don't want him to."

"How?" Candice's eyes narrowed.

"The woman we just sent to Vegas? She blocks mind-readers." Peter began to pace the floor. "Here's my idea. Sherry and I'll teleport around South America and collect the rest of the people on our list. You follow us, in case Linderman tracks you, but since you're traveling by plane and helicopter, you'll always be a few steps behind us. He can't fault you for that, since you can't teleport."

"Like hell he can't. He'll find a reason to punish me if I come home empty-handed."

"How much more can he punish you?"

"You don't want to know."

"Our last stop will be in Peru. Here's my plan, okay? You meet us at the Machu Picchu ruins in three days, late at night. We'll teleport you back to Las Vegas with us, to the facility, where I'll have someone standing by to imbue you with Katharina's power, then I'll teleport you back to Peru to catch a plane and return to Linderman. You get any dirt on him you can and report to me or Sherry whenever you can."

"And I'll just slip in and out of there how?"

Peter frowned. "I'll have them give you Nathan's power too, so you can fly. Late at night, when you know Linderman's 'busy' with Gota, you fly to Vegas, meet with us, and let us know what's going on. Try and find out where his money is coming from, what kind of training and powers they have, who our mole is, and what those two powers are that he has hidden away. If you think he's onto you, fly away. We'll protect you if you come to us, Candice."

"She doesn't need to report to me." Sherry smirked. "This isn't a CIA movie and I'm not her handler."

Peter sighed. "I'll talk to Mohinder and see if he can help. You can report to either him or me."

"Who'll do the serum?" Candice asked.

"Someone we can trust to keep their mouths shut, either Mohinder or Olivia." Peter nodded.

"I'd prefer Mohinder, please." Candice made a face. "I don't think I'm ready to meet Olivia yet. The idea of what I've done with her father-"

"-not a problem."

"Wait." Sherry looked around. "Why not Herbert? You don't trust him?"

Peter shrugged. "I trust him not to kill me, I trust him to work his ass off and be loyal, but I can't trust him to keep his mouth shut about something like this, especially to Collette. Mohinder and Olivia would both keep it a complete secret." He turned back to Candice. "What do you say? Want to be a double agent?"

Candice stared at him, then turned to Sherry. "He always this earnest?"

Sherry smiled softly. "Yeah. It's one of the things I love the most about him, usually." She frowned. "What's to stop you from triple-crossing us, after we trust you to double-cross Linderman?"

Candice shrugged. "He lied to me, he cheated on me and he's used me repeatedly for the last year. If double-crossing him helps me atone for my sins while screwing up his plans, I'm there. After what he's pulled with me, I'll never trust him again."

"IF you're telling the truth about all of that." Sherry shook her head. "I can't bring myself to trust you right now, I'm sorry." She glanced at Peter. "I'm not as earnest as he is."

Candice nodded as she turned to Peter. "I'm in. We're going to have to keep this secret as much as we can though for as long as we can until I can prove that I'm truly trustworthy. If your girlfriend's reaction is any indication, until I DO prove myself, I'm not going to be welcomed with open arms at your little apartment building any time soon."

"Thanks." Peter held out his hand. Candice sighed and shook it. "Sorry for shooting you earlier."

"I shot your girl. I deserved it."

"You deserve better and now that you're on our side, you'll GET better, I promise you." Peter smiled softly. "Everyone deserves a second chance, Candice."

"Now it's time for me to earn it." Candice sighed. "Well, it's time for me to pack my things and slowly trudge my way Rio Gallegos, Argentina to 'attempt' to collect the next person on my list." She grinned. "If you two want to spend some of that quality time here that I interrupted last night, go for it. I have a feeling that the helicopter is going to find itself not working well for the next day or two." She grinned. "I think a member of the flight crew is going to accidentally siphon out the gas, maybe pull a few wires to keep it from running. Come to think of it, I may have to take a rickety bus or pack mule to Argentina, so it'll be a while before I'm even in the country. Have fun." She winked at Peter and Sherry as she headed down the stairs. "See you in Peru in three days!"

"See you then." Peter turned to Sherry, a slow smile spreading across his face.

"Oh no, I know that smile." Sherry shook her head. "You don't actually TRUST her, do you?"

"Come on. It's like Olivia's always saying, you just have to have a little faith."

"Yeah, here's the thing, Petey, your sister is married to a man who, less than a year ago, was a serial killer. She's not all there, if you catch my drift. The locals here would say she's a little loco in the cabeza."

"That's Spanish. They speak Portuguese here." Peter smiled.

Sherry stepped past Peter, walking down the stairs as he followed her. "Whatever! The countries are side-by-side, close enough! What I'm saying is Olivia? Smart, but not so bright."

"She's my sister." Peter laughed.

"My point exactly!" Sherry turned to him, grinning as they left the building and walked down the street. "So, what's next, Hot Shot? We heading down Argentine way?"

"Later." Peter stepped forward, wrapping his arms around Sherry's waist as he pulled her close and kissed her. "I was thinking that it's still technically Carnivale around here. I think you and I should go back to our hotel room," he kissed her "and revel in the sins of the flesh before we have to bid them farewell for forty days!"

Sherry grinned and took Peter's hand as they hailed a cab. "Sounds good, except for the forty days of no sin part." She winked at him. "You'd never be able to handle it!"

"No?"

"No!" She laughed. "Please, you can barely handle forty minutes without putting your hands all over me, you'd NEVER last forty days!"

"Is that a bet?" Peter kissed her. "Do you want to make that a bet?"

"No." She shook her head. "But only because I hate to watch you suffer with the pain and agony of looking at all this hotness and not being able to touch it." She kissed him. "So why deprive yourself?"

"You have a point!" He pulled Sherry close in the cab and placed her head on his shoulder as they rode back to their hotel.


	51. Chapter 51

Chapter Fifty-One: Candice's New Powers, Heart-to-Heart at Sea

Sherry and Peter paced beside the Intihuatana solar calendar in Machu Picchu, stopping every few minutes to stare out into the darkness surrounding them. "Too bad we haven't run across anyone yet who can see in the dark, huh?" Sherry asked.

"That would have been COOL!" Peter nodded. "Okay, it's your turn now, lamest power on the planet."

"Heightened smell." Sherry laughed softly. "It would be my luck to be surrounded by people who never bathed or were seriously flatulent. Your turn."

"You took mine." Peter grinned. "Okay, super flatulence. It would be lame to have explosive farts."

"I thought guys had those already. My brothers do, at least. They were always lighting 'em."

"Tell me more about your brothers." Peter leaned against the solar calendar. "You've mentioned Anthony, your twin who joined the Army, and Johnny, the oldest."

"There's Salvatore, we call him Sal. He's two years older."

"That's the one who knocked up your supposed best friend at prom?"

"Yep! And when Anna Lisa told him, he shrugged and said 'Ain't mine, you're a slut' and never spoke to her again. When she threatened to make him take a paternity test, her father's business got mysteriously fire-bombed and they moved to Florida in the middle of the night."

"Nice. What's he do for a living?"

"He's in the 'family business'. Officially he runs the day-to-day stuff at Uncle Joey's body shop, the place I was working when your mom and sister-in-law found me."

"And the last brother?"

"Luciano. He's seven years older. He's a football coach at my old high school. He was coaching when I was there, hence the football team was terrified to talk to me and the cheerleaders were begging me to join them. He told them that his sister wasn't wearing a short skirt so boys could look at my legs. That's sort of why, after I graduated, I started wearing really super short skirts all the time."

"I liked them." Peter winked at her.

"Please, the only thing you noticed about me before Claire and Olivia pulled a Frankenstein on me was my annoying mouth, admit it!"

"I'll admit that you got on my last nerve. You followed me around like a puppy dog-"

"-I had a crush, gimme a break-"

"-and you couldn't shut up if your life depended on it-"

"-I'm a nervous talker-"

"-and you snapped your gum constantly, which drove me crazy-"

"-it's always important to have fresh breath when you're nervous enough around your crush-"

"-but I also noticed the teeny tiny skirts. Mainly the legs that went with them. I really liked looking at those, when you didn't think I was looking." He leaned close to Sherry. "Can I tell you something."

"What?" Sherry asked.

"The makeover got my attention, but you would have won me over regardless. You were wearing me down, I'll admit to that."

"Liar." Sherry smiled softly as she sat next to Peter.

"I'm not lying." He put an arm around her, kissing her cheek. "I just decided to stop ignoring you and making you jump through hoops after I saw you stroll through the Bennet's living room with the new hairdo and makeup."

"Seriously?" Sherry asked. Peter nodded as she laughed softly. "I'll be damned. Perseverance would have gotten your emo ass in the end huh? Oh well, I like the makeover anyway. It was time to leave Jersey Sherry behind. I like this Sherry better."

"She's cool. Can she still wear the short skirts?"

Sherry grinned. "Maybe on special occasions." She turned to Peter. "Okay, here's the thing. About my Mom? I swear to freakin' GOD I won't let myself go like that!"

"I wasn't worried about that." Peter shrugged. "You'll still be you."

"Yeah, but I'm just saying. She was a total looker back in the day. You wouldn't know it looking at her now, though. She was a showgirl in Vegas, that's where Pop met her. After five kids, she stopped giving a shit. Actually, that's not what happened, because Anthony and I were kids number four and five and I remember her as still being hot. She let herself go after she started catching Pop with his comàres. He couldn't keep it in his pants away from home, so she stopped caring how she looked when he came home."

"That won't happen with us. I promise." Peter hugged her gently.

"Damn right it won't. I catch you running around, I won't get fat, I'll kick your ass and leave." She looked at Peter. "So hearing about my family isn't scaring you off?"

"You've met my family, haven't you?"

Sherry laughed softly. "Yeah, but in the loony-lympics, my family would beat your family hands-down in the dysfunctional and crazy competition. When you come to my family's home for the holidays, they check you for weapons at the door, and give you some if you're not armed. Someone's always threatening someone else. This past Christmas, Sal stabbed my cousin Little Joey in the thigh when he took the last bit of Grandmama's tiramisu, so Little Joey pistol-whipped Sal, pulled the knife out of his thigh and stabbed Sal in the ass. Then Mama and Aunt Donna, Little Joey's ma, got into a fight and it finally ended with Uncle Joey shot his freakin' gun off! Fucked up the plaster in the dining room ceiling and everything. We spent the night in the emergency room glaring at each other. And people wonder why Anthony and I took off. It took longer for me to do it, but I'm glad I'm gone. Mama called that first week after we moved to Vegas, whining for me to come home. 'What are you doing in Vegas anyway? What kind of consulting are you doing? What kind of technology company wants someone with a diploma in accounting from the local junior college?' Seriously annoying."

"Hey, I got that too. My mother is disappointed that I didn't blow up New York City. My brother is hiding the fact he can fly and recently was reunited with his illegitimate, presumed-dead daughter, my mother's illegitimate daughter recently turned up and married the serial killer who tried to kill me and my niece, and my father? Oh, let's not even go THERE! He made my mother's disappointment in me shine by comparison. He thought I was too sensitive, he was pissed that I wasn't born a girl, he REALLY got mad when I went back to nursing school after going through law school AND passed the bar-"

"-Wait, so you're a lawyer too?" Peter nodded. "And you became a nurse?"

"It was a better fit. I went to law school to make Dad happy. I went to nursing school to make myself happy. Nathan was doubtful about it, but at least he was supportive, so was Mom. Dad barely spoke to me the last two years he was alive, not that I really cared. Nathan was the one who really raised me. He was eleven when I was born. He was a better dad to me than our own dad."

"That's why you two are so close." Sherry placed her head on Peter's shoulder. "I wish I was that close to my brothers. I've spent my whole life fighting with everyone in my family, except Johnny, and he's dead. I wouldn't care if I ever saw a single one of them again."

"Even Anthony? He's your twin."

"He's okay." Sherry sighed. "I haven't seen much of him since he joined the Army. We were pretty tight as kids though. I guess I'd see him again, but everyone else can suck it." She sat up and looked around. "When's Candice supposed to show up?"

"Any time now."

"She'd better not be leading us into a trap. I really don't trust her, Pete."

"Sherry, I read her mind, okay? She was dead serious about Linderman and wanting to get back at him. She really does want to change."

"She just better not have had a reunion with that dirty old man and sold us out, or I'm kicking her ass!"

"You don't have to worry about that." Peter and Sherry turned to see Candice walk to them. "I called to give him an 'update' a while ago and told him how the two of you were teleporting and beating me to the punch." She shook her head. "He wasn't pleased."

"You don't think he's going to harm you when you get back there, do you?" Peter asked, his brow furrowing with concern.

"No, he'll just freeze me out for a while, that's all." Candice shrugged. "So, are we heading to that facility, or what?"

"Yeah." Peter shouldered his knapsack while Sherry did the same. He reached out and placed a hand on Candice's shoulder while Sherry grasped his other hand. "Hang on." He closed his eyes and concentrated on the facility.

Mohinder yawned and as he sat in the laboratory at the Las Vegas facility, wondering sleepily why Peter had asked him to come there secretly in the middle of the night. He sat up, his eyes widening with surprise as Peter materialized in front of him, holding hands with Sherry, his other hand on the shoulder of an attractive, petite young woman. "Peter, Sherry, welcome back." He smiled. He turned to the young woman, nodding politely. "I'm Dr. Mohinder Suresh, it's a pleasure to meet you-"

"-Candice Wilmer." Candice shook his hand, grinning at him as he gasped in shock. "We've actually met before."

"I remember. You were pretending to be Sherry." He turned to Peter. "What on earth-"

"-She's on our side." Peter grinned.

"Really? Last I heard of her, she'd kidnapped and shot Sherry. What's changed?"

"Linderman's an ass who deserves to die, that's what's changed." Candice's eyes narrowed as she turned to Peter. "See? I told you no one would give me a break!"

"He just met you, give HIM a break!" Peter rolled his eyes as he pulled Mohinder aside. "Linderman kicked her to the curb, so to speak. She wants his head on a stick just as badly as we do now."

"And you brought her here, to this heavily guarded facility because-?"

"-Because she's willing to be a double agent for our side. I want you to imbue her with two powers, if it's at all possible: Katharina De la Vega's, and Nathan's."

"If she's lying to you, giving her those two powers would be quite problematic, Peter. She could easily return to Linderman and give up a sample of her blood to him, thereby making his people impervious to mind-reading or control, and able to fly."

Peter grinned. "She's not impervious to the mind-reading yet, that's how I know she's telling the truth. She wants to prove herself to us, Mohinder. Let's give her the chance to."

Mohinder glanced at Candice over Peter's shoulder, sighing. "And you wanted ME to do this instead of Herbert or Olivia?"

"This has to be a secret, just between the four of us for now. Candice told me that Linderman has a mole in our building." He nodded as Mohinder's eyes widened. "She doesn't know who it is though, and she's telling the truth about that. She wants to belong with us, but she also wants to bring Linderman down. By infiltrating his group without him able to read her mind, she can spy on him. She can find out who that mole is as well as any other secrets he's keeping. He's got two powers hidden away, just for his own personal use. She can find out what they are. I trust Olivia as much as I trust you, but Candice isn't ready to face her yet and I don't blame her. I normally trust Herbert as well, but I don't trust him to keep something like this a secret. I'm afraid he'll talk about it with Collette or something, and you and I both know that she's a gossip."

"I know. If you want dirt on anyone in the building, Collette has it." Mohinder sighed. "So you want me to imbue her?"

"And I told her that you might be willing to let her report to you, if I'm not available. Are you down with that?"

Mohinder sighed. "I suppose." He turned to Candice. "There are surgical gowns in the adjoining room. You'll need to change into one."

"What about my underwear?" Candice raised an eyebrow.

"Bra, no. Panties, that's your call." He looked away, blushing. "We're not going to be doing anything to that area, but the bra will need to come off to keep it from interfering with the cardiac monitor."

"Cool." Candice walked into the room Mohinder had pointed out to her, to change out of her clothes.

* * *

"You're really loving this, aren't you?" Gabriel turned to see Olivia climb to the deck of the small yacht they'd rented. She sat next to him as he steered the boat through the waters late at night.

"It's more fun than I thought it would be, especially after I read the manuals."

Olivia rested her head on his shoulder. "You and your eidetic memory strike again."

Gabriel smiled as he glanced at his wife. After they'd collected the last of their recruits, they decided to extend their trip, renting the small yacht and cruising around the Caribbean, beginning in St. Kitts and Nevis. He was surprised at how quickly and easily he'd taken to handling the ship and realized he was looking forward to buying one when they moved to Tybee Island. They'd spent the last two days off of the coast of St. Barts, cruising around the islands by day, making love in their small bunk by night. Gabriel watched as Olivia stood up and stretched before walking to the bow of the ship. After studying her in the moonlight for a moment, Gabriel walked to her, wrapping his arms around her. "What do you say to me dropping sail and anchor for the night?"

Olivia nodded. "Sounds good. When you're done, you can join me below deck and drop trou."

"And what will YOU do when I do that?"

Olivia giggled softly as she kissed her husband. "Drop to my knees?"

"Oh, you're dirty!" Gabriel went back to the wheel for a moment before he anchored the boat and lowered the sails. Olivia helped him tie everything down before winking at him and climbing the ladder below the decks. Gabriel checked that everything was secure before climbing down the ladder after his wife. He slipped past the tiny galley to get to their equally small bedroom where Olivia waited naked on the bunk bed. "You know," Gabriel pulled his shirt off as he headed towards his wife "when I was a kid, my mom bought me a set of bunk beds. It was so when I had friends spend the night, we wouldn't have to pull out the couch or whip out sleeping bags. I had that damn bunk bed set until I was almost eighteen years old."

"Really?" Olivia reached for him as he climbed into the bunk with her. "Ever bring any girls back to that bunk bed?"

"No, but I did have a fantasy about one or two in high school, cheerleaders that were totally out of my league." Gabriel began to kiss Olivia as she unbuttoned his pants and helped pull them off. He climbed onto his wife, adjusting himself and her until they were comfortable as they kissed. "You know, the fantasy was much better than the reality. Not you, of course, you could kick those cheerleaders' asses, but sex in a little, teeny bunk bed isn't very comfortable, much less sleeping together in one."

"I like it." Olivia wrapped her arms around Gabriel's neck as she wrapped her legs around his hips. "I like being this close to you. It's cozy."

"Yeah, well, YOU didn't fall out of the bunk last night." Gabriel nuzzled his wife's neck as he began to move on top of her, smiling as she began to moan. "Of course, having to sleep on top of each other does have it's benefits." He began to moan with her.

"I know." Olivia whispered. "Wanna buy the boat when we get to shore?"

Gabriel laughed softly. "Let's hold out for something bigger."

Olivia arched her back as Gabriel continued to move slowly on top of her. "Get a bigger bunk, and I'll have to find a cheerleading outfit to wear for you."

"Oh, now THAT is a definite deal." Gabriel breathed. As the boat began to rock with the waves, Gabriel and Olivia moved together on the small bed, kissing and moaning as they made love.

* * *

Candice fiddled nervously with the sheet covering her as she lay on the exam table. "This isn't going to hurt, right?"

"Does it hurt when Linderman's people do it?" Peter started an I.V. on her, smiling to himself as she didn't flinch. "I'm getting better at that. Glad to know I'm not losing my skills."

Candice glanced at her arm. "I barely felt that." She frowned. "It always hurts when Linderman's people do it. They just shove in the I.V., inject you and wait for you to start seizing before they sedate you. We've lost a few people to it already from cardiac arrest."

"Yeah, we almost lost Olivia to it." Peter started to sedate Candice. "That's when Herbert came up with this method."

Candice's eyes began to droop as the sedative began to kick in. "So how does it work?"

"Suspended animation." Peter grinned as Candice's eyes flew open. "Don't worry. We know what we're doing."

"We've already imbued five people this week with Claire's healing abilities." Mohinder stood on her other side, smiling at her reassuringly. "We haven't had a single complication."

"Olivia was the only one so far who suffered an adverse reaction. She was our guinea pig." Peter smiled down at Candice. "Now, we are going to put you under general anesthesia, intubate you and attach you to a manual ventilator to keep your blood oxygenated, and then we're going to lower your body temperature until your vital signs are almost unreadable, when that happens, you'll be in a type of hibernation. That's when we'll introduce both serums into your blood stream. After they're in, we warm you back up, extubate you and wake you up. I know it sounds scary, but there's nothing to it, so I've heard. Do you trust us to do this to you safely?" Candice stared first at Peter, then Mohinder, then back and Peter again. She nodded slowly. "Good girl." He placed an oxygen mask over her face as he began to sedate her further. "You're about to go to sleep. When you wake up, you'll have the ability to fly and the ability to keep Linderman from reading your mind." Peter sighed as Candice's eyes closed, then he and Mohinder went to work on her.

* * *

"See? Sex in a bunk is not so bad." Olivia gasped for breath as she kissed Gabriel's shoulder.

"No, it's not." Gabriel's voice was muffled as he rested his face in the crook of Olivia's neck. "Of course, imagining you in a cheerleading outfit didn't hurt." He lifted his head for a moment, grinning. "Wonder where we could get one of those." As Olivia began to open her mouth, Gabriel shook his head. "And don't you dare talk about borrowing Claire's. I don't want to have flashbacks to the night I attacked her and killed her friend!"

"Gross!" Olivia giggled. "I wasn't going to! I was going to say, I could probably find my old one."

"You were NOT a cheerleader!"

"For a few months when I was a sophomore. I hated it, I hated the girls, and I quit halfway though football season, but I kept the outfit." Olivia grinned. "I might actually still be skinny enough to fit in it."

"I doubt that." Gabriel sighed as he and Olivia tried to find a way to cuddle comfortably on the bunk. "But it's still an interesting thought. So you hated cheerleading."

"The girls were catty, spoiled bitches who only worried about their hair, how much money their parents had, and what kind of cars their boyfriends drove. I was shallow and spoiled too, don't get me wrong, but I wasn't THAT bad!"

"Why do I get the feeling you probably would have been happier as a hippie in the sixties? I mean, look at you, you're idealistic and naïve, you're constantly harping about the 'greater good', you've pretty much turned the apartment building into a commune and you're sharing your wealth by putting everyone there on your payroll. I keep expecting you to throw on some tie-dye and run around with a tambourine or something."

"I'm not a hippie!" Olivia laughed. "I just want to kick my father's ass and make friends while doing it. Until this year, I was so busy killing myself trying to be a surgeon, I forgot what it was like to take it easy and have friends, and I really forgot what it meant to have family that I actually gave a rat's ass about."

"Me too." Gabriel sighed. "I was so busy killing and obsessing over collecting powers, I forgot what it was like to not be alone. Even though it ended on a rather sour note, I enjoyed my little road trip with Mohinder, and not just because I killed Dale Smithers and took her super-hearing. I had forgotten what it was like to spend time with and bond with someone else. That's why I didn't kill him after he found out that I was Sylar, even though he drugged me, tied me up and gave me an extremely painful spinal tap. I really considered him my friend up to that brief time. I toyed with the idea of staying friends with him, and keeping my true identity as secret as possible."

"Maybe the two of you will be friends again someday."

Gabriel looked at her sadly. "Not going to happen, Sweetness. I killed his father. They don't make a card that reads 'Sorry I Killed Your Dad, and Then Suspended Your Beaten Body From the Ceiling, Wanna Hang Out?' I regret doing that now."

"Why DID you kill Chandra?"

"Because I could." Gabriel lay back, staring at the bottom of the bunk above them as Olivia snuggled up beside him. "He found out who I was, but not only that, he knew my true identity. I was scared that he'd go to the police and tell them who Sylar really was. That's not the main reason though. I saw him as a father-figure, something I hadn't had since my own father died. I missed my dad so much, and when I met Chandra and he began to treat me as a son and equal, I loved it. We'd stay up for hours, talking about genetics and powers. He told me about Mohinder and the problems they'd had as father and son. We just meshed. Then, he figured out that I was killing people to take their abilities and he shut me out. I kept calling him and calling him, trying to get him to talk to me, trying to get him to understand me, but he refused. Finally, I snapped. I followed him when he was driving his cab one night. He always took his 'lunch' break in the middle of the night in this one alley. I climbed into the cab while he was there. We fought, I pleaded with him to talk to me, to try and understand what I was feeling and going through, but he kept screaming at me to get out of the cab. The next thing I remember, I was twisting his head around, breaking his neck. I smashed up his cab, trying to make it look like he'd been in an accident, then I ran like hell.

After that, it was like something had been unleashed. He had a short version of The List on him, people he'd been trying to contact. I took that list and went on a killing spree. Up until that point, I'd only killed two or three people. After that, I don't even remember how many I killed until Hiro stabbed me in Kirby Plaza, most of their faces are blurs now. I remember a few of them: Molly's parents, Charlie Andrews, the cheerleader that I mistook for Claire, Zane Taylor, Isaac Mendez, Ted Sprague, but for the most part, they're just blurs now, all of them." He glanced at Olivia. "I can never make up for any of the things I've done, you know that, right?" Olivia nodded silently as Gabriel stared back up at the bottom of the top bunk. "I wish I could, though. I wish I could go back to the day Chandra Suresh showed up at my store and tell him to get the hell out, without listening to him, without thinking that finally SOMEONE saw that I was just as special as I knew I was."

"I'm sorry you went through all that." Olivia stroked his cheek.

"Don't feel sorry for me, feel sorry for the people whose lives I fucked up. Feel sorry for the people I killed in my bid to be 'special'."

"You ARE special." Olivia stared into his eyes. "I don't care what you've done, Gabriel. I don't care about anything but you. You're special to me."

"I know." Gabriel kissed her forehead. "Thank God someone feels that way about me." He sighed. "Why the fuck couldn't I have met you before Chandra Suresh made me into a killer? Why couldn't we have met just six or seven months earlier, huh?"

"Fate?" Olivia shrugged. "Maybe neither of us was in a place to truly recognize what we'd truly mean to the other until we both went through hell first. You had to be an isolated killer trying to be special and I had to be an isolated surgical resident, being treated as a puppet by my biological father."

"Maybe." Gabriel shook his head. "If so, then Fate sucks."

* * *

"How's she doing?" Peter looked up as Mohinder stared nervously at Candice.

"Her vital signs are returning to normal and stabilizing." Peter smiled. "She's pretty, isn't she?"

"That's not what I was worried about." Mohinder shook his head. "This is the first time we've tried imbuing someone with two separate powers at once. I was worried that it could backfire on us."

"It doesn't seem to have." Peter looked down at Candice as she started to come around. "Welcome back."

"Is it over?" Candice whispered. She slowly sat up. "My mouth is dry."

"That's a combination of the sedatives and the tube we had to put down your throat to help you breathe. It's over though. How do you feel?" Peter asked.

"Okay." Candice blinked as she focused on Mohinder. "Can I have something to drink?"

"Here." Mohinder poured a glass of water for her and handed it to her, steadying the glass as she gulped the water down. "Take it easy, you've just come around from general anesthesia."

"Thanks." Candice lay back down on the table. "So did it work?"

"You tell me." Peter raised an eyebrow. "I'm going to try and read your mind. Block me."

Candice stared at him and concentrated, feeling something new in her mind give. "Well? What was I thinking?"

Peter shook his head. "I don't know. What were you thinking?"

Candice glanced over at Mohinder, suddenly blushing. "I'd rather not say."

Peter followed Candice's glance, raising an eyebrow. "I see. He's a nice guy, huh?"

She shrugged as she sat up again. "He's okay, nicer than the guys in Linderman's lab. Kinda cute. Can I go and change now or do you have to monitor me some more? I'd really like to get back to Peru before Linderman decides to track me. I slipped out of my hotel room near Machu Picchu and snuck up to the ruins in case I was being followed by his people. I don't want to be gone much longer."

"Go ahead." Peter helped Candice climb off of the table and watched as she walked to another room to change. He turned to Mohinder. "Oh, I think she likes you!"

"You must be joking." Mohinder chuckled. "I'm hardly her type. Too young for her, I think."

"Maybe she feels like going for someone who doesn't have to chug Viagra first before paying her a nightly visit." Peter waggled his eyebrows as Mohinder shook his head. "She's pretty."

"She's a mess." Mohinder sighed. "First Sherry, now you. Who will be taking on the role as resident yenta next, pray tell?"

"Maybe Collette has a friend in the building she can hook you up with then. I'm sure Herbert owes you for all of the sleepless nights you've spent, listening to the two of them."

Mohinder started to speak again, then closed his mouth as Candice stepped back into the room, adjusting her clothes as she looked around the laboratory. Mohinder walked over to her. "Do you want to try and fly yet?"

Candice shrugged. "Maybe when I get back to Peru." She looked around nervously. "So when I get dirt on Linderman, how do I contact you or Peter to let you know I want to meet?"

Mohinder glanced at Peter, who shrugged. "Let me give you my cell phone number and Peter's as well." He turned and wrote down the numbers, ignoring Peter's grins. He handed them back to Candice. "Call whenever you need to talk."

"It'll be late at night, when Gota's got Linderman trussed up in the bedroom, kinky old bastard." Candice took the numbers and tucked them away in her skirt pocket. She turned to Peter. "Ready to go?"

Peter nodded, then glanced over at Sherry. She was curled up in a chair, sleeping soundly. "Mohinder-?"

"-I'll take her home. Her place, or ours?"

"Whichever one Herbert and Collette aren't swinging from the ceiling at." Peter grinned and clapped a hand on Candice's shoulder. "Let's go!"

Candice nodded to Mohinder. "See you soon."

Mohinder watched as they blinked out of sight, then went to awaken Sherry and head back to the building.

* * *

Candice and Peter reappeared at the solar calendar of Machu Picchu. "That will never not be weird." She sighed. She turned to Peter. "Thanks for everything."

"Wait!" Peter stepped forward as Candice stopped and turned to him. "Wanna try and fly?"

"How do I do it?" Candice laughed softly. "You gonna sprinkle pixie dust on me and tell me to have a happy thought? Linderman's nads being ground under my boots comes to mind."

"You just have to relax and concentrate on it, that's all."

"Oh, 'that's all', he says." Candice shrugged. "Do I jump?"

"If you want to." Peter leaned back and watched as Candice frowned. She closed her eyes and relaxed for a moment, concentrating. She jumped and suddenly took off into the air, shrieking at first, then laughing as she began to gain control of the power. She flew in a circle a few times, then landed in front of Peter. She stumbled and smiled as he reached out to catch her.

"That was cool!" She giggled.

"I know. It's a great feeling, isn't it?"

Candice stopped laughing. "I know something else that would feel great right about now." She leaned forward. Peter stopped her as she tried to kiss him. Candice stepped back, staring at the ground for a moment, then looked up at him. "You have a girlfriend, you love her. I know. Can't blame me for trying though, can you?" Peter shrugged as Candice nodded. "Why I couldn't have met you or someone like you instead of a dirty old man like Linderman, I'll never know." She turned to leave. "She's a lucky girl by the way. I hope she realizes that."

"She's not the only lucky one in that relationship." Peter smiled softly. "I'm pretty lucky to have her too."

"Sounds nice. I'd like to find that one day." Candice turned around, walking backwards for a moment. "Hey, maybe now that I'm teaming up with the 'good guys' I will now."

"Maybe so." Peter nodded to Candice. "Take care and see you soon."

"Yep!" Candice turned and stared at the sky. "I don't feel like hiking back to that hotel. I'm going to try flying again." She jumped up and flew away as Peter watched her, grinning broadly.

"Take care." He whispered as he turned and began to explore the ruins by moonlight, waiting until he was 'ready' to teleport again.


	52. Chapter 52

Chapter Fifty-Two: Playing Nice, Angela's Story

Candice sat in her new room in Linderman's compound, pacing the floor nervously. It had been three days since she'd returned there from South America. Linderman was still in Chennai with Gota and The Haitian, seeing to Ombasa's recovery. Candice hadn't spoken to Linderman since the night she'd met with Peter Petrelli and his girlfriend Sherry Bombano in Peru, the night she'd truly sealed the deal to join up with the good guys and had been imbued with two powers to protect her from detection, and allow her to escape if need be. Candice closed her eyes for a moment, remembering how icy Linderman had been on the phone, when she'd told him that she had been unable to collect anyone else in South America, her excuse being that Peter and Sherry, using Peter's teleportation powers, had always beat her to the punch. Linderman had made it quite clear to her that she would be dealt with when he arrived home, the question being: what would he do to her? Word around the compound was that they were due home that day. Candice chewed on a fingernail as she glanced out of the window for the hundredth time that day, searching for any signs of a helicopter.

She'd been true to her word and had been lurking around the compound, taking the forms of different people in order to truly listen to what others were talking about. They knew that CANDICE at that moment was persona non grata, but they didn't mind talking around 'civilian' members the staff, the ones they usually ignored as they gathered to discuss rumors and hearsay about Linderman's plans. She heard that Furkan Kaya, one of the men she herself had recruited in Turkey, had been ordered by Linderman to begin training everyone in hand-to-hand combat, as well as sword fighting, training that had begun for her the night she returned home. That training was the only time anyone would acknowledge her existence, not that she wanted that acknowledgement from anyone anymore. The training was painful, and difficult, especially since they were being trained with real scimitars, swords that caused constant pain whenever she was stabbed and prodded for being too slow. Candice stared at her hand, shuddering. That morning, Furkan had chopped it off during their training session, laughing as a new one quickly grew in its place. She'd also heard something else, something that had made her blood run cold when hearing it: the fate of the Bunton children.

She turned back to the window as she heard the familiar, and heart-dropping sounds of a helicopter approaching the compound. She watched, terrified as the aircraft landed, her eyes narrowing with a combination of anger, fear and jealousy as Linderman stepped out of the craft, holding Gota's hand as they entered the building, The Haitian and a newly-restored Ombasa following behind them, the latter man pumping his once-amputated arm in triumph.

Candice slipped out of her room and walked down the hall, peeking around the corner to watch them enter the lobby. _It's now or never Girl, _she thought to herself, _get your game face on and remember, block only what you WANT him to hear, suck-up stuff, I'm sorry stuff, but never let him hear WHY you're really back. He has to keep thinking that you still worship him, like the idiot lapdog he thinks you still are._ As everyone else began to file out of their rooms to line up in the lobby and greet Linderman on his return, Candice fell in line with them, walking down the stairs and standing in rank and file with the other recruits. She stood almost at attention with her arms behind her back, her head down as she stared at the floor, blocking all of the hateful thoughts that ran through her head.

Linderman nodded and smiled to everyone as he passed them. When he reached Candice, he stopped, Gota smirking behind him. "Candice" he purred "good to see you back from your little 'vacation' in South America."

Candice looked up at him as Gota guffawed. "It's good to see you too again, Mr. Linderman." Her voice was sweet as she smiled kindly at him. _Rot in hell, you bastard. I can't wait for Peter and Olivia and Gabriel and all the rest of them to destroy you, you selfish, murdering son of a bitch._ She studied his face, waiting to see if he'd detected any trace of her thoughts, her heart pounding nervously.

Linderman smiled back at her. "I see your attitude has improved since we last spoke. That's good."

"I understand my place here Sir, and I understand that I am here to serve you and only you." She nodded. _My place is to bring you down low enough for everyone else to rip you to shreds. I'm going to spit on your grave you bastard. _She turned to Gota, smiling kindly as her insides churned with hatred. "Welcome back as well, Gota. It's good to see you again." _You're going to die screaming, you bitch, I'll see to that myself._

Gota's smirk faltered as she stared at Candice's gentle smile. "It's good to see you too." Her voice was uncertain as she glanced nervously at Linderman. "It's good to be back."

Candice stepped forward, wrapping her arms around Gota, giving her a hug while she fought the urge to snap her neck. "I missed you, my friend."

Gota's eyes widened as she stared over Candice's shoulder at Linderman. He beamed and clapped his hands together. "We're like a family here." He touched Candice's shoulder and turned her away from Gota. He pulled her into his arms, hugging her tightly. "We fight, we disagree, but in the end, we always forgive each other, yes? I've forgiven you for your missteps and shortcomings, do you forgive me for losing my temper?"

Candice looked up at him, beaming with tears in her eyes. "I will always forgive you for anything." _I hate you. I hate you. I hate you so fucking much. You make my skin crawl._

"Gota and I are going to retire to our suite. In a few hours, I'd like for you to come up and visit with us. We have a lot to catch up on and there's a lot for us to do if we're going to give those idiots in Las Vegas a run for their money." He turned to The Haitian. "Take Ombasa to the lab to be imbued with the regeneration factor. I don't want to have to travel to restore function to his arms again." He smirked at Ombasa's terrified expression before walking away with Gota.

Candice glanced around the lobby at the other people as The Haitian led his partner towards the laboratory. They were now watching her, acknowledging her existence again. She smiled softly and nodded to everyone before walking upstairs to her room. Inside, she looked around, realizing that she was still being watched by cameras Linderman had installed everywhere, everywhere but the bathroom. She slowly walked to the bathroom and closed the door, sliding down into a jelly-legged heap against it as she burst into tears. Grabbing a towel, she muffled the sobs as she tried to control her shaking, realizing that putting on a docile, content face when she wanted to scream and tear everyone apart was going to be harder than she thought.

* * *

Gabriel and Olivia opened their eyes, smiling with relief to see that they were standing in their apartment. "Good to be home." Olivia sighed.

"Yeah, and in one piece, too!" Gabriel smirked at Peter as he stepped away from him. "Getting better at this, huh?"

"Much better. " Peter grinned. "It doesn't take as long to get ready for the next jump as it used to either. Give me time, and I'll be able to bounce anywhere at anytime."

"So you and Sherry will be able to just bounce off to a beach at a moment's notice if you wanted to." Olivia winked at him.

"Yeah, but at least we'll be smart enough not to get busted by dozing off naked!" Peter laughed at her. "You never should have told me about that one. You know you'll never live it down around me."

"I know." Olivia rolled her eyes as she set her knapsack down. "But what are brothers for, if not to annoy and tease their big sisters?"

"And what are big sisters for, if not to scar their little brothers with images of inappropriateness? By the way, Nathan is totally hearing about this when he gets back. I don't want to be scarred alone."

"Glad to do what I can to ruin the idea of sex on the beach for you." Olivia laughed.

"Oh, you didn't ruin it, you just taught me what NOT to do if Sherry and I don't want to get caught. Rule number one: don't fall asleep afterwards, not that we usually do, not after the FIRST time, anyway. It takes a few times before we actually get tired." Peter wiggled his eyebrows as Olivia cringed.

"Okay, that's enough. I'm skeeved out now." Olivia closed her eyes.

"I was wondering when I'd finally get you to want to cover your ears in horror. I was about to start discussing the wonders of whipped cream." Peter laughed.

"We've discovered those wonders all by our self." Gabriel grinned. "Along with the fun of other various ice cream toppings, silk scarves, handcuffs, whips-"

"-I'm leaving now." Peter turned towards the apartment door.

"When will the two of you learn? Don't fuck with the master of skeeve." Gabriel laughed as Peter shuddered and left the apartment. Gabriel turned to Olivia. "I'll have to remember to do that whenever I want to be alone with you. I'll just start mentioning S&M gear, naughty food items-"

"-Keep it up Mister, you're giving me LOTS of ideas!" Olivia kissed him.

"I love giving you ideas." Gabriel kissed his wife back, then sighed as he looked around their apartment. "Home, I missed it."

"Me too." Olivia stretched out on the couch. "I never realized how exhausting a vacation could be!"

Gabriel laughed as he lifted up Olivia's legs before sitting on the couch, draping her legs across his lap. "We're going to have to rest as much as we can. You heard Peter, starting tomorrow morning-"

"-Training with Hiro, Hana and Kaito." Olivia groaned. "No rest for the wicked."

"Exactly." Gabriel leaned his head back, closing his eyes, then made a face as their doorbell rang. "God, who is it now and how does everyone know we're home already?" He answered the door, nodding to Angela. "Hello 'Mom', I missed you."

"I'm sure you did." Angela swept into the room, regarding Olivia as the young woman continued to lie on the couch. "Please, don't get up. I'm sure having constant sex while drifting around the Caribbean on a dinghy is quite tiring."

"I forgot just how much fun you are." Olivia smirked. "What brings you here?"

"I haven't seen you in over a week, not since the day that Linderman shot you. I thought I'd check in on you and see how you were doing."

"As you can see, I'm fine." Olivia sat up, shrugging. "No worse for the wear."

Angela studied her daughter, her lips pressing tightly into a thin line. "I can see that." She looked away for a moment, then looked back at Olivia. "I didn't get a chance to talk to you after the meeting, after your little near-death experience."

"I know." Olivia nodded at her mother, then glanced over at Gabriel. "Could you give us a moment? I think we need to talk."

Gabriel smiled softly at Olivia. "Sure. I've been feeling the urge to do some painting anyway." _You're going to talk to her about what we saw with Dr. Solis-Jimenez, aren't you?_

"I can't wait to see what you come up with." Olivia smiled and winked at her husband. _It's time we talked about it. I need to know everything._

Gabriel walked to Olivia, kissing the top of her head before walking out of the room. Angela watched him walk away, then turned back to Olivia. "What did you want to talk about?"

"What did YOU want to talk about?" Olivia raised an eyebrow. "You came here, remember?"

Angela shrugged as she sat in a chair opposite the couch. "I just wanted to welcome the two of you home and make sure you were okay after last week."

"I'm good. I'd be better if I'd actually made that killing of Linderman stick." Olivia sighed. "Peter said that Hiro wants to start training all of us tomorrow morning."

"I know." Angela shook her head. "I'm not exactly looking forward to that. I'm not old, but I'm not a young woman anymore either. The idea of learning to fight with swords isn't exactly appealing to me."

"You're tough. You'll probably end up kicking all of our asses." Olivia fidgeted with her hands nervously. "So what else is new?"

She jumped as Gabriel's voice echoed in her brain. _Will you STOP pussy-footing around and just TALK to her, for crying out loud?!? Good lord woman, it's your mother, not the damn devil!_

Angela stared at Olivia. "What on earth is wrong with you?"

Olivia closed her eyes. "There's something I want to talk to you about. After the meeting, Peter teleported us to San Juan, where we collected Dr. Oscar Solis-Jimenez, have you met him yet?"

Angela's eyes narrowed. "I've heard of him. What about him?"

"Then you know what his power is?" Angela nodded wordlessly as Olivia stared at her. "Angela, he demonstrated his power on me, with Gabriel. He pulled up a memory, a memory that I'd forgotten, or blocked out. I was pretty young in that memory."

Angela looked away, her lips thinning even more. "What was the memory?"

"I think you know what it was. You were there." Olivia leaned forward, her elbows on her knees as she stared intensely at her mother. "Angela, you KNOW what I remembered, don't you?"

Angela's eyes snapped back to meet Olivia's. "Tell me what you saw."

Olivia sighed. "Fine, you want to play coy, I'll tell you what I saw. I was four years old, it was a month or so after my birthday. It was late at night and you had come to the house on Tybee Island, shall I continue?"

Angela looked away again, her eyes shimmering. "No, that's enough."

"You were desperate to see me."

"I said that's enough." Angela whispered. "I remember that night perfectly well, I was there, wasn't I?"

"You wanted me when you were pregnant with me, didn't you?"

"Of COURSE I did!" Angela sighed. "I don't know what kind of poisonous lies Linderman filled your head with when he ended up with you after Jack and Sally's deaths, but I most certainly wanted to raise you myself."

"Then WHY didn't you?"

"It's complicated." Angela shook her head.

"It's not that complicated, Angela. Either you raised me or you didn't. Either you wanted to, or you didn't."

"It's much more than that, you silly, idiotic child!" Angela turned to her. "You're going to actually make me talk to you about this, aren't you?"

"Yes, I am. I got Linderman's side of it, which I always figured was probably bullshit. Let's hear your version of the events."

"Fine." Angela began to pace the room. "I had an affair with Linderman. That much, you know. I thought I was in love with him and I thought he was in love with me. He wasn't. The only thing that man loved was power, as you well know. Sleeping with me was just another way to control my husband, to prove to him that he was better at everything, even satisfying me. When I found out I was pregnant, I was still wearing blinders as far as Linderman was concerned. I went to him, told him I was pregnant and begged him to run away with me. I had it all planned, you see. We'd take Nathan and hide away from the rest of the world, one happy family." She snorted in derision. "But Linderman refused that plan. How could he control my husband, lord it over him, if we were in hiding? He loved rubbing our affair in his face, and we weren't exactly discreet about it. My husband owed his fortunes, everything to Linderman, so he couldn't say anything or do anything about it. He just had to sit back and let it happen.

When I told Linderman about you, the only thing he wanted me to do was give you over to him the minute you were born. The only thing he craved as much as power, was an heir to twist and warp into his own image. My husband, that spineless idiot, wanted to go along with his plan to hand you over. He couldn't say no to Linderman and he didn't want a daily reminder of our affair growing up in our house. That's when I realized that I could NEVER give you over to him. You'd have been unrecognizable as anything remotely human if that had happened. He'd have removed any idealism, sensitivity or kindness in that soul of yours, and turned you into a power-hungry monster, just like he was and is."

"I know." Olivia raised an eyebrow. "He spent eleven years trying to do just that. He made fun of me for wanting to be a doctor, even though he grudgingly allowed me to do it and really wasn't pleased with my decision to work at St. Ignacious instead of a bigger, more prestigious hospital."

"There was a couple that we were all friends with, a couple that were infertile, Jack and Sally Greene. They were good, kind and decent people, as you well know. I knew that if I couldn't raise you myself, they'd be the next best thing." Angela laughed softly. "Actually, they probably did a better job of raising you than I would have. You would have been much more spoiled and self-centered if I'd raised you, nowhere near as kind-hearted."

"I don't know, Peter and Nathan are both decent, kind-hearted guys."

"They're soft-hearted, true. They got that from their father. You have to contend with my and Linderman's DNA. Anyway, Sally and Jack agreed with me, Kaito and Charles Deveaux as well. We knew that Linderman had no business raising a child, so we outvoted him and my husband, and the Greenes agreed to adopt you when you were born. That was the last time our organization was really and truly together. Linderman stormed out, furious at us for refusing him access to his child and my husband never completely forgave me for going against him. We splintered off after that, even though we eventually all came back together, with Jack and Sally as the exception. I left for Paris for an 'extended vacation' to wait out my pregnancy. Jack and Sally met me there in May when my due date approached. They stayed by me throughout the labor and as soon as you were born, you were handed immediately to them."

"You swapped bodies with Sally during the delivery." Olivia grinned.

Angela smiled back at her. "If I had to endure the pain of giving you away, the least she could do was endure the pain of bringing you into the world. I swapped during some of the harder contractions. When it was time to push, I swapped back. I wanted the honor of actually giving birth. You didn't cry when you were born, you know. I thought something was wrong at first, until I saw you. You were content with your very first breath." She smiled softly for a moment, then frowned, turning away. "I refused to hold you or even look at you after that moment. I made the doctor give you to Jack and told them to leave with you immediately. I knew if I looked at you or held you even once, I'd never give you away. I wanted a daughter so desperately, giving you away was the hardest thing I've ever done." She stared at the floor. "Actually, it was the second hardest thing."

"What was the hardest?" Olivia watched Angela, her eyes brimming with tears.

"Giving you to Jack and Sally was difficult, but I kept telling myself it was for the best, you could have an actual future with them, a real childhood. They promised me that they'd love you like their own, which they did. They promised to give you the best of everything, which they did. They also promised that if anything ever happened to them, you'd be returned to me. They did that too, you see."

Olivia frowned. "But why did Linderman take me instead?"

"We're getting ahead of ourselves." Angela glanced over at Olivia, tears brimming in her own eyes. "I may have told myself when you were born that giving you up was for the best, but I couldn't let you go. For the first four years of your life, I was there. I returned home to my husband. We reconciled and had Peter, but I could never stop thinking about you, worrying about you. I hired private investigators to watch you and send me photographs of you. Pictures of you in strollers, swings, playing on the beach with that little dog that Jack and Sally were so fond of-"

"-Daisy-" Olivia smiled.

"-Cute little mutt. Sometimes when my husband would go away on business trips with Linderman, I'd take Nathan and Peter to Tybee Island on vacation. Jack and Sally weren't pleased to see me when I would show up there, my sons in tow, to rent one of the neighboring houses. You met Nathan and Peter once, when you were three. Nathan was twelve and Peter was eleven months old. He was already walking. You were playing on the beach and the place we'd rented was about two houses down. Jack and Sally allowed us to visit their pretentious little private beach for a few hours, pretending that we were still all old friends, even though they wanted to throttle me. You bonded with your brothers and they bonded with you for those few hours. Nathan was adorable, toting you on one hip, his little brother on the other. You don't remember that, do you?" Olivia shook her head wordlessly. "Maybe you should ask Dr. Solis-Jimenez to bring that one up. You and Peter played in the sand together and Nathan took you swimming in the ocean. Jack and Sally made me promise then not to come back. They didn't want to confuse you. I agreed, but I couldn't stay away. The next year, I came back alone. That was the memory you recalled. I got a chance to be your mother, even if it was just for a few minutes. I got to tuck you in and kiss you goodnight." Angela's voice broke as she looked away again. "After that night, I decided to stay away for good until you were eighteen and able to make your own decisions about whether or not you wanted to know me. That memory of that night, tucking you in, seeing how loved and safe you were, that was what kept me away. I knew you were safe and happy."

"And then?" Olivia's voice was thick as she fought tears.

"And then the accident happened." Angela closed her eyes, fighting tears. "Jack and Sally's lawyer knew that if something were to happen to them, he was to call me immediately. I got the call late at night. My husband tried to keep me from leaving, but I refused to speak to him. I took the first plane to Miami where you had been airlifted from whatever podunk hospital in Florida had initially treated you. You know how bad your injuries were, I'm sure." Olivia nodded. "You were dying. You were finally mine, and you were going to die on me. I couldn't bring myself to talk to you, so I just sat beside your bed, holding your hand. I knew you couldn't feel it, but I was there, Olivia. Charles and Kaito also dropped everything to come to Miami. We watched over you in shifts, hoping you'd prove the doctors wrong and wake up, even though we knew that, even if you did pull through, you'd be a vegetable. I knew the only thing I could do to save you was call Linderman."

"He was in Tibet." Olivia frowned.

"The fuck he was!" Angela glared. "He was sitting on his fat cat ass in Las Vegas, waiting for me to call him. He knew about the accident, he knew how bad off you were, and he was just waiting on me to call him. He knew I'd eventually turn to him and he was unfortunately right. That's when he gave me an offer, one that he knew that I, as a mother, couldn't refuse. He'd heal you, bring you back from your coma, but only if I signed away all rights to you. He would take you after you recovered, not me. He would finish raising you, not me. I was not allowed to contact you in any way, shape or form unless HE allowed it for the rest of your life. Charles and Kaito tried to convince me not to do it, they thought that death would be better for you than being subjected to Linderman, but I couldn't stand back and watch you die when I knew that you could be saved. I had a choice, watch you die, or give you away-AGAIN. THAT was the hardest thing I've ever had to do. I couldn't even be there when he brought you back. I agreed to it. I kissed your forehead, told you I loved you and left, hoping that the love that Jack and Sally had shown you for the first seventeen years of your life was enough to keep you from being twisted by your birth father." Angela looked at Olivia proudly. "And I was right. He couldn't break you. I saw that on the few occasions he'd invite me for 'business' dinners with the two of you when he'd visit New York."

"He didn't completely break me." Olivia sat back, fighting tears. "He told me that you didn't want me and that you didn't visit me in the hospital. He told me that Mom and Dad had left me to him and that he was the only one who cared enough to visit me. He said that you knew they were dead and that I was dying, and chose to ignore it."

"He lied." Angela snarled. "He was the one who was ignoring it. He waited for me to plead with him to bring you back. He made me beg for your life."

Olivia nodded. "You wanted me."

"Every day of your life." Angela looked sadly at Olivia as her daughter began to sob. "I wanted to raise you with your brothers, I wanted to watch you grow up, but I knew that Linderman wouldn't let you grow up in peace. I don't regret giving you up, either time, I just wish I could have done things differently. When I found out that Linderman was dead, I was relieved, because I could finally be a part of your life, whether you wanted me there or not."

"I didn't." Olivia sniffled. "He told me so many hateful things-"

"-I know." Angela nodded. "They were lies. I'll bring Parkman or Trevor Kelley in here now to prove it if you want-"

"-I don't. I know you're telling the truth. I could see how much you loved me when Oscar brought that memory up."

"I did love you. I do love you." Angela sighed as Olivia began to sob harder. She sat beside her daughter, hugging her gently. "Now stop crying. Your eyes get red, your nose swells and you look terrible."

Olivia laughed softly as she hugged Angela back. "Stop telling me what to do."

"Now we sound like a mother and daughter." Angela hugged her daughter one last time before standing up. "I need to rest and so do you, if that walking hormone bomb in there will actually LET you rest. We're going to have a difficult day tomorrow." She cradled Olivia's face in her hands, studying it. "You have his eyes, but the rest is mine. The curls were my grandmother's. Jack and Sally let me name you after her. God only knows where that idealism and sensitivity came from, you're just like Peter in that respect. Maybe he didn't get ALL of that from 'Dallas'. That smart-ass attitude though, that's mine." She kissed her daughter on the cheek. "When you have your daughter, you'll understand why I did what I did."

"I understand now. You loved me and wanted the best for me."

"And I still do." Angela sighed as she stood up. "But you're so damn stubborn, you won't listen to me when I tell you what I think is best." She smirked. "That's from me too, unfortunately. Stubborn as hell. Goodnight, Olivia. I'll see you in the morning at that damned training session." She headed for the front door.

"Goodnight Ang-" Olivia took a breath "Goodnight Mother."

Angela stopped, her hand on the doorknob. She turned back to Olivia, smiling softly before turning back to the door, leaving.

"You okay?" Olivia turned to see Gabriel leaning in the doorway. "That was a pretty intense discussion."

Olivia smiled, wiping away tears. "I'm okay. I feel badly for treating her like shit these last few months, but I'm okay."

"Angela's a tough cookie." Gabriel sat beside his wife, pulling her into his arms. "Something tells me that she was fine with you being a bitch to her since she came back into your life. She knew that Linderman probably told her some hateful stuff about her."

"He really did." Olivia glared as she nodded. "He made her out to be an adulterous whore who tossed me away the minute I was born. I'd see her around town, and occasionally he'd let her come over for dinner with us when he was in town, but she was always so cold. Now I know why. She couldn't be anything else to me around him. The day he 'died' she showed up claiming that she had to help me with his plans about Project X, which I later named Project Athena. No matter how much I shut her out, she stayed put and wouldn't let me drive her away. I thought she was just being greedy, wanting some of that glory for herself if the project worked. Now I know."

"So I guess you two aren't going to be as bitchy towards each other anymore." Gabriel sighed. "Too bad, I always enjoyed watching the two of you snipe at each other."

"Oh, I'm sure we'll still have plenty of things to snipe about. I still have you around, much to her dismay." Olivia laughed.

"I'm glad to do my part." Gabriel grinned as he kissed his wife.

"So, what did you paint?" Olivia asked.

"Nothing. I was too busy listening to the newest retelling of 'Sophie's Choice-Angela's Story'." He winked. "And now I'm tired as hell and ready for bed. How about you?"

"I'm exhausted, physically and now emotionally. Bed sounds wonderful." Olivia slowly stood up with her husband and walked to their bedroom. She pulled off her clothes and climbed into bed, smiling as her husband did the same. "How tired are you?" She snuggled next to him. "I mean, it is our first night back home in our OWN bed."

Gabriel rolled over, kissing Olivia passionately. "Well, I wasn't going to say anything, since you seemed tired, but I'm not so sleepy yet."

"And we're both probably going to be way too tired tomorrow to do anything but actually sleep." Olivia kissed her husband back.

"Not to mention too sore to actually move." Gabriel grinned as Olivia began to kiss his neck, then his chest. "I think we can definitely sleep later." He whispered, moaning as her lips began to move further down. "MUCH later."


	53. Chapter 53

Chapter Fifty-Three: Training Sessions, Rooftop Meeting

"So what do you think we're going to learn today, exactly?" Gabriel asked Peter as they followed Olivia, Herbert, Sherry, Mohinder, Ando, and Matt down to the basement of the apartment building.

"How to fight." Peter shrugged. "What else?"

"Yeah, I know THAT, smartass! I was at the meeting too, you know." Gabriel sighed. "I wonder how tough it's going to be, that's all. We're going to train twice a day for twelve hours at a time. Each freakin' day for us is technically going to be forty eight hours long."

"Yeah, so?" Peter glanced at his brother-in-law.

"SO, this is going to be hard as hell, isn't it?" Gabriel shook his head. "We're going to wish we'd never even HEARD of Linderman, kung-fu, krav maga, swords, wars-"

"-War is hell, get over it." Peter rolled his eyes. "We've either got to learn how to fight back and win, or die. There's no other option."

"Running. That's an option."

"Stop being such a whiny-ass pussy, GOD!" Peter smirked. "And people call ME emo!"

They arrived at the basement and passed the laundry room to a large storage facility. Entering it, they looked around in awe. During the last few days, Hiro had been stopping time daily with Hana and Kaito, turning the large room into a dojo. The floors were padded, with a platform towards the back of the room. Hiro, Kaito and Hana stood on the platform, watching as everyone began to file into the room. Gabriel turned and stared at the walls, his mouth agape. Floor to ceiling mirrors were interspersed along the walls, with weapons hanging between the mirrors.

"Ah! I see my sparring partner!" Herbert smiled as he walked to Collette's side.

Olivia smiled and nodded at Angela as she and Gabriel lined up with the rest of the group. She felt a hand touch her shoulder and turned, grinning to see Nathan and Heidi. "How are you guys?" She hugged both of them tightly.

"Good." Nathan sighed. "Twelve hours in here while time stops everywhere else. I kind of wish I had that power."

"And what would you do with it?" Heidi asked, grinning.

Nathan turned to his wife, winking. "The question isn't what would I do with it, the question should be what would WE do with it?"

"I like the way this man thinks." Heidi laughed as she hugged her husband, kissing him on the cheek.

Olivia laughed softly as she turned, scanning the room to see who else had arrived for the training session. Niki Sanders and D.L. Hawkins spoke to Matt, laughing and joking together. Claude Raines stood near Noah and Sandra Bennet, talking quietly with them, Nikolai at his side. Olivia watched as Gabriel walked over to them, smiling at Nikolai. "Skipping school?"

Nikolai shook his head. "I've been taking correspondence courses to get my high school diploma, when I'm not helping Miss Nichols on the fourth floor tutor Tatiana."

Gabriel nodded. Deandra Nichols had been found by D.L. in Nebraska, a semi-retired schoolteacher who was gifted with a supersonic scream. He smiled as he remembered meeting her once, wondering how often she'd used THAT power to control a classroom full of loud teenagers. Like everyone else in the building, she'd become attached to little Tatiana, agreeing to tutor the girl in her apartment. As a bonus, she was fluent in Russian, thanks to a maternal grandmother who spoke the language. "Tell her I'll stop by this evening after training for her nightly hug."

Nikolai smiled. "I will tell her, Gabriel. She has missed you and Olivia terribly since you've been gone. She pestered Claude and myself all day yesterday wondering when you'd both be back."

"It was bloody annoying too." Claude turned, his eyes sparkling with laughter as he joked with Gabriel. "If I didn't know any better, I'd think she'd have rather had the two of you adopt her. Nikolai was right, all day yesterday, all we heard from the wee thing was 'Gay-breel and Oleevya' this and 'Gay-breel and Oleevya' that. Little mite was missing the two of you like crazy."

Gabriel grinned. "If I'd known that, I'd have convinced the wild woman over there to come home instead of sailing around the Caribbean."

"Bull shit." Olivia stepped forward. "Don't listen to him, he's lying through his teeth. It was his idea to go sailing. I just wanted to sit on a beach somewhere secluded and get a tan."

Claude grinned at Olivia. "Looks like you got one anyway. Got any tan lines, Luv?"

"None that you're gonna see." Olivia smirked as Kaito and Hiro stepped off of the platform and joined the group. Hana stood on the platform alone and clapped her hands together to get everyone's attention.

"I'd like to watch HER work on a lack of tan lines." Claude whispered to Gabriel.

"She is pretty hot." Gabriel nodded as Hana looked around the room. He caught Olivia grinning at him. "But you're hotter."

"Like I'm worried. She'd break your dick off before you had a chance to blink." Olivia giggled as everyone turned to watch Hana.

Hana stood on the platform with her hands on her hips, surveying the people in the room. "I need everyone to make sure they have enough room to move your arms and legs without hitting the people beside you, behind you or in front of you." She waited as everyone situated themselves around the room. "For the next four hours, you will be learning the fundamentals of krav maga. First of all, the history of krav maga. It was developed in the 1930's to protect the European Jewish community from the Nazi militias. After World War II, it was taught at the Israel Defense Forces School of Combat Fitness. It is a form of hand-to-hand combat intended to inflict the most pain possible on your opponent in the least amount of time. When attacked, you will learn to deal with the immediate threat, prevent your attacker from re-attacking you and then neutralize your attacker. You must remove your attacker's initiative as quickly as you can. The basic principles of krav maga are as follows: neutralize your threat, avoid injury to yourself, go from defending yourself to attacking the person attacking you as quickly as you can, use your natural reflexes, strike any vulnerable spot you can, and use anything lying nearby as a weapon." She surveyed the room again and smiled. "Claude, Dear? Would you care to come up here and allow me to demonstrate what to do when attacked?"

Claude's eyes widened as Noah began to laugh softly beside him. "Oh no, that's quite alright, Luv, I'm sure someone else is more than willing to be your first guinea pig." He looked around the room as everyone looked away quickly. "Guys? Anyone?" His shoulders sagged. "Shit." He muttered under his breath as he slowly made his way to the platform. "What do I do?" He said quietly.

"First, put on the padding behind you. Then, come at me with this." Hana held out a plastic knife as Claude quickly put body padding on. "And before this begins, I just want to say this now to everyone. NO POWERS! As you all well know, Mr. Linderman has an agent in his group that many of you know quite well. He is able to neutralize the powers of the people around him. You need to know how to defend yourself even when you think you are truly defenseless. Do not rely on your powers to get you out of this." She turned back to Claude. "Come at me."

Claude whimpered for a moment, then sighed. "Fine."

He begrudgingly came at Hana with the knife. Everyone's eyes widened as, within seconds, Claude was curled up on the floor, moaning in pain after being hit with a quick succession of moves, including a head-butt, groin kick and a roundhouse kick. Hana stood over him, then looked out at the group. "Who wants to learn how to do that?" She smiled as everyone's hands shot up.

"Bastards the lot of you." Claude moaned as he struggled to sit up. "Padding my ass. I think you just ruptured my spleen."

"Oh stop being such a baby!" Hana helped him up and watched as he pulled off the padding and limped off of the platform. "Okay! First off, we'll begin with stretching techniques, then I'll work on getting your heart rates up, then we'll learn a few quick, simple moves, and then we'll pair off and practice the moves on each other."

* * *

Janice looked up from her breakfast as Matt limped into the apartment. "You just left."

"In your time, yes. In my time, I've just spent the last twelve hours wishing someone would kill me." Matt slumped exhaustedly in a chair. "Four hours of Krav Maga, six hours of kung-fu, and two hours of weapons training."

Janice reached over, stroking her husband's face. "Just remember, you're learning to kick-ass for our son."

"The only thing that kept me from keeling over is that thought." Matt sighed. "You'll know what I mean after little Matthew arrives in June." He smiled. "That's okay, at least Hana didn't kick my ass like she did Claude's."

"That's good." Janice giggled. "Anyone else in worse shape than you?"

Matt grinned. "Oh yeah! Our neighbor got his ass handed to him by his sister-in-law. Heidi beat Gabriel to a pulp."

"You're kidding!"

Matt shook his head. "Dumbass thought that since Heidi was so much smaller and a newbie, he didn't need padding. Now he's going to be nursing an ice pack to his balls and head for the next twelve hours. After our initial training, Hana had us do one last run-through with what we learned. Heidi walloped Gabriel REALLY well!"

* * *

Olivia handed the ice packs to her husband as he lay on the couch, moaning in pain. She shook her head, sighing as he placed one over his right eye and the other between his legs. "You gonna be okay?" She watched him, concerned.

"No." Gabriel moaned. "I've figured something out."

"And what's that?" Olivia sat on the couch, placing Gabriel's head in her lap, stroking his cheek.

"Faith's obviously not going to be mine. You either cheat on me or we adopt her."

"Balls hurt that badly, huh?" Olivia smirked.

"Do you think you could go across the hall and beg Peter to come over here and heal me? Tell him it's a personal favor to you."

"Nope." Olivia shook her head. "Serves your ass right, not wearing padding. Next time you'll remember to wear it."

"Heidi's so tiny-"

"-She's about the same height as Hana and you saw what SHE did to Claude. That was WITH padding, too."

"If you ever want me to make love to you again, you'll beg Peter to heal me." Gabriel looked at Olivia through his good eye, the right one swollen shut.

"You'll make it fine without Peter. Besides, I don't think he'll come over here just to heal your twig and berries." Olivia sighed as she gently stood up, replacing her lap with a pillow under Gabriel's head.

"You're mean." Gabriel pouted.

"I can live with that." Olivia yawned. "I'm going to take a nap. I'm tired." She walked towards their bedroom as Gabriel groaned.

"I'd be able to sleep too, IF MY BALLS WEREN'T THROBBING IN PAIN!"

"LIVE AND LEARN, BABY! LIVE AND LEARN!" Olivia called out to him.

* * *

"I can't believe it's been twelve hours already." Gabriel limped down the hall in the basement towards the training room.

"Me neither." Olivia winced a little as she opened the door to the room.

Gabriel smirked. "I'm sorry, are you sore?"

"At least I don't have a face like a Canadian sunrise." Olivia glanced at her husband's face. "Let Mother, Nathan and the boys take a few whacks at you, and then my entire family will be able to say that they kicked your ass."

"You're not as damn cute as you think you arm." Gabriel muttered as he walked into the room.

Nathan turned and grinned as he saw them walk in. "Hey Gabriel! How's the wedding tackle doing?"

"Go fist yourself." Gabriel grunted as almost everyone in the room started laughing at him.

Claire frowned and turned to Nikolai. "What happened?" Nikolai leaned towards her and whispered in her ear. She glanced at Gabriel and started giggling. "WHY can't I be home-schooled? I can't believe I MISSED that!"

Gabriel stood quietly, ignoring the giggles as Olivia took his hand and winked at him. His eyes widened as Heidi walked to him, her expression sad. "I'm sorry again about this morning, really."

"I'm okay." Gabriel stared at the floor.

"No, you're not." Heidi sighed. "I mean, if your face looks that bad, I don't even want to think about-"

"-I'm fine, really." Gabriel shook his head. "I'd rather not talk about it."

"I examined him earlier." Olivia grinned. "He's bruised, a little swollen, but nothing that ice and time won't heal on its own." She glanced at her husband. "WITHOUT Peter's help!"

"Yeah, 'cause I'm not healing your package, Dude." Peter smirked.

Heidi cringed and closed her eyes. "Again, I'm so sorry about this morning. I'm really, really sorry. I've been jogging and working out a lot lately, I guess I just didn't know my own strength."

"Heidi, really. I'm fine." Gabriel looked around, realizing that Claire and Lyle had joined the group. "Where's Tatiana?"

Nikolai glanced at him. "Hana and Hiro will be training her separately from the adults with Molly, Micah, Simon and Monty on the weekends."

"I see." Gabriel nodded as Hana walked up to the platform. "Time for more punishment."

"The pain will go away after a while." Peter shrugged. "And then we'll be buff and ready to kick ass."

"Whatever." Gabriel sighed as Hana began to teach the next class.

* * *

As they walked out of the room, exhausted, Gabriel leaned on his wife. "At least my balls are still intact this time."

"I know." Olivia yawned. "This is going to be tough."

"It had better be worth it." Gabriel closed his eyes as they waited for the elevator. "I've never been this tired and this sore in my entire life, and that includes all of the times that bullies picked on my ass, combined."

"You were bullied?" Olivia frowned. "Poor Baby."

"I was the neighborhood punching bag." Gabriel yawned. "I was skinny, nerdy, wore glasses, and until I was fifteen, I was short as hell. The bullies loved me. I thought a wedgie was actually how you WORE underwear for a long time. God what I wouldn't give to run into them now."

"You'd TK their asses all over Queens." Olivia kissed his forehead. "And after we're finished training, you'll be able to do that with or without powers."

"That's a thought." Gabriel smiled sleepily.

"We're still going to check on Tatiana before we go to bed, right? We haven't seen her since we came home last night."

Gabriel lifted up his head, grinning. "I'd like that. No pain in the world will keep me from my favorite kid."

They waited for Claude and Nikolai and followed them to their apartment. As soon as they walked in and Tatiana saw them, she beamed and leaped down from Collette's lap, tackling Gabriel as she babbled excitedly. "I've missed you!" She squealed.

Gabriel winced in pain, smiling regardless of it as he lifted Tatiana up, hugging her tightly. "I've missed you too, Princess. How are the English lessons going?" He turned and waved to Collette as she left the apartment.

Tatiana concentrated for a moment. "I'm doing better. My English is doing well."

"I can see that!" Gabriel kissed her cheek and sat on the couch with her, listening as she babbled questions to him and Olivia in Russian as Nikolai translated. After an hour, Claude checked his watch and clapped his hands.

"I hate to break up the love-fest, but it's someone's bedtime." Claude looked down at Tatiana. "You've already had your bath?"

Tatiana listened and nodded. "I had a bath at seven."

"Good. Now it's time for you to hit the sack for the night, Poppet. I think Olivia and Gabriel are also tired as well. Lord knows I am."

Tatiana glanced at Nikolai as he translated, then nodded. "I suppose." She hugged Gabriel fiercely, kissing his cheek before doing the same to Olivia. "Good night."

"Goodnight, Honey. Sleep tight." Olivia smiled as Nikolai led the little girl out of the room then turned to Claude. "She's grown in the last few weeks."

"She's gained some weight back too, thank God. A well balanced bloody diet will do that, rot that jackass Viktor." Claude leaned against the wall, glancing at Olivia. "Noah and Peter told me what you said, about that Mama Alice? Do you really think she meant Tatiana? You think she could be in danger?"

Olivia shrugged. "The only thing Mama Alice said was 'Protect the Baby, the Baby's in danger.', but yeah, I think she may have been talking about Tatiana. With Linderman vowing to take the gloves off and the children not being imbued with extra powers, I think any of them could be easy targets, including her. Everyone here calls her 'The Baby', I really do think that she's the one Mama Alice was specifically referring to."

"Like she hasn't been through enough." Claude frowned. "I've taken to watching her more closely, if it makes you feel better. She still goes out and plays with the other kids, but Nikolai, Noah or I are always there to keep an eye out and we're always armed.

"Good." Olivia stood and helped Gabriel up from the couch. "See you in twelve hours for more torture."

Claude sighed. "That which does not kill us makes us stronger." He closed his eyes. "But I think this is going to end up killing us, to be honest. Twelve hours a day, twice a day. Bloody hell."

"Tell me about it." Gabriel leaned on his wife as they headed for the door. "Take care of her."

"That's my daily job and I'm proud of it." Claude winked as Olivia and Gabriel left the apartment.

In the elevator, Gabriel glanced at her. "You're serious about this Mama Alice bit, aren't you? You really DO believe her."

"Of course I do." Olivia nodded. "Have you talked to Peter yet about OUR part in her prophesies?"

"Not yet." Gabriel frowned. "I don't want to think about it."

"We need to. We both need to think about it and talk to Peter about it. He was mentioned too."

"How many times do I have to tell you? I'm not killing you."

"She said that I wouldn't give you a choice. Maybe I go evil during the fight. Maybe I join the dark side."

Gabriel snorted. "Darth Olivia. I don't see that happening. Me crossing to the dark side, yeah. You? Please. You're too hearts and flowers and kum-ba-ya to turn dark."

Olivia raised an eyebrow. "Would the bullies that kicked your ass every day ever think you'd grow up to be as bad-ass as you are?"

Gabriel smirked. "You have a point there, Darth. Fine, if we go into that battle and I think you've turned evil, I'll totally kill you, just to save you from yourself. You okay with that?"

Olivia nodded. "I'm fine with that."

* * *

Candice lay in her bed in the compound, staring at the clock beside her bed until late that night. After midnight, she climbed out and got dressed, checking the halls as she quickly made her way downstairs, changing her appearance as she rounded each corner. Disguised as one of the guards, she grabbed a heavy parka and hat and stepped out into the courtyard of the compound, nodding as she passed the other guards that patrolled the grounds. When she knew that she was hidden from the cameras, she found a clearing and looked up into the night sky, grinning softly. "Fly time." She whispered.

* * *

Mohinder groaned as his cell phone began to ring, then groaned louder with pain as he rolled over to answer it. "You have reached Mohinder Suresh's cell phone, he died about three hours ago, but if you leave a message after the bloody beep, he'll call you when he resurrects." He cracked.

"Mohinder, it's Candice."

Mohinder slowly sat up, wincing at his sore muscles. "Where are you?"

"The roof. I've got some information for you."

"I'm on the way." He closed his cell phone and climbed out of bed, biting his lip in pain. "I don't even want to know how badly I'm going to hurt this time tomorrow." He whispered as he grabbed a tee shirt, pulling it on over his bare chest. He glanced down at his boxer shorts and shrugged. "I don't seem to care if I'm caught in my underwear tonight." He mused as he limped out of the apartment and took the elevator to the roof.

Candice turned as he stepped onto the roof, raising an eyebrow at him. "Cute boxers. I don't know why, but I always pictured you as a tighty-whitey guy."

"I'm flattered that you pictured me at all." Mohinder looked around the roof, noticing chairs set up everywhere. "What is this?"

"Hell if I know, you live here, not me. Do some of the tenants come up here and party or something?"

"Apparently." Mohinder grabbed a chair and slumped in it, moaning with relief. "Oh God, I think I could stay here forever."

Candice frowned. "You okay? You seem a little beaten up."

"I feel a lot beaten up, actually." Mohinder closed his eyes. "We started training today. Twelve hours of krav maga, kung-fu and weapons training twice a day."

"Twenty four hours a day?" Candice smirked. "Okay, the math isn't fitting here."

"Hiro stops time for everyone else while we train. We walk in at eight a.m. and leave eight a.m. and ditto at eight p.m. Every muscle I have hurts. My hair bloody even hurts."

Candice pulled a sympathetic face as she walked behind him. "We're training over in Linderman's Compound too. I got my arm chopped off a few days ago for being too slow with my scimitar." She smiled as Mohinder turned and stared at her arms. "Oh, it grew back."

"Good Lord." Mohinder shook his head. "So, is everything going well for you there?"

"Depends on your definition of 'well'." Candice shrugged. "Linderman's acting like we're all one big happy family again, albeit a fucked-up dysfunctional one. I was ignored when I first got back, but since he's 'forgiven' me, I'm back in the fold."

"Okay." Mohinder started to not and winced, grabbing his neck. "Shit!"

"They really worked you over today, huh?" Candice stepped forward and began to rub his neck. "You need to be massaged daily, and you also need to continue exercising and stretching during all of it. After a while, the pain goes away."

Mohinder sighed happily as Candice's fingers worked into the knots in his neck and shoulders. "That sounds lovely." He whispered.

"There's more."

"Hmmm?" Mohinder straightened up a little. "In the compound? Continue, please."

"There were two children in the compound, their last name was Bunton. I told Peter about them. They were crying a lot and talking about how Gota killed their parents and took them, but a few weeks ago they went missing. I found out what happened to them."

"What happened?"

"They're dead." Mohinder glanced over his shoulder and noticed Candice was fighting tears. "He had them killed, but not just killed, he experimented on them first!"

"Experimented how?"

"You know how I told you that the people in his lab don't sedate anyone before administering the serum like you guys do here? He subjected the children to that damn serum, the regenerating one. The boy died, the girl lived but barely. Then, he had those bastards start shooting her and stabbing her in different parts of her body, to see how quickly she could regenerate. He also had them shoot her in the head finally, to see if anyone subjected to the serum could survive a gun shot to the head. She proved that you can't. Once your brain has been splattered, that's it, you're dead whether you've got that power or not. A bullet in the brain will kill you for good."

"That's horrible." Mohinder closed his eyes and leaned forward. "And he did this to CHILDREN?"

Candice stepped away, nodding. "Yeah. Children. I overheard some of the lab techs talking when I was disguised as a janitor. He said that the children were more expendable than the adults, because even if they could regenerate, they'd still be smaller, weaker and less likely to win in a battle."

"Bastard." Mohinder whispered.

"I can't believe I ever trusted him." Mohinder watched as Candice grabbed a chair and sat next to him, burying her face in her hands. "And I've helped him. I brought people to him. I helped him fake his death, I-" she burst into tears.

"It's okay." Mohinder turned and patted her back gently. "You didn't know, you couldn't have known what he was truly capable of."

"There are so many things I'm ashamed of, things I've done in my past, but they truly pale in comparison to the things I did in his name, while turning a blind eye to what he really was. I'm responsible for people's deaths, Mohinder!"

"I am too." Mohinder nodded as Candice lifted her head. "When I first met Gabriel Gray, he was pretending to be his latest victim, Zane Taylor. There was something off about him, I remember thinking that at the time, but I refused to believe it. I took him with me as I traveled around and looked for other people with powers, knowing deep down that he unsettled me. I was lonely. He was the first person I'd contacted in a while who really and truly seemed INTERESTED in powers and believed in my work. I didn't realize until after a woman was killed by him who he really was. Even after I figured it out and barely survived an attack by him, another man died because of me, a man whose address Gabriel obtained through me: Isaac Mendez."

"I remember him." Candice nodded. "I met him once, when I had to pose as his girlfriend Simone to throw off the police. He'd accidentally killed her during a fight with Peter."

"So you see, we've both done things that we're not proud of, things we should have known better than to do, and things that got others killed."

"I'm responsible for quite a few more deaths than you are." Candice smirked. "My best friend in high school was the first."

"What I'm saying Candice, is that we can't keep looking back. Stop looking at where and what you once were, look instead to the future, where you're going and who you want to be."

Candice nodded and smiled softly. "You should do the same."

"Who do you think I'll be one day?" Mohinder asked.

Candice winked. "Someone kick-ass and buff if you don't let the pain in your body now stop you." She shrugged. "Well, someone MORE buff. You're pretty hot already."

Mohinder laughed softly and looked away. "Thanks."

"You're welcome. Hey, I didn't hit on you in Rio just for the hell of it. I was SUPPOSED to be tracking Peter to replace Sherry. I took time out of my busy schedule just to grind against you for a few minutes."

Mohinder grinned as he continued to look away. "Thanks."

Candice giggled. "You're blushing."

"Oh, I am NOT!"

"You are TOO!" Candice laughed softly as she stood up. "It might be dark out here, but I can tell, you're blushing BIG TIME!" She grinned. "It's been a while since I made someone blush." She held out her hand and helped Mohinder stand up, both of them staring at the ground as she realized she'd pulled him inches away from her. "I probably need to fly back before anyone misses me."

"When will I see you again?" Mohinder whispered, stepping back as he realized how close he was to her.

Candice shrugged. "When I have more information." She looked up into his eyes. "Soon. I'm collecting what I can, as fast as I can." The sooner I get finished, the sooner I can get away from there, right?"

"Just be careful. Try not to make too many mistakes in your haste."

"I won't." Candice turned to leave, then quickly turned back, kissing Mohinder on the cheek. "Thanks for listening."

Mohinder blushed again. "Thanks for the massage."

"Anytime." Candice winked and waved to him as she turned and jumped up, flying away.

Mohinder watched her fly towards the north as he smiled softly to himself. "Well, that was worth getting out of bed for." He grinned to himself as he went back downstairs and climbed into his bed, sighing to himself as he dozed off.


	54. Chapter 54

Chapter Fifty-Four: Three Weeks Later

At eight a.m. the group entered the dojo. To the outside eye, they seemed to exit the room moments later, looking tired, but exhilarated.

Gabriel grinned as he headed towards the elevator. "We're getting better." He winked at Olivia. "Especially you. Hell of a take-down on Peter this morning."

"Thank you." Olivia kissed her husband. "And what about YOU? You actually knocked Hana down! GO YOU!"

Gabriel grinned. "I know." He sighed happily. "If we're this good after three weeks, imagine what we're going to be like by the time Linderman decides to kick sand in our faces?"

"I don't even want to think about the damage we're going to cause him." Olivia raised an eyebrow. "Actually, I do. I dream about it at night and smile." She turned and grinned as Peter walked over to them, rubbing the back of his neck. "You okay?" She winked at him.

"I'm fine." Peter grimaced a moment, then smiled. "Thanks to Claire, it doesn't hurt for long. So, we're meeting at the facility about one, right?"

"Yep!" Olivia nodded. "More imbuements. We've got almost half of the adults here imbued with Claire's regeneration factor. Next up will be Niki's super strength."

"Cool." Peter nodded. "At this rate, every adult with super powers will be ready to kick all kinds of ass by next summer."

"That's the plan." Olivia sighed. "At least, that's the long-term plan. Right now, I just want to crash for a few hours."

"You sure about that?" Gabriel nuzzled her neck.

Peter made a face as his sister and brother-in-law began to kiss. "Why can't Heidi kick you in the nads again?" He groaned.

"You're one to talk." Olivia shook her head. "You and Sherry, all over each other all the time."

"We're not all over each other ALL the time." He rolled his eyes as Sherry walked over to him. "Hey, Baby." He threw an arm around her, cuddling her as the elevator finally arrived and everyone stepped into it.

"You're right," Gabriel smirked "you're only draped across each other when you're in the same dimension, my wife and I apologize."

Sherry raised an eyebrow at Gabriel. "Do NOT make me yank at your ear again."

"I won't." Gabriel smirked. "I'm sure you save all of your yanking for Peter anyway."

Peter grabbed Sherry as she stepped towards Gabriel, glaring at him. "Easy, Honey. He's just trying to piss us off."

"And it's working!" Sherry shook her head. "Why have you got to be such an ass?"

Gabriel shrugged. "Because I'm so damn good at it."

Olivia giggled at her husband as they all stepped off of the elevator onto her floor. "Keep that up, and Peter's not going to be able to stop her from ripping you a new one."

"I can't help it, she's just so funny when she gets mad." He followed Olivia into their apartment, kissing her passionately. "Now that I'm no longer sore everywhere all the time, what do you say to you and I doing a few more extra stretching techniques in the privacy of our bedroom?"

Olivia grabbed the waist band of his pants as she jokingly half-dragged him to their bedroom. "I say you're about to get even more of a workout in there than you did downstairs."

"Ditto Baby, ditto." Gabriel grabbed her and pulled her close. "By the way, I've noticed something about myself these last three weeks."

"What's that?" Olivia raised an eyebrow.

"I'm MUCH more flexible than I used to be. You?"

Olivia winked at him. "Let's go test that theory out." She grabbed his hand. "Something tells my that my heels can probably go behind my head now."

"Oh, that's dirty." Gabriel grinned. "I like it."

* * *

Olivia, Herbert and Mohinder paced around the hospital beds, with Katharina and Peter monitoring their patients recoveries. "Five more imbued." Olivia glanced at them. "Lucky." 

"Gabriel still won't relent in allowing you to get any more powers, eh?" Mohinder yawned.

"Nope." Olivia rolled her eyes, then glanced at Mohinder. "Tired?"

"Yes, I was up late last night." His eyes widened for a moment as Olivia cocked an eyebrow at him. "Researching for these activities today."

"You've been tired a lot lately." Olivia stared at him with concern. "You're not pushing yourself too hard, what with us training and then working here in the afternoons, are you? You're getting enough sleep at night, right?"

"Yes, I'm fine." Mohinder glanced over at Peter, then shrugged. "Just staying up late to research, that's all." He walked over to a patient, monitoring them as she began to come around.

Peter followed him. "Late night with you-know-who again?" He whispered.

"Another rooftop meeting, yes." Mohinder nodded.

"Any new news?"

"Not since last week." Mohinder shook his head. He glanced at Peter. "Sometimes she just needs a sounding board, someone to confide in and talk to. Dealing with his people is taking a toll on her emotionally."

"So you're just listening to her, talking with her." Peter grinned at him. "Getting close to her."

Mohinder sighed. "You know, I thought only Olivia and Sherry were the resident yentas here."

"I'm just saying. She's cute. She appears to like you, especially since I haven't gotten the first late night call." Peter winked at Mohinder. "After we pull her in from the cold, maybe you can help warm her up."

"You're not funny." Mohinder rolled his eyes at Peter as the younger man walked away, chuckling. Mohinder turned his back, covering a secret grin.

He and Candice had gotten close in the last three weeks, meeting almost every other night to talk about everything and nothing. Sometimes she'd have some news about Linderman's compound, but mostly, she just needed someone to vent to. Her days at the compound were filled with pain and misery as she hid her thoughts of hatred and fury from everyone she met. Her nights with Mohinder, talking together, sometimes until dawn, were a way for her to release that anger and relax. Mohinder recognized it and didn't want to begrudge her, for her own personal mental health. Besides, he enjoyed talking with her. She told him about her past, her life as an overweight outcast who'd inadvertently caused the death of her best friend Ren. He told her about life in his father's shadow, a man who had pushed him away at every turn, belittling him and trying to keep him away from his research, a move Mohinder later understood was his father's way of protecting him.

Mohinder was pulled from his reverie by Peter clearing his throat as he looked at the list of people waiting to be imbued. "Olivia? You realize Gabriel's signed up for tomorrow afternoon, right?"

Olivia glanced up from her patient, nodding. "He told me he signed up. I encouraged it."

"Okay." Peter put the list down, then placed his hands on his hips. "Mind telling me why HE'S allowed to get more powers while you're not?"

"Simple. He needs them for the battle. Also, I figured if he saw how easy it was to get them now, he wouldn't pitch such a fit about ME doing it." Olivia shrugged as Peter nodded.

"Got a point." He shook his head. "Doesn't stop him from being an asshole about the whole thing, but you have a point."

"He's just overprotective, that's all." Olivia tested her patient's healing factor the way they all tested them now, by slicing a small cut on the patient's left ring finger with a scalpel and watching it heal almost instantaneously. "Great job!" She smiled at her patient, patting his arm. "You can now survive anything but decapitation."

"Or a bullet in the brain." Peter whispered as he passed Mohinder. "When should we reveal to the group the news about our little friend?"

"Give her a few more weeks to gather the rest of the information. We still need to know who the mole is before we can talk." Mohinder whispered.

Olivia raised an eyebrow at the two of them whispering together. "What are you two doing?" She grinned. "Whispering in corners," she mocked gasped "is it about a girl?"

Peter coughed as Mohinder blushed and shook his head. "No, we were just talking about-"

"-your birthday coming up and what we wanted to get for you." Peter finished the sentence quickly.

"Uh-huh." Olivia rolled her eyes. "It's March. My birthday isn't until the end of May. You just had to tell me it was none of my business." She shook her head as she walked away.

Mohinder glared at Peter. "Good Lord, you're really bad at lying, aren't you?"

"Not usually." Peter shrugged. "Just with my sister, apparently."

* * *

Olivia pulled up at the apartment building to see Gabriel sitting outside by the pool, watching over Tatiana and Micah as they splashed and played in the water. Grinning, she walked to the patio and sat beside him. "Look at Big Daddy Gabriel watching over the little ducklings." 

"Claude, Niki, D.L., Noah and Nikolai were still asleep, and Tatiana wanted to swim, so I thought 'hey, why not?'" He grinned at his wife before turning back to Tatiana as she splashed in the pool with Micah. "She's adorable, isn't she?"

Olivia nodded. "In a couple of years, we'll have one out there in the water, doing her impression of a duckling."

"Can't wait." Gabriel leaned back in his chair. "Never thought I'd say that in a million years. This time last year, I was a quiet, mild-mannered watchmaker in Brooklyn, six months later, I was a serial killer and now-" He sighed "-weird."

Olivia smiled at her husband, then turned her head as she heard a noise. They saw Meredith step out of her trailer in the garden. She watched as the woman paced around the gardens, chain-smoking as she stared out at the street. "Huh." Olivia muttered.

Gabriel leaned over, watching Meredith. "So THAT'S Claire's birth mother. There but for the grace of God."

"Tell me about it." Olivia frowned as she watched the woman pace. "This is the first time I've ever really gotten a chance to see her. Usually she's hiding out in her trailer. I've tried to go over and talk to her a few times, but she stays shut in there and won't answer the door."

"Probably feels guilty for the crap she pulled with Claire and Nathan. I know I tried to kill the girl once, but leaving her in a burning apartment when she was a baby? Now THAT'S cold!"

"And it was a fire SHE started." Olivia sighed. "I feel kind of bad for her though, you know? She lost her daughter in that fire, thought she was dead for years. She was just a kid herself at the time, probably scared out of her mind-"

"-She had no business raising a baby if the first thing she thinks about when someone knocks on her door is 'burn it down and leave the baby'. Hell, Claire's better off with Noah and Sandra. Imagine the fucked-up mess she'd be if she'd stayed with that."

Olivia turned to her husband. "For someone who's trying to earn his own second chance with everyone here, you're mighty damned judgmental to others."

"I never set fire to my own apartment and left my only child there to burn to death." Gabriel turned to watch Tatiana. "No matter what I've done in my past, I could never do that." He stood up and knelt by the edge of the pool to help Tatiana out of the water. "And now it's time for you and Micah to head back upstairs, dry off, wake up your parents and bug them to make dinner for you." He nodded as they both groaned. "I know, I'm mean." He wrapped a towel around Tatiana, then helped Micah out of the pool as well, handing the boy a towel. He took Tatiana's hand and turned to Olivia. "I'll meet you upstairs. I need to escort our future heroes here into the building."

Olivia smiled as she watched her husband walk away, holding the little girl's hand in his as he clapped Micah on the shoulder with his other hand, joking and laughing with them as they entered the building. She turned to watch Meredith pace the garden again, and sighed as she got up. "Now or never." She walked to the gates of the garden and smiled at Meredith, waiting for the woman to notice her. "Hi."

Meredith turned to Olivia, her expression filled with surprise as she quickly tossed her cigarette down, grinding it under her heel. "Yeah, hi." She turned to go back to her trailer.

"Hey, wait!" Meredith stopped and glanced over her shoulder as Olivia stepped into the garden, holding her hand out. "We haven't met. I'm Olivia Gray, Nathan and Peter's sister."

Meredith shook Olivia's hand quickly before stuffing her hands into the pockets of her jeans. "Yeah, I know. You're Angela's daughter. You're the one who owns this place."

"Yep." Olivia nodded. "I'm sorry I haven't had a chance to introduce myself before, but it's good to finally meet you."

Meredith stared at her. "Okay." She glanced back out at the highway. "It's nice to meet you too."

Olivia looked around. "So you're settling in okay? Is there anything you need?"

"No, I'm good." Meredith continued to stare at the highway.

"I know it probably gets lonely out here all by yourself. A lot of us hang out by the pool and I hear that some people like to chill out on the roof too, if you ever want to meet anyone-"

"-Look," Meredith whirled back on Olivia "I know you mean well. Rich, spoiled things like you often do, but I like being alone, okay? I don't want to sit around and be social. I want to learn how to fight, get a few extra powers, kick that guy's ass next year before he can hurt Claire, then I'll be on my way. I've been alone for many years and I'm used to it. I LIKE it." Her head snapped back towards the road as a school bus pulled up outside of the building. She quickly walked to the fence closest to the parking lot and watched as Claire stepped off of the bus, holding Molly's hand as Lyle climbed off behind them. She watched, a small, gentle smile on her face as Claire grinned at Molly, then turned to ruffle Lyle's hair, laughing as they walked towards the building.

Olivia watched as Meredith's eyes followed Claire. "Why don't you talk to her?" She whispered.

Meredith stared at the ground, shrugging. "I've tried. She's not interested."

"Try harder. You're her mother."

"What do you KNOW about it?" Meredith glared at Olivia.

"Gee, I don't know." Olivia rolled her eyes. "I wouldn't know ANYTHING about being adopted and reconnecting with my birth mother later on in life, now would I?"

Meredith lowered her eyes, her shoulders sagging. "Sorry. I forgot who I was talking to." She dug into her pocket, pulling out a pack of cigarettes and shaking one out. "So in the case of you and Mommie Dearest, who made the first move?"

Olivia laughed softly. "Mother did. For every step she took towards me, I took two steps away. I pushed, she pulled, sometimes she'd push back."

"So something apparently changed, since you call her 'Mother' now. What happened?"

"I always thought she didn't want me and that I was a burden when I was born, that's why she gave me up. I found out that wasn't true. She wanted me, she just couldn't raise me without my father intervening and making things difficult, so she gave me to friends to raise."

"Mine and Claire's is a different story than that." Meredith dragged on her cigarette.

"I know." Olivia nodded. "But you can still TRY to talk to her."

"Why should she bother?" Olivia and Meredith turned to see Angela strolling into the garden. "There was a huge difference between my giving you to friends I knew would love and protect you and her leaving Claire in a burning building to save her own ass."

Meredith turned away. "I don't have to put up with this shit." She threw her cigarette down, ground it under her heel and headed towards her trailer.

"Yes, run. That's what you always do, isn't it? You run, you extort." Angela smirked. "Always leaving Claire in the lurch. You know, the Bennets have done such a wonderful job raising her. I never thought I'd be happy about the fact that you abandoned her to die, but I think she's much better off with them than she'd ever be with YOU."

"MOTHER!" Olivia hissed.

"Oh don't try and defend her, Olivia." Angela's eyes narrowed. "Why should you do it when she won't even defend herself? She knows what I'm saying is one hundred percent true."

"That doesn't give you the right to judge her." Olivia turned and walked to Meredith. "Look, people make mistakes, you've done it, I've done it, my husband has made some really major ones, and even Angela here has done it. We've all fucked up more than once in our lives, you just have to own up to it and try to make it better."

"Thanks, but I don't feel like having a pep talk right now." Meredith stared at the ground as she stomped into her trailer, slamming the door behind her.

Olivia turned to Angela, sighing. "Why have you always got to be so mean to people?" She walked past Angela towards the apartment building.

"Because I like it." Angela followed her. "Don't tell me that you think Meredith has any benefit whatsoever besides contributing her walking flamethrower power."

"She could, you don't know. You won't know until you give her a chance."

"Claire gave her a chance and she got shit on. Nathan's given her chances and he's been shit on. I think if you want to give her a chance my dear, you'll need to remember to take a shovel to dig yourself out of the shit she'll heap on you." Angela frowned. "Not everyone deserves a second chance and you can't save everyone from themselves. I wish you and Peter both would figure that out."

Olivia turned to her mother, smirking. "I never thought I'd live to see the day when you and Gabriel would actually agree on something. He disliked Meredith on sight as well."

"Smart man, Hell had to freeze over sometime." Angela grabbed her daughter's arm. "Trust me when I tell you this, and if you don't want to, just ask Nathan or Claire: Meredith is not to be trusted, she's not to be liked. She's not worth any effort you put into making her a friend or trying to integrate her into this group. She'll just disappoint you, just as she's disappointed everyone who's ever crossed her path."

Olivia rolled her eyes as she walked into the building. "Why do you always have to see the bad in everyone?"

"Because I've lived longer than you and I know more than you do about how truly shitty this world is and how terrible most of the people are in it."

Olivia looked at Angela sadly. "If this world is so horrible and shitty, then why are you here with the rest of us, trying to save it from Linderman?"

Angela shrugged. "Because I don't want to see him win, because I believe that, as shitty as this world is, even it doesn't deserve the misery he'll inflict on it, and" she smiled softly as she tucked a stray curl behind Olivia's ear "because sometimes, when I'm around idealists like you and your brother, I want to believe it's as good as the two of you think it is, even when my cynical heart says otherwise."

* * *

Mohinder woke up, smiling as his cell phone rang late that night. He rolled over and answered it. "Two nights in a row. I'm honored." 

"I've got some actual news." Candice paced the roof of the building. "Hurry."

Mohinder hung up and pulled on jeans and a tee-shirt before heading to the roof. He smiled at Candice as she walked to him, and hugged him briefly before letting him go. "So what's the news?"

"I know what the powers are that he's hiding." Candice nodded to Peter as he sleepily arrived on the roof as well. "Hey. I wanted you both here to hear this."

"What powers is he hiding?" Mohinder stared at her, concerned.

"Angela Petrelli's and Ted Sprague's." Candice shrugged. "I know what Ted could do, but Angela?"

Peter frowned. "She can swap bodies with people." He turned to Mohinder. "Why Linderman would want that though, I have no idea. Now Ted's power-" His voice trailed off as he remembered his dream with Sanjog. "-oh shit."

"What?" Mohinder asked.

"Remember that dream I told you about? When Sanjog came to me and showed me Future Hiro's version of the battle. It ended with a mushroom cloud over the battle. I thought that maybe I blew everything up or Gabriel did it, since we were the last two of our army left. What if Linderman did it?"

Mohinder thought about that for a moment. "But if everyone has the power to regenerate, wouldn't that just be an exercise in futility, blowing everyone up?"

Peter nodded. "Yes and no. It would buy Linderman time to step out onto the battlefield while everyone's trying to regenerate and behead everyone he could. He could just keep blasting everyone and killing them until he was done."

"Dear lord." Mohinder sighed. He turned to Candice. "Thank you for telling us about this."

"You still don't know who the mole is yet, do you?" Peter asked her.

Candice shook her head. "And I don't know how to ask without raising suspicions. Linderman's playing nice with me, but I'm still not quite in his inner circle like I used to be before. I'm trying to find a way to find out, but I don't know how."

"Just be careful. Don't raise his suspicions any more than you need to." Mohinder smiled softly. "I wouldn't want you to get hurt by him just for trying to help us."

Peter glanced at the two of them, grinning. "I agree with Mohinder. Be careful. You've been a huge help so far. You've told us about the powers he's hiding, the experiments he's been conducting, the training you're all going through, not to mention the names and powers of many of the people in his inner circle. You've done so much and I appreciate it. I'm planning on calling a meeting tomorrow to discuss you with everyone in our little inner circle. I'm going to tell them how wonderful you've been."

Candice nodded, staring at the floor humbly. "Thank you for giving me a shot. I've been trying hard not to let you guys down."

"We're going to try not to let you down either." Peter smiled. "I'm going inside now and going back to bed. Thanks for everything."

"Wait." Candice stopped Peter. "Whoever this mole is, there's a good possibility that they don't even know what they are. Gota's power is mind control through hypnosis. She can program you to do something without you even knowing what you've done."

"Like a sleeper agent." Peter frowned. "That's not good."

"No, it's not." Mohinder agreed. "And if Parkman and Trevor question them, they won't be able to detect anything-"

"-Because as far as that person knows, they're telling the truth." Peter finished. "Damn." He thought for a moment. "Maybe Oscar can dig into their memories and pull something out."

Mohinder nodded. "It's a possibility, but how do you get him to do that without letting everyone think we're on a witch hunt?" He turned back to Candice. "Thank you so much again."

"You're both welcome. I'll try harder to find out who they've got in here."

"Just be careful." Mohinder reached out and hugged her quickly, stepping away as he avoided Peter's grin.

Candice glanced at Peter nervously and shrugged. "I need to get back before I'm missed. Take care."

"You too." Mohinder watched as she walked to the edge of the roof and flew away.

"You two looked cute together." Peter teased.

"Oh hush." Mohinder rolled his eyes as they left the roof. "What did I tell you earlier about being a yenta?"

"The next time we're up here with her, I'm going to say my peace and run like hell. You two looked like you could use some 'alone time'." He laughed as Mohinder shook his head.

"We're just friends. Why can't a man and a woman just be friends without others thinking that there's more going on?"

"Others can think that, unless they sense some seriously steamy chemistry. I sensed it with the two of you tonight. I was the one feeling like the fifth wheel for once." Peter elbowed Mohinder. "Maybe I'll leave a sleeping bag for two on the landing here, so if you two decide that you need it-"

"-Oh shut up and go back to bed with Sherry!" Mohinder quickened his steps as he headed down the stairs, his face burning as he heard Peter laughing behind him. As soon as he knew Peter wasn't near him anymore, he smiled softly. "She is pretty." He whispered to himself.

"I HEARD THAT!" Peter laughed louder as Mohinder cursed under his breath, running down the stairs to the tenth floor.


	55. Chapter 55

Chapter Fifty-Five: Complicated Imbuement, Meeting, Rooftop Argument

Gabriel took a deep breath to calm his nerves as he lay on the exam table in the laboratory. "It's been a while since I've been on one of these." He glanced nervously at his wife. "Promise not to stick any shunts in my brain."

"I don't know." Olivia teased. "I think you'd look adorable with a chunk of plastic hanging out of the back of your skull." She smiled as Gabriel stared at her wordlessly. "I'm KIDDING!" She leaned down and pecked him quickly on the lips. "We've done this time and again with the other recruits, there's nothing to it. I'm starting this IV on you myself, we're putting you under and when you wake up, you'll be as indestructible as you are sexy."

Gabriel finally smiled. "So I'll be extremely indestructible, huh?"

"Definitely." Olivia grabbed a stool and sat beside him as she started his IV. "Do you want something to calm you down before we put you under?"

Gabriel shook his head and reached for his wife's hand. "Just stay here with me."

"I'm not going to leave your side until you wake up." She winked at him and then turned to watch Peter sit beside Sherry, who was stretched out on the table beside them. Peter looked up, his expression nervous as he started his girlfriend's IV. Olivia gave him a reassuring smile as their eyes met. Peter nodded, then looked back down at Sherry's arm, concentrating on her IV.

Sherry watched Peter starting the IV, her mouth twisting nervously. "This is going to be totally cool, right?"

Peter nodded as he looked into her eyes. "The only person who's had complications is Olivia. We know what to do now to keep that from happening."

"Yeah, so far." Sherry bit her lip. "Watch me be the next fuck-up in here. Story of my life."

"Don't jinx me or you." Peter smiled and kissed her. "Don't do that to us."

"Okay." Sherry took his hand. "You're staying with me throughout all of this, just like Olivia's staying with Gabriel through his, right?"

"Try and pull me away from your side." Peter squeezed her hand. "Besides, you two are the only ones we're working on today. You two deserve all of our attention."

"Yeah, we're special." Sherry smirked. "I'm special to you and Gabriel's special in that short-bus way."

"I can totally hear you!" Gabriel turned to Sherry, grinning. "And don't think you're not on that short bus with me, Cherry Bomb."

"Cram it sideways." Sherry giggled.

"You realize now that if you yank on my ears, even rip them off when I get smart with you, they'll just grow right back again." Gabriel joked. "Of course, I'm sure you've already discovered that with Peter. Judging from the sounds I hear from his apartment late at night, you've probably ripped those ears off once or twice. Sounds like my brother-in-law's rather, um, gifted."

"Let's just say that I was always called 'turbo tongue' because I talked too much. Peter earned that nickname in a whole other way." Sherry grinned.

"Okay, it's time for you two to be put under." Peter blushed as he reached for a sedative. He glanced at Sherry. "Ready, 'Little Miss TMI'?"

"Sock it to me, Turbo Tongue." Sherry giggled as Peter shook his head.

"You're definitely punch drunk." Peter turned to Herbert and held her hand as she was put under anesthesia. He watched nervously as she was intubated, quickly taking over for Herbert in handling her oxygen pump. "Slow and easy breaths." He whispered to himself.

Olivia turned to Gabriel, who watched Peter breathing for Sherry, his eyes widening nervously. "Your turn."

Gabriel swallowed hard. "Maybe I should wait. Maybe we should do this another-" He closed his eyes as Olivia quickly put him under with Mohinder, then intubated him quickly.

"This was easier to do than the first time." Olivia smiled softly as she began to handle his oxygen pump. "There was so much blood blocking his windpipe the first time I did it in Queens, the night Hiro stabbed him. His lungs were perforated and blood was everywhere. I could barely visualize his vocal chords." She stroked her husband's forehead, brushing his hair back as she breathed for him. She glanced over to notice Peter doing the same thing with Sherry. "This is so much easier to do when it's not someone you're in love with."

Peter nodded, touching Sherry's neck for a moment. "She's already getting so cold."

Olivia touched Gabriel's neck, frowning. "Him too." She noticed how her hands shook and concentrated on his pump. "I'll be glad when this is over."

"I second that." Peter stared intensely at Sherry's vitals.

After a few minutes, both Sherry and Gabriel's vital signs had dropped, signaling hypothermia. Olivia and Peter watched as Mohinder and Herbert administered the serums, then turned their eyes nervously back to the monitors charting their vital signs. Olivia's eyes widened for a moment as Gabriel's heart skipped a beat, then returned to normal. "That wasn't good." She whispered.

"I'm sure he's fine." Peter watched Sherry's vitals. "She's holding her own, what about Gabriel?"

Olivia frowned. "His heart just skipped another two beats." She glanced at Mohinder. "What should we do?"

Mohinder frowned with Olivia. "Just stay the course. His EEG is fine and his oxygen levels are holding."

Olivia gasped nervously as his heart began to skip a few more beats. "Mohinder-"

"-I saw it."

"What?" Peter tore his eyes from Sherry's monitors to watch Gabriel's. His eyes widened as Gabriel's heart skipped another beat. "What the hell?"

Olivia shook her head. "I don't know. The serum?"

Mohinder checked the IV fluids bag. "He's half in. Just keep breathing for him. He's going to be okay."

Olivia nodded, her eyes never leaving his heart monitor. She watched nervously as his heart continued to skip beats every few minutes. Just as the last of the serum entered his bloodstream, his monitor started beeping as his heart stopped beating. "SHIT!" Olivia yelped as she yelled for Mohinder and Herbert. Peter watched in horror as Herbert began to perform chest compressions as Mohinder took over the oxygen pump. Olivia grabbed the crash cart and dragged it over, quickly charging the defibrillator paddles. "Clear!" Mohinder and Herbert stepped away as she shocked Gabriel's heart. The monitor stopped beeping as Gabriel's heart began to beat again. Olivia sagged against the cart, her eyes filling with tears. "That was not good." She whispered. She set the paddles down and glanced at Mohinder. "Can you continue with that for a moment?" Mohinder nodded as Olivia stepped out of the room quickly, her legs shaking as she clutched the wall to keep from falling.

Peter handed Sherry's oxygen pump to Herbert and followed his sister out of the room. He touched her shoulder and turned her to him. "You okay?"

Olivia fought to keep from crying. "I told him it would be okay, that he would be alright. He asked me to wait, to do it another day because he was scared, but I put him under anyway." She started to sob, her breath hitching in gasps.

Peter hugged his sister. "He would have asked to do it on another day anytime you put him under, he was nervous."

"I badgered him into doing it. He kept putting it off, saying that he'd do it later, but I nagged and nagged-"

"Sssssh." Peter hugged her tightly. "He was going to have to have it done sooner or later and he's going to have to do it again and again. There are other powers he's going to need, other powers he's going to have to have to survive this."

"No." Olivia shook her head. "Now I understand why he is so adamant about my not doing this again. He was just gone for a moment, I was gone for longer and I had seizures and everything else during it-" She stared at Peter "-if I just went through even a fraction of what he went through when I went south-"

"-Stop it!" Peter sighed. "You're going to have to toughen up, we all are. What just happened in there was scary, what happened when you were under was terrifying, but we've all got to get tough and powered up. What happened in there was a complication, that's all. He's back and he'll be okay when he wakes up, just like you were. Now, he's going to start coming around soon, they both are. We need to be there when they wake up, don't you think?" He smiled softly as Olivia nodded. "Come on." He wrapped an arm around his sister's shoulders and guided her back into the lab.

Mohinder looked up at her as she walked over to Gabriel. "Are you okay?"

Olivia nodded. "How's he doing?"

"Holding his own." Mohinder stared down at Gabriel. "We've started warming both of them up, so they should be coming around soon." He pointed to the oxygen pump. "Feel like taking over?"

Olivia nodded and took over the pump, watching as Gabriel's color returned as his body warmed back up. Once his vitals regained their initial levels, she extubated him and placed an oxygen mask on him, stroking his hair as she watched his monitors. After a few minutes, she sighed with relief as his eyes fluttered open. Beside her, she could hear Sherry cough and start to move around as Peter whispered and talked reassuringly to her. Gabriel blinked for a moment, looking into his wife's eyes. "How did I do?" He croaked, his voice raspy from the breathing tube. His eyes widened as Olivia burst into tears and began to cover his face with kisses. "Well, okay then." He whispered. "You don't have to be such a drama queen."

* * *

"So I had a few complications, huh?" Gabriel sat up on the table an hour later as Olivia checked his blood pressure.

Olivia nodded, her eyes still swollen from crying. "I'm sorry I made you do it."

"Hey, I'm back and now I should be virtually indestructible, no harm no foul." He sighed as Olivia pumped up the blood pressure cuff again. "Oh for crying out loud, I'm fine! Stop taking that. I'm not about to start pining for the fjords."

"That's NOT funny!" Olivia gasped.

"I've got to have a little sense of humor about this." Gabriel kissed her cheek. "I'm sorry I scared the shit out of you."

"It's okay." Olivia took his hand and grabbed a scalpel. "Let's see if taking ten years off of my life was worth it." She drew the blade across his left ring finger, then smiled as the cut she made quickly healed. "Works like a charm."

"Cool!" Gabriel grinned. "So now I can throw myself off of roofs and walk away without a scratch, like I've done to Peter once or twice."

"Don't try it." Olivia kissed him.

"I do owe you a death or two." Peter smirked. "At the very least."

"Try it, Turbo Tongue." Gabriel smirked. He glanced at Sherry. "How are you feeling?"

"Indestructible." Sherry winked at him. "Welcome back to the land of the living, by the way. I hear I missed some excitement."

"I apparently did too." Gabriel hugged his wife. "Scared the shit out of her and everything. I owed her a few of those as well."

"Consider that debt paid." Olivia clutched at her husband. "Paid in full. Don't ever do that to me again."

"I'll try my best." Gabriel smiled. "I bet this means I'm getting seriously laid when we get home."

"Is that all you think about? Sex?" Olivia shook her head.

"When I'm around you? Hell yes." Gabriel slowly got off of the table. "Ready to head home? Put me to bed? Play naughty doctor with me?" He placed his head on her shoulder. "After a near-death experience, I don't think I should have to train tonight and I'll need you beside me to take my temperature and make sure I'm recovering correctly."

"He's got a point." Sherry grinned at Peter. "Suddenly I'm feeling weak and helpless too. I don't think I should train tonight."

"You're both full of SHIT!" Peter laughed. "Besides, there's a meeting tonight, no training, so you're both pulling this little pitiful act for nothing."

"What's the meeting about?" Olivia turned to Peter, frowning.

"There's something we need to tell everyone in the main group." Peter nodded. "Something important." He glanced at Gabriel. "Think you can keep it in your pants long enough to deal with that?"

Gabriel smirked. "I don't know, I guess we'll see."

"Yeah, we don't want to see, that's the point." Sherry shook her head as she climbed off of the table and headed towards a changing room.

* * *

Everyone in the usual training class, with the exception of Herbert and Collette, gathered in the training room that evening. They watched as Mohinder and Peter paced in front of the platform, and finally turned to everyone. Peter took a deep breath. "We've got a mole."

"We know, we're trying to figure out who it is." Noah nodded.

"No. WE'VE got a mole in Linderman's compound. We've had one since Sherry and I returned from South America." Peter grinned. "It's someone that's fed up with his bull shit and is ready to sing like a canary about everything that's been going on there. They have been singing for the last three weeks."

"Who is it?" Olivia asked.

"Okay, before I tell you, I want everyone to keep an open mind, Mom and Olivia especially." Peter took a deep breath. "It's Candice Wilmer."

"EXCUSE ME?" Olivia gasped.

"You cannot be serious!" Angela hissed.

"Wait." Gabriel frowned. "Isn't that the bitch that kidnapped and shot Sherry?"

"Hang ON!" Peter held out his hands. "Look-"

"-She's been SLEEPING with Linderman. They're lovers!" Olivia made a face as Peter sighed.

"-I know but-"

"-But what?" Nathan shook his head. "You can't expect us to believe that Candice is now a turncoat for Linderman. How do you know she's not feeding you a line of total bullshit? How do you know she's not running back to him, laughing with him because they're making us chase our tails?"

"I read her mind in Rio." Peter sighed. "After she botched the whole Sherry incident by not killing her immediately and then letting us both get away, Linderman tossed her. She's out of his bed and that Gota chick is-"

"-The woman that killed Natalia and Papa." Nikolai ground his teeth as Claire gently placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Yeah. She's the woman who killed your family." Peter nodded sadly. "Candice was hurt and angry. She came to me and Sherry when we were preparing to recruit Katharina. She offered to become a spy for us in Linderman's camp. I used Matt's powers and Trevor's to ascertain that she was indeed telling the truth. She met us in Peru when our trip was over and teleported back here with us late at night. In order to help her spy, Mohinder and I imbued her with Katharina's mind-block power and Nathan's flight power. She's been flying here frequently and telling us what's going on in Linderman's camp. She's given us some very useful information."

Olivia sighed. "Are you SURE she's not lying?"

Peter nodded. "I'm positive. She's not proud of the things she's done and she's ashamed that she let Linderman use her, only to toss her over for Gota. She wants to come here when she's spied enough. She wants to join with us to bring Linderman down." He scanned the room. "She's been doing good work, at her own personal risk. Does anyone have a problem with her joining us after she's done this?" His eyes narrowed as they locked with Angela's and Olivia's. "ANYONE?"

Gabriel raised his hand. "What information has she given?"

Mohinder stepped forward. "First of all, their imbuement technique is much more dangerous and primitive than ours. They lose quite a few of them to seizure and heart failure. Also, there were two children that were taken in England, the Bunton children. Candice remembered seeing them around, then they disappeared. She found out that Linderman had his lab experiment on them."

Niki put an arm around Micah's shoulders protectively as she stared up at Mohinder. "Experimented HOW?"

"He had them both imbued with Claire's powers. One of the children didn't make it through the infusion. After the other one barely survived, the doctors stabbed and shot her to see when she'd heal and when she wouldn't. She survived everything but a gun shot to the head."

"They tortured her, in other words." Gabriel's nostrils began to flare angrily. "Bastards. They tortured a fucking KID!"

Niki sighed. "Mohinder, this is the same woman that kidnapped Micah and took him to New York City."

Micah looked up at his mother. "She wasn't mean to me, Mom. She was pretty cool. I know what she did was wrong, but she didn't mistreat me at all. She was nice, really. She didn't have to be." Niki looked down at her son and nodded before she hugged him tightly. "I promise Mom, she was really good to me."

"Okay, I believe you." She whispered.

"What else has she told you?" Matt asked.

"Linderman is hoarding two powers to keep for himself. Those two powers are Angela Petrelli's and Ted Sprague's." Mohinder glanced at Peter. "We don't know why he'd want Angela's, but we have figured out about Ted. Peter had a dream walk with Sanjog where he saw Future Hiro's version of our battle. It ended with a mushroom cloud. Peter initially thought that either he or Gabriel set that off, but now we think it was Linderman, who did it in order to neutralize everyone on that battlefield long enough to decapitate everyone so he would reign supreme. She also told us that he definitely has someone here, in the building, watching and reporting what we do. She doesn't know who it is, but she is currently trying to find out who. She does suspect that, whoever it is may not KNOW it. Gota's power is mind control through hypnosis. She could have created a sleeper agent that way, someone who acts without knowing that they're under her control."

Matt frowned. "Trevor and I have talked to everyone in the building."

"I know." Mohinder nodded. "But how can you tell who they are if they think they're telling the truth? As far as they know, and by extension YOU know, they ARE telling the truth when they say that they're not reporting to Linderman. Has anyone seen anything suspicious?" Everyone shook their heads. Mohinder frowned. "Very well then."

"What about training?" Noah raised his hand. Did she say anything about what they're doing?"

Mohinder nodded again. "They have a man there from the Turkish Army named Farkan. His power is increased agility. He is well versed in hand-to-hand combat and sword training, specifically the scimitar. He's been training everyone daily for four hours a day." Mohinder smiled. "That's where we have the advantage over them. They don't have someone who can stop time in order to let them train twenty-four hours a day."

Peter stepped forward. "So we're asking again. Does ANYONE have a problem with her coming here when it's been deemed too dangerous for her to return to Linderman?" He smiled as everyone shook their heads. "Good. She's been doing a great job, you guys. She really has."

Olivia raised her hand. "What else does she need to do before she comes here?"

Mohinder shrugged. "She mainly needs to find the mole. Also, I bought this for her this afternoon." Mohinder held up a small device. "It looks like a brooch, but it's a camera with a small flash drive inside. I'm going to ask her to photograph as many of his people as she can so we'll be able to identify them on sight."

"Good idea." Olivia nodded. "I have a request, but only if it's not too dangerous for her. If she thinks it's a bad idea, tell her to drop it and not to do it."

"What?" Peter asked.

"Is there any way she could get her hands on some of their blood samples, specifically Furkan's? I don't know about the rest of you, but super agility doesn't sound like such a bad thing to have in a fight. Also, here's another thought. Is there any way she could agree to being imbued with Micah's power? That way, she could dig around in Linderman's files, maybe move his money around. Imagine how much it would hamstring him if he found himself without funds."

Peter's eyes widened. "Sneaky. Good one."

"She could move it into an account we could set up for our recruits. I think it would definitely be poetic justice if they ended up getting Linderman's money after this is over and done with."

Angela smiled at her daughter. "Hit the bastard in the wallet. NOW you're thinking like my child."

Mohinder nodded. "I'll suggest it to her tonight." He looked around the room. "Any other thoughts on this?" Everyone looked at each other, then shook their heads. "Good. This meeting is adjourned then."

"Good." Gabriel stood up and wiggled his eyebrows at Olivia. "I'm suddenly feeling so tired and weak and I need to be under a doctor's care after my complications this afternoon."

"You know, you probably shouldn't do anything that could adversely affect your heart for the next few days." Olivia smirked at him. "Just take it easy. Don't exert yourself-"

"-I'll let you do all of the exertion then." Gabriel grinned. "I don't mind lying back and letting you take control, I let you do it all the time." He pulled Olivia close as they left the room, nibbling on her ear. "The beach in Puerto Rico comes to mind."

"Excuse me?" Olivia laughed. "Halfway through it, you took over like you always do, so don't give me that 'you can do it all and I'll just lie back' bullshit!" They watched as Mohinder quickly passed them to leave the room. "So what's your take on the Mohinder and Candice situation? Was it just me being a major yenta again, or did you notice a slight change in demeanor when he'd talk about her?"

"You're not the only one who noticed." Gabriel smirked. "I noticed how flushed he got whenever anyone would bad mouth her. He acted like he was about to kick anyone's ass who didn't agree to his whole 'let's let her come here afterwards' plan."

"So you think he's got it bad?" Olivia grinned at her husband.

"I couldn't give a shit one way or the other." Gabriel shrugged. "As long as he's not giving you schmoopy looks, I don't care."

* * *

Late that night, Mohinder stared at his cell phone, willing it to ring. When it finally did, he jumped out of bed as he answered it and took an elevator towards the roof. As he hit the top floor and took the stairs, he stumbled over an object. Cursing under his breath, he lifted it up to see a sleeping bag. "Bloody Peter." He muttered under his breath. He stepped out onto the roof, tossing the bag aside as Candice paced the roof.

She frowned at the bag. "What's that?"

"Peter's idea of a joke, apparently." Mohinder rolled his eyes as he hugged Candice. "Good news!"

Candice ignored his last comment, her eyes on the bag. "Is that a sleeping bag?" She turned to Mohinder. "And it's for?"

"Nothing. Like I said, it's Peter's idea of a joke. He kept sensing chemistry or something equally ridiculous between us last night. He joked about leaving that up here for us to use."

Candice quirked an eyebrow as she stepped away from Mohinder. "Right, because sleeping with me would definitely be a joke, right? Who'd want Linderman's whore, the hidden fatty?"

Mohinder's eyes widened for a moment. "That's not what I meant. That's not what Peter meant. He was just being meddlesome and a smart-ass. He's quite good at it, actually. I wouldn't have any qualms about-" He shrugged "What I mean is, I wouldn't mind-" He shook his head, blushing. "Anyway, I have good news."

"You wouldn't mind or have any qualms about what? Sleeping with me?" Candice crossed her arms in front of her chest. "What, like I'm some cheap floozy or something?"

"I don't think of you that way in the least." Mohinder grabbed a chair and sat down. "Honestly, where is this coming from?"

"Nowhere, never mind." Candice rolled her eyes. "So what's this good news?"

Mohinder stared for a moment as Candice glared at him, her arms remaining crossed in front of her chest. "Peter and I called a meeting with our leader group. We told them about you and what you've been doing for us. They're all on board with you coming to stay here and joining us."

"Even Olivia and Angela?"

"They don't have a problem with it. Peter and I both told everyone about how honest and sincere you've been and how great you've been handling things these last few weeks. You've really been doing a wonderful job, Candice."

"Thanks." Candice sighed. "So when I'm done pulling a Sydney Bristow, I can come back here and live?"

"Absolutely!" Mohinder stood up, smiling. "Isn't that great? No more sneaking around on rooftops in the middle of the night. We'll be able to talk to each other anywhere we choose, in broad daylight."

Candice nodded, still frowning. "Yeah, that's wonderful." She glanced over her shoulder at the sleeping bag. "So you and Peter have been talking about that, joking about it? Joking about nailing me?"

"NO!" Mohinder sighed. "He knows I've been spending a lot of time with you lately and he and his girlfriend Sherry have been on this matchmaking kick for a while now, he's just trying to find someone to pair me off with and you're his latest candidate, that's all."

"And you've been telling him that it's NEVER going to happen."

"EXACTLY!" Mohinder nodded. "I've been telling him and telling him that we're both just friends. Men and women can be friends with each other, they don't always have to jump into bed together, regardless of what seems to take place around here on a daily basis." He rolled his eyes. "It's like Noah's Bloody Ark down there, everyone's pairing up two-by-two." He raised an eyebrow. "And there's a few that are three-by-three." He laughed and looked at Candice, noticing that she was still frowning. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing." She stepped past him. "I don't have anything to report tonight, I just wanted to see you. I've seen you, so now I'm heading back to the frigid mountains, which is apparently where I should be."

"Wait!" Mohinder reached out and took her arm. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing."

"I know I'm rather clueless when it comes to women, but even I know that 'nothing' means everything a lot of the time. Did I say something I oughtn't?"

"No, I think you said everything you needed to." Candice glared at the sleeping bag. "Hope it only fits one, 'cause that's all you'll need." She turned and jumped up, flying away.

Mohinder watched her leave and sighed as he turned to return downstairs. He jumped back as Gabriel stepped into view, then looked around nervously. "What do you want?"

"I thought I'd give Olivia a LITTLE bit of sleep, and I heard you two talking, so I thought I'd be nosy." Gabriel shook his head. "You're right, you ARE clueless when it comes to women."

"Like you have a lot of room to talk. Before Olivia, how many women graced your doorstep?"

Gabriel nodded. "Not many. Before I woke up in St. Ignacious Hospital, I didn't attract a lot of women, unless I paid them first, but not even I would be clueless enough to completely and totally diss a woman who was OBVIOUSLY that crazy about me. I know you just have normal hearing, but I don't. I could hear all the way on the tenth floor the way her heart started pounding the minute she laid eyes on you and I could hear in her voice just how completely nuts she is about you. She was giving you every signal in the book to take back that 'just friends' bullshit you were spouting and it flew over your head, just like she finally did. God, for someone so smart, you're really stupid!" He laughed and left the roof as Mohinder slumped in a chair.

"Shit." He muttered under his breath. He heard a noise and looked up to see Candice circle overhead before landing in front of him. "You came back!"

"Yeah!" She stomped towards him. "I decided that I'm sick and tired of just taking it and keeping my mouth shut when someone pisses me off, so I thought I'd come back and tell you off! First of all, HOW can you not have noticed the signals I've been giving you for the last three weeks? I'm not very experienced when it comes to men, I'll be honest. My one and only physical relationship was with someone who had to chug Viagra first and was only using me because he felt I was useful, but I THOUGHT I knew how to flirt! Do I have to draw you a diagram or write a research paper about how attracted I am to you before you pull your head out of your ass and NOTICE? I mean, I KNOW that I'm screwed up, I KNOW that in my natural form, you'd probably find me repellant, but honestly? WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU?"

"Fine!" Mohinder rolled his eyes. "That's IT! I'm sick and tired of people getting pissed at me, tossing me aside for serial killers, and thinking that I'm shallow enough to think that just because you had a few extra pounds once upon a time ago that I'd judge you unworthy, and I'm TIRED of people calling me stupid and asking what's wrong with me!" He stomped towards her. "Am I attracted to you? YES! You're a good listener, you're funny, and you've got a good and decent heart! Do I think you're beautiful? YES! I'd still be attracted to you no matter what because the person I've been getting feelings for would still be in there" he jabbed a finger into her forehead "and not out here! I HAVE noticed how you've been flirting, I have noticed the signals, but I also know that you've recently been hurt by someone you cared about and, as much as I wanted to act on those signals, I didn't want to be a rebound. I seem to always be falling for unavailable women somehow and I didn't want you to be the next one who decided that I wasn't worth the effort, for whatever reason. Do you think I come bounding up here every other night because it's my duty? I come up here because I can't wait to see you, I can't wait to hear your voice and I love spending time with you, even if it's just for a few bloody minutes before you have to fly away again to eat shit for your ex-lover, a fact that's been driving me crazier and crazier lately! I hate the fact that he gets to see you on a daily basis and doesn't appreciate you or care one damned bit while I only get a few minutes late at night on a rooftop! There! Are you happy now?"

Candice smiled at him. "Yeah. I'm happy now." She stepped towards him and kissed him softly on the lips. "I'm glad I came back, even if it was just for a minute."

"You HAVE to go? NOW?" Mohinder looked sadly at her.

"Yeah." She nodded. "I need to knock Linderman's feet out from under him just as efficiently as you've knocked my socks off of me. I have even more incentive to do it now."

She started to step away from Mohinder. He reached out and grabbed her arm, pulling her to him again and kissing her passionately. "Come back soon." He whispered.

"Leave the sleeping bag here." She winked. "We might need it one night."

"God, yes." He breathed. "One night. Soon. I'd like that."

"Me too." Candice kissed him again quickly, before she stepped away and flew off into the sky.

From the bottom of the stairs, Gabriel rolled his eyes at the conversation he'd just overheard. "God, dorks in love. Just bang her already and get it over with, damn!" He sighed. "Maybe if he gets laid already, he'll be a nicer person." He shook his head and went to the elevator to return to his apartment and his wife.


	56. Chapter 56

Chapter Fifty-Six: Discovered

A week later, Candice found herself stretched out on the exam table of the facility yet again. She took a deep breath as she calmed her nerves. Mohinder walked over to her and touched her shoulder, smiling tenderly down at her. "You know this is going to be fine." He said.

Candice nodded. "I know." She grinned. "So I'll be able to do what Micah does after this, huh? Cool." She glanced over at Olivia as the woman walked over to her table. "You didn't have to come down here tonight just to help. Mohinder and Peter did it last time."

"I know." Olivia smiled. "I just wanted to meet you, really meet you without any hidden agendas, such as helping my brother escape while my husband TK'ed a syringe into your neck."

Candice gasped. "So THAT'S what happened? I thought I'd just passed out or something." She laughed as Olivia looked down sheepishly. "I'll be damned. Good one." She took a deep breath again as Mohinder began to put her under. "See you on the other side." She whispered as she closed her eyes.

Mohinder held Candice's hand and watched as Olivia intubated the girl, then started the oxygen pump. Olivia glanced up at him, smiling. "You two seem to be getting along."

Mohinder smiled. "I like her. I like her a lot."

"You're falling for her." Olivia winked at him as he blushed. "Gabriel told me that the two of you had a little spat last week and then made up."

"Your husband needs to mind his own business." Mohinder shook his head as he turned the cooling blanket on, watching nervously as Candice's vital signs began to quickly slow down.

Olivia smiled. "I'm glad you found someone. You're a great guy, Mohinder. You deserve someone who's just as great as you are. I think she's pretty courageous, doing what she's doing for us." She looked down at Candice, her brow furrowing with worry. "I just hope she's not taking too many risks. She could just come back here and stay with us now if she wants. She doesn't have to go back there and keep risking her neck, she's done more than enough already."

Mohinder sighed. "I wish she'd come and stay too. She's stubborn. She wants to do everything she can to bring Linderman down before she comes to us. She's already brought Furkan's blood sample, she's brought us photographs of his agents. She wants to find out the mole first and mess with his finances."

"We could find the mole on our own. Oscar's already going around and visiting with everyone, offering to share repressed memories with them. You'd be surprised how many of them are willing to let him dig into his brain."

"They heard how what he did reunited you and Angela." Mohinder laughed. "Everyone around here sees and knows more than we think. They knew how you and Angela were constantly sniping, then they started seeing the two of you talking and smiling, not to mention you now calling her 'Mother', they wondered what happened. They'd like to resolve a few things within themselves as well, I think." He looked back down at Candice. "I agree with you though. I wish she'd come to stay. I'm tired of meeting her on the roof late at night. She's always gone again within a few minutes, she's so scared of getting caught away from the compound."

"She'll be here to stay soon." Olivia nodded. "Maybe you can convince her to move up her plans of staying here permanently."

"I don't know what else I could do to convince her." He noticed her vital signs had dropped enough to signal hypothermia. He quickly started the serum and watched her vitals nervously as it began to drip into her veins. "I've already told her how I feel about her and how deep those feelings are. She knows I want her here permanently. She keeps telling me to be patient, but you have no idea how crazy it makes me knowing she's near HIM all day." He frowned. "What if he decides he wants her again, instead of Gota? You know she's not going to be allowed to refuse him." He made a face. "The idea of him touching her again-"

"-Don't think about it." Olivia shook her head. "You'll just make yourself insane thinking about that. Just keep telling yourself that if Linderman ever makes a move on her, she'll just fly away and return to you."

"That's what she tells me, but what if she decides to stay and think of England, so to speak, while continuing to spy for us? I don't want her sacrificing herself or using her body any more than she already has to help us." Mohinder's hands balled into fists. "When I think of the things he's done to her over the years. I just want to-"

"-You'll get your chance. We'll ALL get our chance to get back at him in our way." Olivia glanced over at Candice's vital signs. "She's doing good."

Mohinder's expression softened as he looked down at Candice. "I just want her to stay. I want her here with me."

Olivia shrugged. "Then convince her more. I know this is none of my business, but have the two of you-?"

"No." He sighed. "And that's another frustrating thing. She's so worried about getting caught, she stays just long enough to get us both hot and bothered. Besides, groping on a rooftop with a sleeping bag at our feet isn't very-" he shrugged "-I don't want it to be that way."

Olivia raised an eyebrow, smiling. "What if I gave the two of you another way?"

* * *

Candice sat up on the bed an hour later, stretching as she smiled at Mohinder. "So I'm ready to go?" 

"Just a few more minutes." Mohinder winked at her as he stepped out of the room for a moment.

Olivia approached Candice, smiling at her. "He's a great guy."

Candice blushed and looked down. "I know."

"He's falling for you, you DO realize that." Olivia sighed. "Candice, you don't have to keep doing this. He wants you to stay. You've done enough. Stay here, stay with Mohinder. Don't go back to my father's compound and continue to endanger yourself."

"I will, soon." Candice nodded. "I'm falling for him too. He's so kind and wonderful." She closed her eyes. "No man has ever been like that with me before, not ever in my life." She opened her eyes and looked at Olivia. "But I have to see this through. I have to DESERVE to be here, to be with him. I have to atone for what I've done."

"You've more than done that, Candice. You deserve to be here, you DESERVE Mohinder." She leaned close to the younger girl. "I'm warning you now, you break that man's heart by getting caught and getting yourself killed, I will find a way to resurrect you just so I can kick your ass. Believe that."

Candice's eyes widened. "You're kind of scary sometimes, you know? You seem sweet and nice, but when you get threatening-" she whistled softly under her breath "-damn Girl."

"I get that from my mother." Olivia smiled at her. "You should see HER threaten someone." She shrugged and quickly hugged Candice. "Be careful with yourself and be careful with Mohinder. He's one of the best men I know. If I weren't completely head over heels for my husband, you'd have competition."

"And I'd beat your ass to a pulp." Candice smirked as she hugged Olivia back. "Thanks for everything."

"Don't thank me yet, we're not out of the woods by a long shot. Just BE CAREFUL!"

"I will." She looked up as Mohinder walked back into the room. "Convenient of you to step out for a moment. We've had our little girl talk."

Mohinder laughed. "Good." He held out his hand. "Ready to change and head back?"

Candice glanced at Olivia, then nodded. "Yeah."

"I'll wait in the car." Olivia winked at both of them and walked out of the room.

The moment she left, Candice and Mohinder dove into each other's arms, kissing each other hungrily. After a few minutes, Candice stepped away, flushed. "I really have to go. I've been here too long already."

"You're right." Mohinder nodded as he nuzzled her neck. "Too long indeed."

"I'm serious." She moaned as Mohinder's hands slid under her shirt. "We need to stop now, or we're not going to be able to." She kissed him again, her hands roaming over his body as she trembled under his fingers. Finally, she pulled away. "Stop. Now." She straightened her clothes. "You have no idea how hard this is."

"I don't?" Mohinder looked at her desperately. "I don't know how hard it is to only spend a few minutes at a time with you when I want more? I need you. I want you. I want you here with me, not just for a few stolen minutes, for as long as we can."

Candice closed her eyes, nodding. "I lie in bed at the compound and all I think about is you. All I want is you next to me. I'll be finished soon. I'm working as fast as I can."

"Come to me tonight, as early as you can and stay as late as you can." Mohinder stepped towards her, stroking her cheek as her eyes opened. He stared into her eyes. "I love you. I want to be with you tonight. Meet me on the roof."

"You love me?" Candice closed her eyes again, tears seeping out under the lids. "I'll be there by midnight. I'll be with you tonight."

"Stay tonight. Stay as long as you can allow." He kissed her again gently before he took her arm and walked with her out of the facility, punching numbers and swiping his ID card through doors as they made their way to the yard. He kissed her one last time. "I'll see you tonight."

Candice nodded and turned flying into the air. Mohinder smiled at her, watching as she disappeared into the late night sky. He half-ran excitedly to the car, jumping into the passenger seat as Olivia grinned at him. "Well?"

"Let's go shopping." He grinned at her. "She's meeting me tonight. You're SURE this will work?"

"It'll be better than a lumpy sleeping bag on the roof, don't you think?"

Mohinder stared off into space, smiling. "Yes, I think so."

* * *

Collette climbed out of the pool, wrapping a towel around her body as Herbert climbed out beside her. "Late night fun." He whispered. "You were right, this was a lot of fun." 

Collette giggled as she looked around, grabbing her discarded swimsuit as Herbert pulled his swim trunks back on. "I thought it would be more interesting than a bed for once." She kissed Herbert. "But a bed is still fun as well."

"I can't agree more." He nuzzled Collette as she pulled her suit back on. "Whose bed, now that's the question."

"Mine's closer." Collette turned to Herbert, kissing him passionately as they stumbled towards the gate. They turned as Olivia's car pulled up and watched as she got out with Mohinder, both of them toting shopping bags. Collette turned to Herbert, confused. "They're out late. Why?"

Herbert shook his head. "I have no idea." He stared at the bags. "And why are they toting champagne?" His eyes widened as he turned to Collette. "You don't think that they-?" He shook his head. "Of course not. She loves Gabriel far too much to ever cheat with Mohinder."

Collette shrugged. "You did say once that Mohinder was in love with her. Perhaps he found a way to convince her to see him alone. Maybe they ARE having an affair."

"I seriously doubt that." They waited until Olivia and Mohinder walked into the building, then followed them. As they entered the lobby, they waited for an elevator. Collette stared at another elevator, watching the numbers light up as it climbed. She cocked her head to the side as it stopped.

"Who is on the nineteenth floor? I thought no one had moved there."

Herbert shook his head. "No one. It's deserted, why?"

Collette raised an eyebrow and shook her head. "No reason."

* * *

Later that night, after making love with Herbert again, Collette dozed beside him. Her eyes opened as her cell phone began to ring. Rolling over, she answered it, her eyes glazing over as static filled her ear. She slowly climbed out of bed, careful not to disturb Herbert and wrote a quick note. _Mohinder Suresh and Olivia Gray are having an affair. They meet on the nineteenth floor._ She balled up the note and pulled on a robe, stealthily slipping out of her apartment and heading to the lobby. Looking around, she stepped out of the building and crossed the street, tossing the paper into the trash before walking back to the building and going back to her apartment. She pulled off her robe and climbed back into bed with Herbert, falling asleep immediately. 

An hour before dawn, she awoke again, her cell phone chirping beside her. Glancing to make sure Herbert was still asleep, she answered it, her eyes glazing over yet again at the sound of beeps. She grabbed her robe and slipped out of the apartment building, unseen again as she saw a package on top of the trash can. She picked up the package and went back to her apartment. Shutting herself into the bathroom, she opened the package, staring at its contents. She pulled out the digital camera, studying it and the note attached. _Photograph Gray and Suresh when they meet next._ She nodded, her expression blank as she set the camera aside and pulled out a gun, reading the note attached to that. _Hide this. Await further instructions._ Her expression completely blank, she flushed both notes down the toilet and put the camera and gun back into the box as she stepped out of the bathroom. She walked to the linen closet and put the package in the far corner, hiding it behind sheets and blankets before climbing back into bed with Herbert, dozing off again.

That morning during their training session, Collette and Herbert laughed together in the training room, glancing over at Mohinder and Olivia as they walked in with Gabriel. Collette noticed how Mohinder and Olivia slipped off to a corner together to talk. She nonchalantly backed towards their corner, talking and laughing with different people as she tried to listen to their conversation, though wondering to herself why she would be so interested. She finally heard something, that caught her attention, two words: "Midnight tonight." She walked back to Herbert, the words she'd heard quickly disappearing into the far back of her mind as Hana stood on the platform, clapping her hands to get everyone's attention.

* * *

Linderman chuckled to himself in his room with Gota as Henderson left the room. "Horny little bitch, isn't she?" He mused. "Just like her father, can't stand being with the same person for too long." He winked at Gota. "Not that I don't enjoy our time together. I've enjoyed you more than Candice and Angela combined. You're quite talented."

Gota smirked. "I know your eye wanders, My Love. I'm fine with it, as long as you return to me at the end of the evening."

Linderman smiled. "And that's why I like you best." He kissed her. "Once we get those pictures of Olivia and Suresh together, she'll be putty in our hands. She'll do anything we tell her, just to keep us from showing her husband what a little tramp she really is. Poor thing can't help it, she's half mine and half Angela's, of COURSE she's going to cheat!"

* * *

Mohinder paced around apartment 1901 checking his watch every few minutes. He looked around the living room again, smiling at what he and Olivia had done to the place. Candles had been placed around the entire apartment, candles he'd lit as soon as he'd arrived that evening to prepare for Candice's arrival. Soft music played from a stereo in the corner. Two champagne glasses were sitting on the coffee table, while a bottle of bubbly chilled in an ice bucket beside them. He'd carefully arranged a plate of berries and sliced peaches, placing the plate on the table beside the glasses. He glanced down the hall at the master bedroom, where candles burned as well. The bed had been made with the sheets he'd picked out, the covers turned down for the night. He checked his reflection in the mirror over the fireplace, making sure his clothes weren't wrinkled and that his hair wasn't mussed before checking his watch again, wondering when Candice would arrive.

Candice landed on the roof and pulled off her heavy parka, hat and gloves as she set a bag down. Looking around, she frowned. "Mohinder?" She whispered. "I'm here." She looked around for a moment before she dug into the bag, pulling out a little black dress. "Guess he's not here yet." She whispered to herself as she quickly tugged off her jeans and sweater, pulling the dress on as fast as she could. She ran her fingers through her hair as she dug a pair of black heels from the bag, putting them on her feet. "I hope I look okay." She whispered to herself. She glanced around the roof again, finally spotting a note with her name on it pinned to the sleeping bag beside the door. She smiled and opened the note, reading it aloud. "Disguise yourself as Olivia and go downstairs to 1901. Use the key enclosed to come inside and return as you were." She held out the key and smiled. "No sleeping bag for us, I see." She quickly changed her image to make herself look like Olivia, then half-ran down the stairs to the elevator.

Collette lurked on the landing to the nineteenth floor, peeking out through the cracked door to see if Olivia would show. Her expression blank, she turned the camera over in her hands, making sure she'd turned off the flash. As the elevator beeped, she turned back to the door, peeking out of it with her camera held up to her eye. She watched as "Olivia" walked out of the elevator and slipped quickly into 1901, photographing her the entire time. She turned and quickly headed down the stairs and out of the building, placing the camera in the trash can before turning and going back to her apartment.

Candice smiled as she entered the apartment, quickly reverting to her normal appearance. Her eyes widened as she noticed the romantic setting Mohinder had put together. She gasped as he stepped into the room, smiling softly at her. "You went to so much trouble." She whispered.

"No. I didn't go to enough." He pulled her into his arms. "I should have done this as soon as I realized how deeply I felt for you." He kissed her passionately and sank onto the couch with her.

* * *

Robert Henderson, an agent of Linderman's walked towards the trash can, quickly removing the camera. He smirked as he flipped through the digital pictures that Collette had taken. She had some of Suresh walking into the apartment, smiling happily at eleven p.m., then another of 'Olivia' entering at 12:15 a.m. He looked up as a car arrived at the building, his eyes widening as the real Olivia stepped out of the car with Gabriel, Peter and Sherry. Stepping quickly into the shadows, he pointed the camera at them, photographing them as they walked into the building laughing and smiling, Olivia kissing her husband while Peter kissed Sherry. Frowning, he ran down the street to the car waiting for him and drove towards the airport as quickly as he could.

* * *

Candice and Mohinder were curled up on the couch together, kissing between sips of wine and bites of fruit. "So Olivia helped you with all of this." She giggled softly. "Remind me to thank her later."

"I know." Mohinder kissed Candice again. "I told her about the sleeping bag on the roof, she thought it was unromantic." He laughed. "Actually, I thought it was unromantic, she agreed with me. She reminded me that the nineteenth floor is currently uninhabited. She offered us the use of this apartment. We can meet here in secret whenever we please."

"Our own private hideaway. I love it." Candice smiled. "And I love you." She set their glasses aside and kissed him again. "Show me the rest of it. Now."

Mohinder smiled and took her hand. He led her slowly around the apartment, showing her the kitchen and dining rooms, the guest rooms and finally the master bedroom. She smiled as she noticed the candles burning everywhere. He blushed. "I wanted to make it look right. I bought new bedding and-"

"-It's perfect." Candice turned to him, blinking back tears. "Everything's perfect." She pulled him into her arms and began to kiss him again passionately. "Make love to me." She whispered.

Mohinder nodded silently, unbuttoning his shirt. Candice helped him slide it off, her hands shaking nervously. He touched her hands, feeling them shake. "Are you okay?"

Candice nodded. "I'm just scared. The only person I've ever been with." She shook her head. "It was Linderman."

"I know. I'm NOT Linderman." Mohinder smiled gently as he kissed her.

Candice sighed, her hands gliding across his chest. "No, you're not. You're so much better." She bent down, her lips moving along his chest as Mohinder moaned softly, his fingers running through her hair before his hands slid to her shoulders, sliding the delicate straps of her dress down. He bent down, capturing her lips with his own as his hands moved to her back, unzipping her dress. Candice shrugged her shoulders, letting the dress fall to the floor as they made their way to the bed. They kicked off their shoes as they lay side by side, kissing and looking into each other's eyes.

* * *

Linderman answered the ringing phone beside his bed. "Who is it?" He barked. "It's one-thirty in the morning." 

"I'm sorry Sir. It's Henderson." Henderson spoke as loudly as he could over the sounds of the helicopter blades. "Our agent has taken the pictures you requested, Sir! There's a problem!"

"What is it?"

"The alleged adulteress was in two places at once! She was photographed going into the room at 12:15 a.m., but I saw her entering the building with the thorns in your side at 12:25. How can she be in two places at once, Sir?"

Linderman's eyes widened. "She CAN'T!" He snarled. "Get here as quickly as you can with those pictures. Say nothing to no one as you enter, come directly here. What is your ETA?"

"Three hours, Sir!"

Linderman hung up his phone and turned to Gota. "We have a double agent in our midst. Call Farkan, tell him to check Candice's room. NOW!" Gota nodded and quickly jumped out of bed, pulling on her clothes as she grabbed a phone. Linderman lay in bed, his eyes narrowing as he ground his teeth in anger. "Little BITCH!" He muttered under his breath.

* * *

They lay on the bed together naked, their bodies entwined as they kissed, their hands moving gently over each other's bodies. They moved together, rolling over until Mohinder was on top of Candice, kissing her softly. He pressed his forehead against hers, their eyes locked as he began to move on top of her. Candice moaned softly, her fingers gripping his back, her legs wrapping around his waist as she began to move with him. Their bodies moved together as one on the bed, slowly and fluidly, the only sound in the room was of their softly moans and heavy breaths as they made love. 

Candice looked into his eyes, feeling as if she were floating as she felt Mohinder's body moving against and inside of hers. She had never felt like this before in her entire life. Her heart pounded as she moaned softly, letting the sensations wash over her. She had never been this perfectly and completely happy before. As the pleasure began to build, she felt her body tensing against his, and began to moan louder. He moved faster, spurred on by her. She felt his muscles tensing as well, just as she climaxed, arching her back as she held him close, shivering with pleasure as he continued to move faster on top of her. As she held him close, she felt his body shuddering, heard his moans as he clasped her to him as tightly as she held onto him, then relaxed. He lay on top of her for a moment, breathing heavily. She could feel his heart pounding against her breast as she kissed his shoulders and neck. He lifted his head to look down at her, his smile of happiness mirroring hers before they kissed again. "I love you so much." She whispered. "I've never been this happy before in my life."

"I can't remember the last time I was this happy either." Mohinder rolled onto his side, pulling her with him and holding her close. "I want to stay here forever." He murmured sleepily.

"Me too." Candice closed her eyes as she began to doze off. "Forever." She whispered.

* * *

"SEARCH THE COMPOUND!" Linderman stomped out of Candice's room, his expression murderous. "I want her found, and I want her found NOW!" He turned as a man in a lab coat approached him, nervously. "WHAT?" 

"Sir?" The man swallowed audibly. "A question, please."

"Spit it out!" Linderman watched as people dashed around the compound nervously, searching for Candice.

"Last week, did you come downstairs to the lab to ask for a sample of Furkan's blood?"

Linderman's eyes narrowed. "NO! I DID NOT!" He stepped towards the lab tech. "Did you SEE me come down there?"

"Yes Sir." The man stared at his feet, terrified.

"Did you GIVE it to me?"

"Yes Sir."

Linderman glared, then whipped out his gun, shooting the tech in the head. Everyone stopped for a moment to see the man lying dead at Linderman's feet, then quickly rushed around again, searching for Candice. He looked around the building. "What else has the little bitch messed with?" He muttered to himself.

* * *

Mohinder moaned with Candice, both of them shuddering before falling still, breathing heavily. "Good Lord." Mohinder breathed as he sat up, wrapping his arms around Candice as she tried to catch her breath, still straddling him. "Don't leave. Don't go back. Stay here with me." He whispered. 

Candice closed her eyes as she wrapped her arms around him, her heart pounding. "I have to go back, one last time."

"No." He lifted his head, kissing her. "Not after this, not after tonight. To hell with Linderman. We've got enough on him. Don't go back, please." He looked up at her, his eyes filling with tears. "I don't want you to leave me, even if it's just for a few hours."

Candice smiled softly, caressing his cheek with her hand. "I'm going back to try to find the mole one last time and to transfer more money to that Swiss Bank Account. I put over a hundred million in there this morning."

"No." Mohinder shook his head. "He'll find out, he'll discover an amount that large missing." He closed his eyes, leaning into her hand as it stroked his cheek. "Please stay."

"One last day." Candice crooned softly to him. "When I return tonight, I'll return for good, forever. We'll move here and stay here." She kissed him. "No more talk of Linderman. I don't want to hear his name uttered in this room, in OUR room again. When I come back tonight, I'll never leave you again."

"Promise me." Mohinder cradled her face in his hands. "Promise me you'll return."

"I'll be here as soon as it gets dark. I dare anyone to try and stop me." She smiled down at him. "One last time, until tonight. Give me Heaven to remember while I'm trapped all day in Hell."

Mohinder nodded as he kissed Candice, rolling over with her. "With pleasure." He moaned.

An hour later they slipped up to the roof together, their fingers entwined as tightly as their bodies had been for most of the night. "It's almost dawn." She whispered. "I'll have to fly fast."

"Be careful, more careful than you've ever been." Mohinder whispered back, their faces centimeters apart. "Promise me you'll be back for good tonight."

"After a night like this? I'll never leave again after I return to you." She smiled gently. "You're stuck with me. Get used to it."

"I'm already used to it." Mohinder kissed her and hugged her fiercely. "I love you."

Candice smiled. "I love you too." She stepped away from him and slid her dress off and heels off, quickly changing back into the jeans, boots and sweater she'd arrived in. Mohinder helped her zip up her parka, smiling tenderly at her as she put on her hat and gloves. "I promise you, I'll be back tonight."

"I'll wait for you on the balcony of our apartment." He kissed her one last time and stepped back, watching as she flew away. Smiling to himself, he watched her fade into the distance, then left the roof, his heart feeling like it was flying with her.

* * *

Candice landed at the compound, quickly disguising herself as one of the guards as she stepped out of the trees and quickly made her way into the building. Smiling happily to herself, she didn't notice how unnaturally quiet the building was as she made her way to her room. As she opened the door, a shot rang out. She gasped as a bullet hit her in the stomach and whimpered in pain as she slid down the wall. She looked around the room as Linderman stepped into view, Gota and Furkan standing on one side, Ombasa and a sad-looking Haitian standing on the other. Staring at the bullet wound in her stomach, she closed her eyes, realizing she had been discovered. 

Linderman sneered at her. "Hurts, doesn't it?" He glanced at The Haitian. "Don't let her heal yet, make sure she feels that pain." He knelt in front of her. "It's nothing compared to the pain of knowing you've been double crossed."

Candice looked at Linderman, trembling with fear as pain washed over her from the wound that refused to heal. _Oh Mohinder, I'm sorry. I'm so sorry._ She thought to herself as Linderman stepped back, nodding to The Haitian. The wound healed as Candice coughed up the bullet. Linderman nodded to Furkan and Ombasa, smirking as they hauled her to her feet.

"Don't kill her yet!" He called out as they dragged her out of her room and headed to the laboratory with her. "But make it painful! MAKE HER WANT TO TALK!" He sneered angrily as they dragged her away. "And they WILL make her talk."

* * *

A note from the author: To quote J.K. Rowling: Dark Times are Coming. 

Tragedy is about to hit the "good guys" in a painful way.

The next two chapters are going to be posted together, because the way 57 ends, I'm NOT leaving ANYONE hanging while I write 58. They should be up by Wednesday evening at the latest.


	57. Chapter 57

Chapter Fifty-Seven: Goodnight, Little Bird

Linderman stood in the observation booth of his laboratory as Furkan and Ombasa took turns punching Candice in the face. He turned to Gota, who watched the scene below her, her eyes shimmering with blood-lust. "Quite the little trooper, isn't she? She hasn't screamed or cried out once." He turned back and watched as they continued to pummel the small woman strapped in a chair.

The Haitian stood away from them in the lab, looking away and flinching at the sound of the fists hitting flesh, blocking her ability to heal as he heard bones snapping in her face. He looked towards them for a moment, studying the way she took the beating without making a sound. He looked at her face, now bruised, bloody, swollen and misshapen and then looked away, shuddering. He glanced at the observation booth, at the couple watching the proceedings below, suddenly wondering why he chose to ally himself with these people, wondering if his beliefs that Linderman was truly a god were correct. A god was merciful, Linderman was not. The Haitian closed his eyes as the beating continued, wishing he could remove himself from the room, from the sounds of his friend being punished for her betrayal.

Linderman turned on the intercom. "Allow her to heal now." He purred to The Haitian. "I'm coming down to interrogate her for a while myself."

The Haitian sighed with relief as he released Candice's healing power, sensing the others she had inside of her and hoping that Linderman wouldn't discover them. He watched as Linderman strolled into the room with Gota behind him. Linderman took a chair and placed it in front of Candice, staring into her face as it healed, the cuts and bruises suddenly fading, the shattered bones of her face mending together. She glared hatefully at him, her own hatred mirrored in his eyes. "How long?" He snarled. Candice smirked and continued to glare at him wordlessly. "I can read your mind now. You must have gone to the other side a while ago and allowed yourself to be imbued with a mind-blocking capability. It was after Rio, wasn't it? I knew when I returned that you seemed too cheerful and nice. You're usually such a petulant, whiny little thing. I should have known then that you'd become a traitor." He smiled as Gota spit on her, cursing at her in Swedish. "You were given another power as well, something to allow yourself the ability to travel from here to there, probably with a great deal of frequency. What was it?" He leaned forward, concentrating on her mind. He pulled back, snarling. "You're not even listening to me, are you? You've gone off into your own little world, where you're constantly rolling around naked with that geneticist Suresh. That's how you're surviving this beating without screaming out, that's how you're blocking me now, even with our Haitian friend stopping that power cold." He reached out, grasping Candice's face in his hands, his nails digging into her cheeks. "You'll tell me what I want to know, and you'll do it NOW! I WILL find a way to break you!" He stood up and pulled out his gun, pointing it at her chest. "Climb out of that mental bed you're fucking Suresh in and TELL ME WHAT I WANT TO KNOW! NOW!" He pulled the trigger, shooting her in the chest and swung around on The Haitian. "Don't let her heal until she's almost dead!"

Candice had disappeared into her own mind as Furkan and Ombasa dragged her down the hall to the laboratory. She knew that whatever they were about to do to her, would be horrible, painful, and unbearable. Her mind raced as she thought of something, anything to keep her mind away from the horrors of what they were going to do to her. Her mind latched onto one thing: Mohinder. She turned into her own mind and began to relive the time they'd spent together, just a few hours earlier, remembering in detail every touch, every kiss, every sensation, getting lost in the memories of it as their fists had begun to smash into her face. She barely registered Linderman sitting in front of her, Gota spitting on her as she and Mohinder whispered to each other, touched each other. It wasn't until Linderman shot her, the pain of that bullet shattering her breastbone and collapsing both lungs that she finally came out of the haven of her mind and returned to the present. Struggling to breathe, her heart pounding with terror, she realized again where she was. "MOHINDER!" She fought for air as she screamed his name.

Linderman loomed into her view, smirking as he looked down on her. "Dr. Suresh cannot help you now. No one can. Now, you're going to stay here in this room and you're going to tell me everything I know. Every time I feel you slipping back to your little 'happy place' with Suresh, I'm going to shoot you again, and again, and again, until I get bored and put a bullet in your brain. Do you understand me?" He turned to The Haitian. "Let her heal."

Candice coughed and gagged on her blood as the wound in her chest closed. She rolled over, coughing up yet another bullet as Farkan and Ombasa dragged her back to the chair. She looked up into Linderman's eyes, her mind racing as she tried to find a way out of the room, out of the compound as Linderman started to laugh.

"Now, TRY to block your mind against me. You may not talk to me with your mouth, but you're still going to tell me everything I want to know about what you've been up to, starting now."

Candice closed her eyes, tears streaming down her face as she realized she couldn't fight anymore. She opened her mind and allowed him access to everything she'd done.

* * *

Mohinder woke up in the bed he'd shared with Candice, smiling happily as he got up and wandered around the apartment. He began to clean up the living room, discarding the burnt-out candles and pouring out the rest of the champagne, which had now gone flat. He washed dishes and hummed happily to himself, making plans for the day. He had decided to skip training, instead using his time to pack his belongings and move them to 1901. He needed to buy towels, toiletries for Candice, wondering what she liked to use. He looked around the kitchen, imagining the two of them living there together alone, making dinner together, laughing and joking as they cooked and played around. 

He left the apartment, beaming as he went to the tenth floor and entered his apartment with Peter and Herbert. Peter and Sherry looked up from the breakfast table, staring at him. "And where were YOU last night?" Sherry asked.

"Heaven." Mohinder breezed past the two of them towards his bedroom.

"SHUT UP!" Sherry stood up and chased Mohinder into his room, with Peter following behind her. "You and Candice rang the bell finally?"

"Yes." Mohinder's voice was dreamy as he began to pack his clothes.

Peter frowned. "And now you're packing? Where are you going?"

Mohinder turned to him and hugged him quickly. "You, my friend, have been an excellent roommate for most of the time, but after last night, I'm moving in with Candice in the apartment where we spent the most incredible night of our lives. As of tonight, she will be a permanent resident here, and we will be living together in apartment 1901." He sighed happily and turned back around, continuing to pack.

"Whoa." Peter leaned against a wall, watching his roommate pack his clothes and items. "That's pretty heavy. You're moving in TOGETHER? You barely know her."

"I've only known her a short time, but that was long enough." Mohinder smiled. "It's a wonderful feeling, now I know why you and Sherry can barely stand to be apart."

Peter smiled at his friend. "So you're ditching the boys' tree house and moving in with your girl." He looked at Sherry, winking. "Maybe we should kick Herbert out and have him take your room downstairs. What do you think?"

Sherry smirked. "I think Hana will kill us dead, that's what I think." She giggled. "But it is a good thought. Maybe if Claude finally wears HER down and gets her to move in with him and the kids, we'll toss Herbert then."

"Good idea. Let's start doing our Yenta act on Hana." Peter winked at Sherry for a moment before turning back to Mohinder. "So I take it you'll be skipping training today?"

"Send my regrets, but just tell everyone that I'm setting up the lab or something. Olivia knows where I was last night, but that's all. I'll meet you at the lab this afternoon."

Peter nodded and held out his hand. "See you there." Mohinder took his hand and shook it. "It was a pleasure living with you, Man."

"You were a wonderful roommate and you've been an even more wonderful friend. Stop by anytime." Mohinder paused. "Well, call first. We might have other plans."

Peter laughed. "Oh, I'm sure you will." He grinned as he threw an arm around Sherry and left Mohinder's room. "Good for them."

"Good for us." Sherry looked up at Peter, winking. "One roommate down, the loud one to go."

"Aw, maybe we'll move in across the hall from Mo and Candy, let the screamers take this place."

"Maybe." Sherry grinned. "Let's get down to the training room and let Hana kick our asses."

* * *

Linderman circled around Candice as she lay crumpled on the floor, groaning in pain as Furkan, Ombassa and Gota watched. The Haitian continued to look away, his expression grim. "So," Linderman purred "you went to Petrelli and Bombano after you attacked them. You offered yourself up as a double agent in exchange for going to Las Vegas and staying there permanently. They agreed and brought you back to Las Vegas, imbuing you with the power to block your thoughts from me and the power of flight. Interesting." He drew back his foot, kicking Candice in the ribs. She screamed in pain as they broke, stabbing her in the lungs as she tried to breathe. "You came back here and started spying. You told them everything you could, didn't you? You told them about-" he glanced over at his companions "what I've got stashed away as a secret weapon." He smiled "and Petrelli has one as well, I know. I just don't know what it is. He didn't tell you about it, did he?" He concentrated and shook his head. "No, he didn't. Smarter than I thought, not telling you. You also told them about our imbuement techniques, and took photographs of all of our agents to share with them." He sneered. "And you stole money from me, putting it in a Swiss Bank account for that greedy little daughter of mine. Not only are you a traitorous spy, you're a thief to boot! Pathetic really, very pathetic. The only thing you had left to do was find out who WE had over there." He started laughing. "They're going to be shocked when they DO find out, but you're not going to be the one to tell them, oh no. You won't be able to." He knelt down, listening to the thoughts that circulated in Candice's mind. "You started flying back and forth, meeting with Suresh. You fell in love, how sweet." He rolled his eyes. "He can't save you now, you DO realize that, right? How do you think he's going to feel waiting up for you tonight and you never show? Poor man will be heartbroken, really." He stood and turned to The Haitian. "Let her heal." He turned and watched as her pain tremors stopped, listening to bones mend themselves and watching as the blood that pooled around her face was re-absorbed into her body. Candice lay on the floor, breathing hard. She was exhausted from the torture, the beatings. "You're wondering now how much more of this you can take." Linderman laughed. "I haven't even BEGUN to make you suffer! You'll never see Mohinder Suresh again. He's going to die thinking that you abandoned him, betrayed him and his friends to me. They're all going to die slowly, cursing your name, you do realize that, don't you?" 

Candice looked up at him and started laughing. "He'll never believe that I betrayed him. None of them will. You're jealous of him, aren't you?" She laughed harder. "You hate knowing that I spent last night with someone who really and truly loved me and made me happy. You hate knowing that you'll never know what it's like to feel love like that with someone, and you HATE that last night, I had my first real orgasm with another man. and had them often with him. I didn't have to fake with him like I did with you. He is a better man than you in every sense of the word. He's a kinder man, a smarter man, a gentler man, and a better lover than you could ever dream of being. Last night, I found happiness, even if it was just for a few minutes. You can torture me, kill me, tear me apart, but you'll never take that away from me. You'll never take away what I had last night with a man who makes you pale by comparison."

"Don't be so sure of that." He turned to The Haitian. "Wipe Suresh from her memory and do it NOW!"

The Haitian glared at him, squaring back his shoulders. "No."

Linderman glared. "WHAT?"

"I said 'NO'!" The Haitian crossed his arms in front of his chest. "You've done enough to her. I will help you no further with her."

"You DARE defy ME?" Linderman stomped towards the man, who held his ground unflinchingly. "Who do you think you are?"

"The man who can remove any power you have." The Haitian glared back at Linderman. "You do not frighten me the way you do everyone else."

"You haven't been imbued with anything. I could shoot you here and now and end your life."

"So be it." The Haitian stared Linderman down. "I will die a righteous man who has truly seen the light."

Linderman looked away, his expression twisting into something inhuman. He spun away from The Haitian and turned back to Candice. "What ELSE did you tell them?" He yelled.

"I told them that you were a hate-filled bastard who ruled through fear and ugliness. I told them you were pathetic without your powers and that you were a lousy lover!" She smirked as Linderman punched her in the face, the redness in her cheek instantly healing. "You're slipping in your control of your people. I was first to see what you truly were. Others are following."

Linderman glared at The Haitian. "Stop her powers again! I won't ask you to remove her memories, but you WILL stop anything else I tell you, or your death will be much more painful than hers!" He turned back to Candice. "What ELSE did you tell them?"

"I told them you were a lousy lay!" She laughed as Linderman hit her again, then pulled out his gun. "Go ahead, blow my head off! DO IT! I told them everything I could, from the powers you're hiding away, even from your 'friends' here, to the terrible deaths the Bunton children suffered at your say-so!"

Furkan frowned at Linderman. "You told me you sent them to a foster family in Billings."

Candice snorted. "Are you kidding me? Let me guess, when you were a kid, your pets were always sent to a special 'farm' in the country where they could play with other animals too, right? He had them turned into lab rats! He had them butchered! They're DEAD, Furkan!"

"Shut up!" Linderman sneered.

"They don't kill anyone in Vegas, did you all know that? They're not killers, especially not child killers! They're still holding Susan in their facility there, feeding her three squares a day and giving her a pillow and blanket at night because they don't want to kill her, even though she went there to kill THEM! They're good people, moral people, they'll accept you all if you go there." She glared at Gota. "Except for you. You killed that teenaged girl in Prague, in front of her twin brother and baby sister. YOU they'd probably toss in a cell beside Susan, only you wouldn't get a blanket and pillow."

"SHUT UP!" Linderman punched her again and turned to his companions. "She's lying. She's trying to turn all of you against me!" He turned back to Candice. "They're 'good people', huh? Let's go see just how 'good' they are, especially if one of their own decided to go on a killing spree." He turned to Ombasa and Furkan. "Tie her up and get ready to travel!" He turned to Gota. "Get the helicopters ready." He glared at The Haitian. "And try not to defy me again, or you will indeed face the consequences." He stomped out of the room, with Gota hot on his heels.

"What do you want me to do, My Love?" She asked.

He turned to her, smiling softly. "Finally, someone who I know will stay with me throughout everything." He kissed her. "Later tonight, when we reach Las Vegas, I want you to pull the trigger on Miss Renard. Pull the trigger you put in her brain the night you met her."

Gota smiled. "With pleasure."

* * *

Olivia drove home from the facility that afternoon and stepped out of her car at the apartment building. She stopped as she heard girlish squeals and a familiar laugh coming from the pool. Smiling, she walked towards the back of the building and spotted Gabriel splashing in the pool with Tatiana. Olivia leaned against the fence beside the gardens, watching as her husband picked the little girl up, swung her around and then would fall backwards, dunking both of them laughing. 

"He's really good with her." Olivia turned to see Meredith watching them from the garden. "He's out here with her every afternoon, you know. She adores him, you can tell. They play and splash in the water together while he teaches her to swim. He had her jumping off of the diving board about ten minutes ago."

Olivia smiled. "He's great with her. Whenever I watch him with her, my ovaries start screaming and my uterus skips a beat."

"He keeps it up, that little girl could be a championship swimmer one day. He takes her out to the swings every day too." Meredith nodded to a set of swings behind the gardens. "They were there this morning after you guys trained. She kept pleading and pleading with him to push her higher and higher." Meredith grinned. "He'll be a good dad one day. You can just tell that sort of thing."

"I know. We're going to start trying for a baby in November."

"Really?" Meredith nodded. "That's great. Watching him with that little one, you just know he's going to be wonderful. I've heard about the things he did last year. I can't see it, honestly. Watching him with that kid, seeing how full of love he is, I can't imagine him being the person that others claim him to be. You do that? Did you make him like this now?"

"I started it, Tatiana finished it. She's opened his heart wide."

"I know." Meredith and Olivia watched as Gabriel helped Tatiana out of the pool, then jumped back in as the little girl walked to the diving board. He treaded water, holding out his arms as he encouraged the girl to jump. After a moment, she held her nose and jumped in, her wet hair flying out behind her as Gabriel caught her. They both sank underwater for a moment, then resurfaced, laughing.

"I DID IT AGAIN!" She squealed.

Gabriel laughed as he hugged her. "Yes you did, Baby! I'm SOOO proud of you! Do you know what you should get for doing that?"

Tatiana giggled. "Ice cream?"

"Absolutely!" Gabriel swam with her to the shallow end and climbed out of the pool with her, wrapping her in a towel before grabbing one for himself. He lifted the girl up into his arms and spotted his wife. "How long have you been standing there, Nosy?"

Olivia grinned. "Long enough." She walked to them and kissed Tatiana on the cheek. "I saw you jump!"

"I JUMPED!" Tatiana laughed happily.

"Yes you did. I'm so proud of you."

Tatiana nodded. "Gay-breel is taking me for ice cream."

"That's great." She winked at her husband. "Have fun."

"We will." Gabriel grinned as he walked away, toting the little girl in his arms.

Gabriel took Tatiana to her apartment and carried her inside. He smiled at Claude, Nikolai and Hana as he set the girl down. "Hey. If you don't mind, I was going to take her for some ice cream. Someone finally got up the nerve to jump off of the diving board today."

"You don't say!" Claude hugged the girl. "I was going to take you and Nikolai to dinner with Hana though."

Gabriel shrugged. "I can take her tomorrow then."

Nikolai shook his head. "Claude, I can't go tonight. Claire's coming here in an hour. She's doing a report on Russian history. I promised to help her with it. If Tatiana wants to go with Gabriel, I'll make her dinner here later."

Claude sighed and turned to Hana. "Would you mind going to dinner with me alone? We could take in a movie afterwards, if you like. No pressure, I promise."

Hana shrugged. "It's better than dealing with my roommates. Collette and Herbert are over there now." She rolled her eyes. "I need to get out of there before I rip my ears off."

"Then it's settled!" Claude beamed at Tatiana. "I'll go out with Hana, you stay here go get ice cream with Gabriel, and then you'll have dinner with Nikolai and Claire, yes?"

Tatiana nodded as Nikolai translated for her. Gabriel noticed that Nikolai was no longer having to translate as much as he used to. "I'll stay here." She smiled as she reached out and hugged Claude. "Have good time, Dah-dee and Hana."

"You too, Poppet." Claude grinned softly, ducking his head down as Tatiana ran to her room to change out of her swimsuit. "She called me 'Daddy', did you hear that?"

* * *

Candice strained against the ropes binding her to the chair in her hotel room in Las Vegas. Linderman had found a seedy hotel on the outskirts of town, a hole in the wall where he wouldn't be recognized, to stay while they worked on the next part of their plan. She could hear him talking with Gota, Furkan and Ombasa in the adjoining room. She turned her head and spotted The Haitian. He was in her room with her, leaning against a wall as he stared off into space, his expression troubled. "Help me escape." She whispered. "Please. They'll accept you there. They know you. They'll give you another chance. You know how evil Linderman is now. Sooner or later it's going to be you tied up in this chair unless you help me now. Please. We were friends, I've always been your friend. Untie me and we'll run together. They're just a few miles away, please." She looked sadly at her friend as he looked away, refusing to meet her eyes. She closed her eyes, tears seeping from the lids as she thought again of Mohinder, imagining the look on his face when she wouldn't show up to meet him tonight. "I'll always love you, Mohinder." She whispered. "You gave me the happiest hours of my life. I hope you remember that."

* * *

Mohinder paced the apartment, checking his watch as his heart pounded. It was almost nine p.m. The sun had already set a few hours ago and the meal he'd prepared for Candice's 'homecoming' was cold on the dinner table, the fresh bottle of champagne he'd bought that afternoon was going flat. He sat on the couch, biting his nails nervously. "Where are you?" He asked. "Why aren't you here with me?" He sighed and stood up, pacing again, knowing that something was terribly wrong with every minute that passed without Candice's arrival.

* * *

Gabriel sat in Claude's living room with Tatiana on his lap, his cheek pressed against her hair as he read her a story. Claire and Nikolai sat together on the couch, going over her history books. Occasionally, Claire would lift her eyes, watching with amazement the man who, just a few months earlier had killed her friend and tried to kill her, read to the little girl in his lap. Gabriel looked up for a moment, his eyes meeting Claire's. He gave her a sad smile and she gave one back to him before they both returned to their books. As Gabriel finished the story, he sighed. "And now it's time for someone to go to bed." 

Tatiana nodded and turned in his lap. "Gay-breel?" She struggled for the words to talk to him in English. "Why is Molly afraid of you?"

Gabriel's expression grew sad as he glanced at Nikolai. "Can you translate?" Nikolai nodded as he and Claire watched and listened to him, their expressions rapt. "Not so long ago, I was a bad man. I did very bad things to good people. I hurt good people, like Claire and her parents. One of the people I also hurt was Molly. She doesn't have a Mommy and Daddy anymore because of me. Do you understand?"

Tatiana shook her head as she touched his cheek with her tiny hand. "You were bad? No." She shook her head harder. "You are good man, like Dah-dee Claude and Nikolai. You are not bad man."

Gabriel looked away, blinking back tears. "I don't want to be a bad man anymore. You and Olivia make me want to be good. I want to be a good man, just like your Daddy Claude and Nikolai. I'm trying very hard."

Tatiana smiled and hugged him. Gabriel's face crumpled for a moment as he hugged her back. "You will always be good man to me."

"Thank you." He whispered. He glanced at Nikolai and nodded.

Nikolai stood and touched Tatiana's shoulder. "Say goodnight, Little Bird."

Tatiana hugged Gabriel and kissed his cheek before climbing out of his lap, smiling at him. "Goodnight, Gay-breel."

"Goodnight, Little Bird." Gabriel watched as Nikolai escorted her to her bedroom and stood up, wiping away the tears that were brimming in his eyes. He glanced at Claire and turned to the door.

"Gabriel?" He turned to see Claire smiling softly. "She's right. You're a good man now. What you did to me, what you did to Jackie and my mom and dad? I forgive you."

Gabriel looked down, struggling to speak. He finally nodded and opened the door. "Thank you." He whispered as he left the apartment.

* * *

Candice watched as Linderman and Gota smiled at each other, her stomach dropping with dread as Gota picked up her cell phone and began to dial it. 

In Collette's apartment, Herbert rolled over in her bed, gasping for air. "Every night, you surprise me more." He kissed her. "I have to say this before I lose my nerve. I'm falling in love with you."

Collette smiled as she cuddled beside him, both of them dozing off. "I'm falling in love with you too."

"Mohinder's moved out. Apparently he's met someone and they're moving in together." He chuckled. "He won't say who, but since Gabriel hasn't gone on a killing spree, it's fair to say that the woman isn't Olivia, like we thought last night. I think she was helping him set up a romantic setting for his secret love." He smiled at Collette. "What do you say to the two of us leaving this apartment to Sherry and Hana and moving into one of the empty apartments upstairs?"

"Really?" Collette beamed. "I'd love that!" She kissed him as her cell phone began to ring. "Mered! Who could that be?" She rolled over and answered her cell phone. "Bonjour, this is Collette."

Five tones and static played through the phone, causing Collette to go slack, her eyes glazing over as her expression went blank. "You got your package yesterday morning. You have orders to use it with lethal force." Gota's voice purred. "Kill as many as you can. Shoot them in the head."

Collette stared off into space as the phone went dead in her hands. "I'll be right back." She said to Herbert, her voice toneless as she stood up and walked into the hallway.

"I'll be waiting and planning our move." Herbert closed his eyes and sighed.

* * *

Hana and Claude walked out of the movie theater, smiling and laughing as they talked about the film they'd just seen. Claude put his arm around Hana and moved in to kiss her. Suddenly, Hana stopped dead in her tracks, her eyes widening in shock. "Oh my God." She breathed. 

"What is it?" Claude's brow furrowed.

Hana turned to him. "The mole. It's Collette. She just got a call, I heard it, I heard her voice. Another woman told her to start killing as many people as she can. She told her to shoot them in the head!"

Claude gasped. "Are you sure?" He grasped Hana's shoulders. "ARE YOU SURE!"

"YES!" She grabbed her own cell phone and concentrated on it, sending messages to everyone in the building.

* * *

Herbert lay in Collette's bed, his eyes closed as he smiled. He didn't hear his cell phone ringing, the sound muffled by the pillow that was quickly shoved against his face, muffling the gunshots that tore his head apart. 

In his apartment, Gabriel sat up straight on the couch, his eyes widening. "HOLY SHIT!"

Olivia looked over at him. "What is it?"

Gabriel shook his head. "I could have sworn I just heard two gunshots!" They both turned as their cell phones started ringing. They snatched them up, gasping as they read the text messages from Hana. "Oh my God, NO!" Gabriel stood up and ran out of the apartment, colliding with Peter and Sherry as they ran out of theirs. "Did you get a message?"

Peter nodded as Olivia dashed into the hallway after them. "Yeah, from Hana! Did you hear two gunshots?"

Gabriel nodded. "Third floor, we've got to get down there, NOW!" He turned as Matt dashed out of his apartment, clutching his cell phone and gun. "There were gunshots on the third floor, we've got to GO!" Matt nodded and headed down the stairs, his gun drawn.

Claire and Nikolai smiled at each other over their books as Claire's cell phone started ringing. She grabbed her phone, reading Hana's text aloud. "Collette is the mole, she's been ordered to kill everyone she can. Protect yourselves." Claire's eyes widened. "Is this a joke?" She gasped as she heard screams and gunshots from across the hall.

Nikolai shook his head. "It's no joke." He jumped up to lock their front door, yelling as it was thrown open. Claire screamed as Collette stalked into the apartment, a gun in one hand, a fire axe in the other. Nikolai fell as she swung the axe, burying it in his chest before she turned to Claire and shot her in the chest.

Gabriel's eyes were frantic upstairs. "There were more screams and gunshot!" He shuddered. "Claire just screamed!" He gasped as he heard another scream, he recognized the scream as Tatiana's, followed by two more gunshots. "Oh God! NO!"

Peter nodded. "I know!" He grabbed Sherry's hand and teleported to the third floor. They started for Claude's apartment, then heard screams from the apartment across the hall. "Come on!" Peter yelled as they ran into that one, following the screams.

Olivia took Gabriel's hand. "Come on and hold tight."

"For what?"

"I've been wanting to try this." She took a deep breath. Gabriel yelped as they both began to sink through the floor quickly, as she phased them through. "Ninth, eighth, seventh, sixth, fifth, fourth, third!"

They hit the ground of the third floor hallway, falling to the carpet. Gabriel leaped up and ran into Claude's apartment, his eyes widening as he saw Nikolai and Claire lying on the floor of the living room. Their wounds were slowly healing as they began to move. He turned and ran down the hall to Tatiana's bedroom, screaming the little girl's name.

Olivia looked around and saw Collette's apartment door opened. She ran inside and ran to Collette's bedroom, gasping and looking away as she saw Herbert's body on the bed. "Oh God." She whispered, as she backed away.

Gabriel ran into Tatiana's room, seeing the bedcovers thrown around the room. "Tatiana?" He looked around, hearing her breathing. Her breath was coming in short, jerky gasps, almost as if she were sobbing. "Tatiana?" He walked to the other side of her bed, his eyes on the floor. They widened with horror as he sank to his knees and crawled to the child. "Oh no." He moaned. "Noooo!" He closed his eyes and reached out to Olivia with his mind. _GET IN HERE NOW! TATIANA NEEDS YOU!_

Olivia heard Gabriel's call and ran out of the apartment, running quickly into Claude's.

Peter ran out of one bedroom in the apartment they'd entered, sickened at what he'd seen. Sherry ran out of the other. He looked at her. "Bonnie and Mary?"

She shook her head. "They're dead. Patrick? Finn?"

Peter closed his eyes. "She killed them."

Sherry's eyes widened as she looked at the ceiling over Peter's head. "LOOK OUT!" She shoved him out of the way as Collette, clinging to the ceiling, swung the axe down towards him. Peter spun around and hit her with telekinesis, slamming her head-first into the wall, knocking her out cold as Matt ran into the apartment. The went to Collette and grabbed her, dragging her to a chair and handcuffing her to it before she could come around.

Olivia ran quickly down the hall to Tatiana's bedroom, hearing Gabriel's sobs and the jerky gasps of Tatiana's breathing. She entered the bedroom and saw Gabriel sitting on the bed, Tatiana cradled in his arms as he rocked her and crooned to her. "It's going to be okay, Sweetie. Stay with me. Don't let go. Just stay with me."

"Gabriel." Olivia moaned.

He looked up at Olivia, his eyes wide with grief, his face streaked with blood. "Fix her. You're a doctor, you can fix her. Please fix her, Olivia. Please. Don't let her die."

Olivia gasped as he loosened his grip on Tatiana, allowing her to see the child's injuries. She had been shot in the head, blood pouring in spurts out of the bullet hole. Her eyes were unfocused and glassy as she gasped for air, her body jerking with each breath. Olivia stumbled to the bed, touching the girl's hand as she tried to touch the child's mind, her heart pounding as she realized she couldn't reach her. Olivia closed her eyes and reached out to Peter. _Peter! We're in Tatiana's room. Get in here now, she needs you! NOW!_

Gabriel clasped the child to his chest again, cradling her tightly as he placed his cheek on the top of her head, rocking back and forth as he cried. "Someone's coming, Honey. Don't leave us. Don't go."

Olivia began to sob as she held Tatiana's hand. She could hear Peter, Sherry and Matt yelling as they ran down the hall, their voices being joined with Nikolai's and Claire's. Olivia turned back to her husband and knelt beside him, wrapping her arms around him and rocking with him as he rocked the little girl, both of them sobbing as the child's breaths suddenly stopped.

Peter ran into the room and quickly went to Tatiana, grasping her hand. He closed his eyes, concentrating Linderman's powers. Sherry, Nikolai and Claire stopped in the doorway, Sherry bursting into tears and turning to bury her face in Matt's chest as she saw Tatiana's injuries. Nikolai let out a strangled sob and collapsed, sliding down the doorframe as Claire sank with him, wrapping her arms around him and pulling him close, sobbing with him. "Not Tatiana." He moaned. "Not her, not after Papa and Natalia."

Gabriel looked up at him, nodding hopefully. "You'll bring her back, right? You'll heal her?" He smiled down at Tatiana. "It's going to be okay." He looked at Olivia. "You'll see. She's going to be okay."

Olivia looked up at Peter, their eyes meeting over Gabriel's head. Peter closed his eyes in anguish, tears streaming from them as he let Tatiana's hand go. "I'm sorry." He stepped away, sobbing. "I was too late. She's gone. I can't bring back someone who's-" He hit the wall and slid down it in a heap, burying his face in his knees as Olivia buried her face in Gabriel's back.

Gabriel looked around the room, then back down at Tatiana. "No." He whispered. He cradled the child to him tightly, shaking his head as others from around the building ran into the apartment, alerted by Hana. "Not the Baby." He moaned. "Not her." He broke down and started sobbing loudly, his face buried in Tatiana's hair. "Oh God NO!"


	58. Chapter 58

Chapter Fifty-Eight: Sylar's Heartbreak and Vengeance

Mohinder paced the floor of his new apartment, waiting for Candice to arrive. He spun around as his cell phone began to ring and snatched it up, sighing with irritation for a moment as he realized it was a text message from Hana. His irritation turned to horror and fear as he read the message and ran out of the apartment, suddenly knowing that Candice was in danger, along with the tenants of the building. He ran to the stairwell and started to run down the stairs, meeting Noah as he ran down from the twenty-first floor. "You got the message?" Mohinder asked.

Noah nodded as they ran down the stairs. "Claire's there, on the third floor, studying with Nikolai. Collette lives next door to them."

Mohinder nodded, hearing the terror in Noah's voice as they ran as quickly as they could to the third floor. When they arrived, they noticed how many people had already arrived, alerted by Hana's message. They milled around, crowding around the open doors to the apartments, some hugging each other and crying. Noah stared at them for a moment, terrified before he ran into Claude's apartment.

"CLAIRE!" He yelled. He spun around, feeling a hand on his arm. It was Peter. Noah looked around the living room, noticing the blood on the floor. Sherry was sitting on the couch, sobbing in D.L.'s arms, her body shaking. Noah turned back to Peter. "Where's Claire?"

Peter's eyes were bloodshot and swollen as he cried. "She's okay. She's comforting Nikolai in the back." Noah started for the hallway and Peter stopped him. "Tatiana's dead, Noah."

Noah closed his eyes, tears springing into them. "Oh God." He whispered.

"NIKOLAI? TATIANA!" Noah turned to see Claude and Hana run into the apartment, their eyes wild. Claude started past Noah and Peter, screaming his children's names. Noah grabbed him. "Let me GO! The children! I have to see!"

"Claude." Noah struggled to speak for a moment, then finally shook his head and hugged his old friend. "I'm so sorry."

"Sorry about what?" Claude shoved Noah away, his lips trembling. 'NIKOLAI! TATIANA!" He turned to see Nikolai stumble down the hall towards him, leaning on Claire as he sobbed. Claude sighed with relief and grabbed his adopted son, hugging him tightly. "Oh thank God. My boy, thank God."

"Claude." Nikolai sobbed. "Tatiana, she's-"

Claude stepped away from Nikolai, tears streaming down his cheeks as he turned and ran down the hall to Tatiana's room, a tearful Hana running behind him.

"Dad!" Noah hugged Claire as she ran into his arms, sobbing. "Oh Dad, it was so horrible. She shot me and put an ax in Nikolai's chest. While we tried to recover, she went to Tatiana's room and-" She sobbed harder as Noah hugged her, kissing her hair. "Oh Daddy!"

"NO!" Noah looked up as he heard Claude's anguished cry as he stood in Tatiana's bedroom doorway. Noah began to sob as well, holding his daughter close to him and refusing to let go. He reached out an arm and pulled Nikolai to him as well, letting both of the teenagers hold onto him and each other as they cried.

* * *

Claude went into Tatiana's room, watching as Gabriel continued to clutch the child's body to his chest, sobbing loudly. Olivia had her arms wrapped around her husband, her cheek resting against his back as she cried silently, tears streaming down her face to wet the back of Gabriel's shirt. Claude slowly walked into the room and sat beside Gabriel, looking as the man rocked the child, cradling her as if she were sleeping. Hana wept silently in the doorway, pressing her face against the door jamb. Gabriel looked up at Claude, his face filled with heartbreak. "I heard the first gunshots. I tried to get down here before-" Gabriel looked down at Tatiana's still face "-I tried to protect her. I loved her so much and I wanted to protect her and save her, but I got here too late. She was still alive, but dying. She died in my arms. I begged her to stay, but-"

Claude nodded. "-I know you did everything you could, both of you. You loved her as much as I did and she loved you so." He held out his arms and sobbed as Gabriel gently handed Tatiana to him. Claude kissed the girl's forehead, breaking down as he hugged her body to his. "She's still warm. The adoption was final yesterday. She and Nikolai were mine. She called me 'Daddy' today for the first time."

"I know." Gabriel reached out and smoothed back her hair, covering the wound over her left ear. "She jumped off of the diving board for the first time today too. The little bird."

"Thank you. Thank you for finding her and not letting her die alone." Claude looked at Gabriel, nodding. "Thank you."

Gabriel's face crumpled as he started to sob again. He got up and headed towards the bedroom door, Olivia joining him and supporting him as they walked into the living room. As they passed her, Hana reached out, grasping Gabriel's hand for a moment and squeezing it before letting go. Gabriel looked at her, his pain mirrored in her eyes as she smiled softly. She nodded and walked into Tatiana's room to comfort Claude, letting Gabriel and Olivia pass her. In the living room, Peter stepped over to them and hugged Olivia first, then Gabriel as Olivia turned to Claire and Nikolai. She kissed Nikolai on the forehead and hugged him before she turned to Claire. "Thank God you're okay." She whispered as she held her niece close to her. She looked up as Angela walked into the room, her face crumpling as her mother ran to her, hugging Claire first, then her. Angela looked over Olivia's shoulder, her eyes widening with surprise as Gabriel clung to Peter, sobbing on the man's shoulder. She let her daughter go and went to him, hugging him gently.

Peter handed Gabriel over to Angela and turned to Noah. "Collette's handcuffed and unconscious in 304. I was thinking about taking Matt over there to help me interrogate her. If you want to come-"

"-I'll stay here with Nikolai and Claude." Noah took off his glasses and wiped his eyes. "I owe him that." He turned to Mohinder. "Can you take Claire upstairs. She needs her mother and she needs to rest."

Mohinder nodded, wanting to leave the misery of that night and try to find Candice. "Of course." He took Claire and gently guided her out of the room to an elevator after she'd hugged and kissed her father and Nikolai goodnight.

Angela patted Gabriel on the back as he cried in her arms, tears brimming in her eyes. She finally let him go, smiling softly at him. "Let's get you cleaned up, shall we?" She nodded to Olivia and left with them, helping them both to an elevator.

Inside the elevator, Olivia pulled Gabriel into her arms, hugging him tightly. "Sweetheart." She whispered. "I love you so much. I'm so sorry." She choked back a sob as Gabriel's arms wrapped around her tightly.

"I deserved it." Olivia's blood ran cold as Gabriel's voice lost it's emotion. "I deserved this. I couldn't save her. YOU couldn't save her and it's all my fault."

"Gabriel. No."

Gabriel let her go, his eyes tortured. "You were there with me. If I hadn't been so stubborn and scared, you could have had Linderman's power. You could have saved The Baby. Mama Alice was right. The Baby was in danger and I couldn't save her because I was too scared to lose you. Now, I've lost her."

* * *

Peter and Matt went into apartment 304, nodding at Hiro, Ando and Kaito as they left. Hiro turned to him, his expression grave. "We've covered the bodies of Patrick, Finn, Bonnie and Mary. Collette was starting to come around. We've also covered Herbert and found Julia Martin's body in 303. We covered her as well."

"Good." Peter nodded. "We need to find out what happened." He turned to Niki as she stood in the hallway, hugging a crying Micah to her. "Can you help us?"

Niki looked at Hiro. "Can Micah stay with you until I'm done?"

"Absolutely." Hiro smiled softly at Micah and took his hand, leading him down the hall to an elevator.

Peter, Niki and Matt walked into the living room where Collette was moaning in the chair, trying to free herself from the handcuffs. She looked up as they walked into the room. "What happened? Why am I in here? What's going on?"

Peter sat down across from her. "Why did you do it, Collette?"

"Do what?" She stared at him, confused.

"You killed Patrick, Finn, Bonnie, Mary, Julia, Herbert and Tatiana and you tried to kill me, Sherry, Nikolai and Claire."

"WHAT?" Collette shook her head vehemently. "NO! I couldn't have! I loved Herbert!" She started to sob. "He's dead? NO! This isn't right!"

"And Tatiana. You shot her in the head." Matt glared at her. "You killed that precious little girl. She was sweet and innocent and defenseless and you killed her."

"NO!" Collette started to cry. "I didn't do it! I couldn't have! I loved that child so much, she was like my own."

"SHE WAS EVERYBODY'S BABY AND YOU KILLED HER!" Niki yelled. "How could you do that?"

"BUT I DIDN'T!" Collette wailed.

Matt shook his head. "She's telling the truth."

Peter frowned. "I know. Candice was right. She was working against her will and doesn't remember a thing." He looked around. "We need Oscar."

* * *

Mohinder walked into apartment 2101 with Claire, who started sobbing anew as Sandra ran to her, holding her tightly. "Oh my Baby! What happened?"

Claire started to tell her as Mohinder leaned against the door, tears streaming down his cheeks. He stood in the living room, remembering Herbert, his friend and colleague, and sweet Tatiana. He thought of Candice, wondering if she was still alive. He cleared his throat and spoke. "Sandra, I'm sorry to do this, but is Molly still awake?" Sandra nodded as she held Claire on the couch, stroking her daughter's hair. "May I speak with her, please?"

Mohinder went down the hall to Molly's room after Sandra nodded and knocked on the door. Molly let him in, crying softly. "You know?" Mohinder knelt in front of her, hugging.

Molly nodded. "When I heard something bad was happening downstairs, I thought of my friends. I thought of Tatiana and when I couldn't find her anymore, I knew." She cried. "She was my best friend."

"I know Honey." He hugged the child. "I hate to ask this, but I need you to find someone for me. Can you?"

* * *

Olivia sat on the couch with Gabriel, gently cleaning the blood off of his face and hands with a damp washrag as Angela sat across from them, staring off into space. Gabriel also stared off into the distance as Olivia tried to get him to talk to her. "You can't blame yourself for this. You're not to blame, Baby." Olivia kissed his cheek and rubbed his back. "Claude doesn't blame you, why should you?"

"If I'd let you get the power you were meant to have, the power that Mama Alice TOLD you to have, you could have saved her. She said that power would be even greater in your hands than in Linderman's. She'd be alive right now if I'd let you do it."

"I could have gone behind your back, but I didn't. Are you saying I'm to blame too?"

Gabriel shook his head. "No. I wouldn't let you do it. This is my fault."

"Oh don't be stupid, either of you!" Angela's eyes snapped at both of them. "This isn't your fault, Olivia, or your's Gabriel or even that poor Renard girl's fault. This is Linderman, completely and totally. This incident has his fingerprints all over it." She leaned towards Gabriel, her eyes blazing angrily. "If you try and blame yourself or my daughter one more god damned time, I'll slap the living shit out of you."

Gabriel nodded. "It's Linderman's fault."

"Of course it is!" Angela glared. "That sick, baby-killing bastard!"

* * *

Oscar Solis-Jimenez walked into apartment 304, his expression grave. "I heard what happened. What do you need?"

Peter pointed to Collette. "Show her what she can't remember."

Oscar nodded sadly and walked to Collette, placing a hand on her forehead. "Relax." He whispered.

Collette closed her eyes, then started crying and sobbing hysterically. "I spied for them? I told them secrets?" She started to scream. "HERBERT! TATIANA! NO!" As Oscar took his hand away, Collette continued to scream and cry, shaking her head. "NO! NO! NO! I don't want to see THAT!" With a crack of wood, she broke a handcuff free from the chair and quickly grabbed Matt's gun. "Forgive me!" She screamed as she put the muzzle of the gun in her mouth and pulled the trigger before anyone could stop her.

Peter stared at her body, his eyes widening in shock as people from the hallway ran into the room. "Oh God." He whispered. "God no."

Matt slumped in a chair as Niki began to cry softly. D.L. ran into the room and hugged her. "What happened, Baby?"

"Oscar showed her what she did, what she didn't remember doing. She couldn't take the guilt of knowing that she killed her friends. She killed herself." Niki shook her head as she held her husband. "Take me out of this room. Take me home."

D.L. nodded and helped Niki out of the apartment, leading her to an elevator to take her upstairs to their home.

* * *

Mohinder walked out of the Bennet apartment, clutching a map and a note with an address written on it. Candice was still alive and in Las Vegas. Molly had found her in a hotel, with Linderman, Gota, Furkan, Ombasa and The Haitian. He went to the tenth floor and let himself into his old apartment, grabbing the gun Bennet had given him for protection, then went to Herbert and Peter's rooms, getting their guns. He started loading them when his cell phone rang. He answered it quickly, his heart pounding. "Candice?"

Linderman leered at Candice from across the room as she struggled against her ropes. "Dr. Suresh! So good to hear that you're still alive for now. Candice is here, but she's a little tied up at the moment. Have any excitement in your neighborhood tonight?"

"I'm going to kill you, you son of a bitch!"

"Now, now." Linderman purred "Why did you have to bring my mother into this when all I wanted was to have a civilized conversation. You see, I have something that you want, and you have something that I want, someone actually."

"WHO?" Mohinder snarled.

"Susan O'Neill. You know who she is. Bring her to me and I'll give you Candice. She's of no use to me anymore and Susan is of no use to you and your friends. It's a fair trade, wouldn't you agree?"

"Fine."

"You have two hours. Come alone. Let me give you the address."

"I know where you are. I'll find you."

"I also want Peter's secret weapon."

"I don't have it."

"That's unfortunate. You find it and bring it. I'll see you in two hours, or the next time you see Candice, it'll be in a morgue." Linderman snapped his phone shut and smirked at the woman tied to the chair. "Poor idiot. He's really in love with you, isn't he? The two of you will be together soon, in a shallow, unmarked grave in the desert." He laughed and walked into the other hotel room, with Gota, Furkan and Ombasa laughing as they followed him.

Candice turned to The Haitian. "Please. Let me go. We can get away from here, away from them. Please don't let the man I love die. Let's run away and find him before he comes here, please."

The Haitian stared at Candice for a moment, then nodded. Pulling a knife, he bent down to cut Candice's ropes. Looking up, he stopped as Ombasa quickly ran back into the room, hitting The Haitian and knocking him out as Candice looked away, crying, her eyes meeting Linderman's as he stood in the doorway, shaking his head. "So disappointing." He rolled his eyes.

* * *

Gabriel stood up in his apartment and headed for the door. Olivia stared at him. "Where are you going?"

Gabriel looked at her, his expression filling with fury. "Out." He turned and stomped out, slamming the door.

Olivia stood to follow him, only to be stopped by Angela's hand. "Let him go. Let him do what he needs to do to get back to normal."

Olivia turned to her mother, shaking her head. "Normal? You do know what normal used to be for him, right?"

Angela shrugged. "If he can find Linderman and take his vengeance, so be it. Don't try and stop him."

Gabriel stood by Peter's apartment door, smiling dangerously as it swung open and Mohinder stepped out, eyes widening as he almost ran into him. "Gabriel. What are you doing here?"

Gabriel smirked, his dark eyes burning. "I heard your phone call. I want vengeance." He grabbed Mohinder by the shoulders. "I'm going with you. Don't try and stop me."

* * *

They made their way to the parking lot, Mohinder reluctantly handing Gabriel the keys to his SUV as they approached the SUV. Hearing a noise behind them, Mohinder pulled out his gun. Hana stepped into view, her hands held up. "I heard your phone call."

"Interesting power you have." Gabriel nodded. "Good thing I'm not in the mood to add it to my collection tonight."

"You're going to take revenge for Tatiana, yes?" Hana lifted her head, jutting out her chin defiantly. "I want in."

Gabriel smiled darkly. "The more the merrier, especially since you're a krav maga master." He grabbed the address from Mohinder and took the map, nodding for Hana to come over. "Here's my plan . . ."

Mohinder squirmed nervously as Gabriel was waved into the facility by Niki and D.L.'s guards. He pulled towards the back of the building, backing the SUV up to a loading dock. "You're not seriously going to do this?"

"Do you want me to draw her blood first, add it to our database?" Gabriel snarled, gripping the steering wheel.

"It's already been added." Mohinder stared at the floor. "I'm against this. We're supposed to be the 'good guys'."

"We still are, we're just fighting fire with fire, literally." Gabriel climbed out of the car and went into the building.

Susan O'Neill woke up as the lights in her cell turned on. Blinking sleepily, she sat up, hearing the amplified voice in her cell. "Put on your glasses." Cursing under her breath, she put the glasses on and sat on the bed, sulking as the door swung open and Gabriel walked in.

Susan smirked. "You're new."

"I'm the last person you'll see. Ever." Susan's eyes widened as Gabriel glared down at her. "Your friends killed people tonight. People that were my friends, people that I cared about. One of them was a little girl. She was the light of my life. She was gentle, and sweet, and innocent. She died screaming." Susan yelped as an invisible force threw her across the room. Gabriel watched her, smiling as he twitched his fingers again, sending her flying into the walls. She slid down them, blood pouring from her nose as Gabriel twitched his hands again and pulled her back up, pressing her against the wall unable to move. Gabriel stood in front of her. "Now it's your turn to scream." He pointed a finger at her skull, grinning as she began to shriek and cry, blood pouring down her face.

* * *

Gota drew The Haitian's blood as he came around, tied to a chair beside Candice. She put the blood in a test tube as Linderman smiled at her. "It's done, Darling." She purred.

"Very good." He kissed Gota passionately. "Take Ombasa and wait for me at the airport. Furkan and I can take care of Suresh and our hostages when he arrives.

Gota smiled and left the building, Ombasa following behind her. She climbed into a Range Rover and drove away.

* * *

Mohinder took deep breaths as Gabriel drove them to the address, glancing nervously at the wrapped packages in the back of the SUV. One large one was wrapped in plastic, another was in a sealed box. He turned back around, staring at the road as the vehicle slowed down. They spotted Hana on her motorcycle, a block from the hotel. Gabriel flashed his lights at her and smiled as she did the same. He pulled into the parking lot with Hana following behind him and climbed out of the SUV, opening the back of it. Mohinder watched as Gabriel scanned the parking lot of the hotel, spotting a Range Rover. "Asshole travels in style, doesn't he?" With his telekinesis, he opened the back of the vehicle and moved his fingers, letting the larger, plastic-wrapped object fly through the air, settling in the back of the Rover. He twitched his fingers again, quietly closing the trunk. He turned to Hana and Mohinder, smiling. "Show time."

Linderman lifted his head. "That bastard brought Gray and Gitelman with him. Idiot!" He turned to Furkan. "Be prepared!" He barked as he stomped over to Candice, pulling out a knife.

Gabriel slowly walked towards the hotel room, Hana and Mohinder following behind him. With a twitch of his hand, the doors flew open as Gabriel used his TK to levitate off of the ground, the smaller package floating beside him. Mohinder and Hana watched, smiling as he floated into the room, sparks flying from his fingers. He quickly put Furkan down, letting the man scream and twitch in pain as bolts of electricity coursed through the man's body. Linderman stared at him calmly, holding Candice in front of him, a gun to her temple. "I brought you a present, Linderman." Gabriel snarled.

"Come any closer and I'll kill Suresh's bitch!" Linderman spat, cocking the gun as he pressed it against her head.

Gabriel rolled his eyes and glared, beams of energy shooting from his eyes as he twitched his fingers. Linderman yelped as the energy beams hit beside his head as Candice and his gun were wrenched from his grip. Candice flew into Mohinder's arms as the gun flew into Gabriel's hand. Gabriel and Linderman locked eyes. "Get her out of here." He said to Mohinder, his eyes never leaving Linderman's. "Wait for me outside."

"Wait!" Candice nodded towards the door to the other room. "Laurent. We have to rescue him. He tried to help me escape."

Hana nodded as Mohinder took Candice out of the hotel room, hugging her tightly as they ran to the SUV. Hana ran into the other room and untied The Haitian. She looked up at him. "I am Hana Gitelman."

"Laurent Duvall." He looked at his arm, Hana's eyes following his to the bruise on his inner forearm. "Gota has my blood. You must find her. She'll use it to make HIM more powerful and negate everyone else."

Hana nodded as she led Laurent to the SUV and ran to her motorcycle. She revved it up and pulled up beside the SUV. "What were they driving?"

"A Black Range Rover. Nevada tags, license plate LNDRMN1." Laurent told her. "They were headed for the airport."

Hana nodded and sped off into the darkness after Gota and Ombasa. She caught up with them quickly and pulled her gun, shooting out their tires before they could stop her. The Range Rover spun around and flipped, landing finally on its side. Hana stalked over to the car where Gota and Ombasa groaned in pain. Glaring angrily at them, she grabbed Gota's bag, digging in it until she found the blood samples. "Have a nice day, Bitch." She muttered. She pulled out her gun and shot Gota in the chest, smirking as the woman screamed in pain. "That was for Tatiana."

* * *

Linderman smirked as he and Gabriel circled each other. "So you came for me yourself. Collette must have killed someone you liked. My daughter Olivia, perhaps?"

"I brought you a present. It's just what you asked for." Gabriel threw the box at Linderman, smirking as the man opened the box and tossed it aside with distaste, Susan's scalped head rolling out of it. "Oh, I'm sorry, was she supposed to be ALIVE when we brought her? You should have been more specific."

"Collette really did kill someone you cared about a great deal for you to go to all THIS trouble." Linderman smiled. "So who was it?"

Gabriel's eyes narrowed as he twitched his fingers, pinning Linderman against a wall. "It was a child. A little girl." He heard Furkan groan and stand up. As the man started shooting at him, Gabriel raised his hand, an almost bored expression on his face as he blocked the bullets, then sent them back into Furkan with a twitch of his fingers. "I don't like to be interrupted."

"I see." Linderman laughed. "I had a little girl killed? Just a child? Is that ALL? What's the big deal with that? Children are useless in our battle, aren't they?"

Gabriel's eyes blazed as they filled with tears. "USELESS? She was an angel, a precious, innocent child. She loved me. She was like Olivia, she only saw the good in me. She refused to believe that I could ever be anything but good and loving, just like she was. She was a sweet, beautiful little girl and because of you, she'll never laugh again. She'll never sing or talk, or swim, or swing or eat ice cream-" his voice broke "-I owe you pain. I owe you sorrow. I owe you heartbreak for causing that baby's death, but because you don't feel anything for anyone, because you have to have a heart before it breaks, I'll find another way to break you. Yes, you have pissed me off. And when I get pissed off" he smirked as Furkan stood again, and made a slashing movement with his hands. Furkan's eyes widened in surprise as his head rolled off of his shoulders, rolling to the floor at Gabriel's feet. "heads roll."

"I can see that." Linderman laughed softly. "You think you're a good man, just as good as that child thought you were, but you're just as evil a bastard as I am. It's good to see the notorious Sylar again, just as evil and sick as he always was."

"No, I'm not as evil as you are. I might be Gabriel, I might be Sylar, but I'll always have a heart, even if you broke it tonight. You don't have a heart. You don't understand the pain of losing a child that you loved as a daughter. I'm going to find a way to make you suffer though, to feel the same pain I'm feeling tonight. I'm not going to kill you, not yet." He stepped towards Linderman, smiling. "I'm going to tear you down. I'm going to help turn your people against you, and when you realize you have no one to do your dirty work, no one to lord over, I'm going to help Peter kill you, just like Mama Alice said I would."

"If you believe what Mama Alice has predicted you know that, in order to kill me, you'll have to kill Olivia."

"I'm prepared to do that now. You see, I believe now. It took losing that sweet baby to realize that this is really and truly a war. There are no rules, there are no sacrifices too great. If I want to see you dead, and I DO want that more than anything, but only after I've stripped you of everything that ever meant ANYTHING to you, I'm going to have to make sacrifices, even the woman I love more than I love myself. If it means ending your tyranny, I'll do it, I'll cut out my own heart to see you laid low."

"I see." Linderman smirked. "You'll kill my daughter and the only person left in this world you love, to avenge a child that wasn't even really yours." His eyes widened. "And leave your own daughter motherless." He smiled. "A daughter you've just betrayed with your thoughts. SHE'S Peter's secret weapon!" He laughed. "A force field, how interesting. What an interesting power for a child to have, coming from two ineffectual twits as you and my daughter. I guess greatness is going to skip a generation. I can't wait to meet her." He smiled. "I can't wait to raise Faith."

"You'll die and burn in Hell before you ever lay eyes on her!" Gabriel twitched his fingers, slamming Linderman against a wall as the man sputtered and choked. "I'm sparing you tonight, but only tonight. You will leave this town and never return, unless you're prepared to die, do you understand me?"

"The next time I see you, Gabriel Gray, it will be to kill you, you useless sack of shit." Linderman snarled.

"Get out of my town." Gabriel lifted up the gun he'd taken from Linderman, letting it melt out of his hands. "I'll be seeing you soon, to send you to Hell." He turned and walked out of the hotel room and climbed into the car. He glanced at Mohinder as he sat in the back seat, his arms wrapped around Candice and then turned to The Haitian. "Gabriel Gray."

"Laurent Duvall. I want to join your team."

Gabriel's eyes narrowed. "You betray us, I'll kill you before you have a chance to stop me."

Laurent shook his head. "I thought he was God. I was wrong. I want to be a righteous man again."

Gabriel sighed as he started up the SUV. "Don't we all."


	59. Chapter 59

Chapter Fifty-Nine: Saying Goodbye

Olivia and Angela returned to the third floor, hugging the people they saw as they made their way around the apartments. Olivia felt a hand on her shoulder and gasped as she turned to see Nathan. "How did you get here so fast?" She asked as she hugged him.

"I called Peter, made him drop everything and teleport me here with Heidi. We got Hana's message and I went crazy wanting to know who survived." He looked around the hallway at the open apartment doors, shuddering at the view of a few draped bodies. "How are we going to deal with this?"

Olivia shook her head, her eyes brimming with tears. "I don't know. I suppose we'll have Noah call a meeting for everyone soon." She hugged him again. "I'm glad you're here. Have you seen Claire?"

"Not yet." Nathan sniffled and blinked back tears. "I heard she was attacked and lived."

"She's upstairs with Sandra. You should go to her."

Nathan nodded and walked away, touching his mother on the shoulder as he went to an elevator. Olivia glanced at Claude's open apartment door and slowly walked inside. Heidi sat on the couch with a sleeping Nikolai, stroking his hair as he slept with his head in her lap. They shared a sad smile as Olivia went to Tatiana's room. The girl was lying on her bed as Claude knelt beside it, his head bowed in prayer as Trevor Kelley, donned in his old vestments, performed the last rites on the little girl. She leaned in the doorway for a moment, then went inside, kneeling beside Claude and lowering her head to pray with him. After Trevor finished, he quietly left the room after speaking with Claude for a moment. Claude turned to Olivia. "Thank you for coming."

"If there's anything you need-"

Claude closed his eyes. "-I do." He opened his eyes and turned to Olivia. "Can you help me clean her up, get her situated? I've heard that the people here, everyone loved her so much, they want to say goodbye to her." He looked over at the body. "I don't want them to see her like this."

Olivia nodded and stood, walking into the bathroom to get some wash cloths. She turned to see Angela and Sherry in the doorway. "What can we do?" Angela asked.

"Help me get The Baby ready for everyone to see."

Peter helped Kaito and Oscar carry Herbert's body out of Collette's apartment, and carried him into 304, placing him beside Collette's draped body. Patrick, Finn, Mary, Bonnie and Julia, a small blond woman who lived in apartment 303 were lined up on the floor of the living room, their bodies covered in sheets. He turned and watched as Trevor walked into the room and knelt beside each body, slowly and quietly performing the last rites for each person. He rubbed his eyes and walked out of the room, slowly making his way to Claude's. He glanced over at Heidi and went into Tatiana's room, leaning in the doorway as Olivia, Angela and Sherry cleaned the blood from the little girl's body and hair, tenderly trying to remove all traces of the violence that had happened to her. His eyes locked with Sherry's for a moment, an unspoken message of grief and love passing between them before she returned her attention to the small child on the bed. Closing his eyes, he turned from the room, shaking his head before he walked out of the apartment, shaking hands with the other tenants and offering them words of comfort while sharing their grief. He leaned against a wall in the hallway, overwhelmed with the events of that evening.

He didn't know how long he'd been standing there, reliving that night when he heard people start whispering. He turned to see Hana stroll down the hallway after stepping off of the elevator, a triumphant gleam in her eye as a blood-spattered Gabriel followed, his expression darker than Peter had seen in a long time. Behind them Mohinder walked in with an exhausted Candice, her clothes stained with blood. Peter's eyes widened as The Haitian brought up the rear of their group, his head lowered in shame. Hana stopped when she spotted Peter. "Claude?" Peter nodded his head towards the apartment and watched as she strolled inside.

Peter stepped forward, touching Gabriel on the arm. The man turned and stared at him. Peter locked eyes with him. "Where have you been?"

"Taking vengeance." Gabriel glanced over his shoulder at Mohinder. "And earning respect."

"You've more than earned it." Mohinder reached out, placing a hand on Gabriel's shoulder. "Thank you again for rescuing her."

Gabriel nodded wordlessly and walked into Claude's apartment. Mohinder turned to Peter, Candice resting her head on his shoulder, obviously exhausted. "He went to a dark place tonight. Hopefully he'll find his way back."

"What happened?" Peter stared at The Haitian for a moment, then stared at Candice. She was a rumpled mess.

"They discovered she was a spy. They were waiting for her when she returned this morning. They've spent the entire day torturing her for giving us information. Tonight, what happened here? It was retaliation for her spying." Mohinder wrapped an arm around Candice, kissing her tenderly. "They came here to thumb their noses at us, gloat over what they'd done, and to try and get Susan back. They also wanted me to give them your secret weapon, apparently Collette had told them about it and Candice tried to fight him, but he got into her mind and confirmed that you had something."

"I didn't know what it was, thank God." Candice murmured as she struggled to keep her eyes open.

Peter looked around, realizing that they were surrounded by the tenants of the building, everyone overhearing what had happened. He turned back to Mohinder. "What did you do?"

"Linderman called me, wanting to exchange the weapon and Susan for Candice. Gabriel heard it with his super hearing and Hana heard it, since it was on a cell phone. They came with me. We went to the facility. Gabriel," Mohinder stared at the floor for a moment "he killed Susan and took her power. We took her body to Linderman. While Gabriel fought Linderman and Furkan, Hana and I helped Candice and Laurent here" he nodded at The Haitian "escape. Laurent tried to help Candice escape. He's become disillusioned with Linderman, he wants to help us defeat him. They tied him up with Candice, planning to kill him after taking his blood. When we rescued them, Hana found out that Gota and Ombasa were heading to the airport with a sample of Laurent's blood, to imbue Linderman with it. She chased after them and took it from them after she caused their car to crash and shot them."

"Did she kill them permanently or temporarily?"

"Temporarily. She forgot about using a head shot on them, unfortunately. Too emotionally charged, I think."

"Did Gabriel kill Linderman?"

Mohinder shook his head. "No, but he did kill Furkan permanently. He and Linderman fought and he's vowed to kill him, after he takes everything that Linderman cares about away first, just as Linderman's taken Tatiana from us."

Peter took a deep breath. "Damn. Hardcore."

"Like I said, he's in a dark place right now." Mohinder stared at Claude's apartment door. "I don't know if Olivia will be able to bring him back from that."

"She did it once, maybe she can do it again." Peter sighed.

* * *

Gabriel walked into the living room and spotted Heidi, with Nikolai asleep. He knelt on the floor beside her, staring into Nikolai's face. Touching the boy gently, trying not to wake him, he nodded. "I got revenge for her tonight. We'll finish the job together soon. Revenge for her, for your father and sister Natalia. I promise you." He looked up into Heidi's eyes. "They're going to pay for what happened tonight. What I did tonight was the tip of the iceberg to what they'll face soon." 

Heidi looked down at Gabriel, concerned. "What did you DO, Gabriel?"

"He killed some of ours, I killed some of theirs. They deserved it. We have two new members now. People who'd had enough of Linderman's killing ways, Candice and Laurent. You remember him as The Haitian, he'd had enough of Linderman. He's with us now." He stood. "Where's my wife?"

Heidi stared down at Nikolai, stroking his hair. "In the back, with Tatiana."

Gabriel nodded and walked away, touching Heidi's shoulder before he left. He went down the hall to Tatiana's room. He stood in the doorway, watching as Olivia, Angela, Sherry and now Hana prepared the child's body for viewing. The bed had been made, the covers smoothed out as she lay on it. The blood had been cleaned from her body and hair and her eyes were closed. Her hair had been brushed and rested on her shoulders, the golden hue of it gleaming with sun-kissed streaks. She had been dressed in a yellow dress Gabriel remembered buying for her a few weeks ago. He closed his eyes for a moment, fighting tears. She'd been so happy when he'd handed her that dress. Yellow had been her favorite color. Lying on the bed now, clean and dressed with her eyes closed, she looked as if she was taking a nap. He watched as Hana searched Tatiana's room, looking for something. "What are you looking for?" He whispered.

The women looked up, their eyes widening to see him standing there. Hana sighed and nodded. "There was a bear that she slept with. Nikolai said that he and Natalia gave it to her when she was a baby. She refused to sleep without it."

Gabriel nodded and began to help her search for it, avoiding his wife's pleading gaze as he looked around the room. Finally, he knelt beside the bed where he'd found Tatiana's body and looked under the bed. He reached under it and pulled the tattered and worn bear out. He stood and placed the bear on Tatiana's chest, crossing her hands on it. He bent down and kissed her cheek, tears pouring out of his eyes. "I went after them tonight. I got a few of them for you. It's the tip of the iceberg. More will pay for this. I'm going to do it in your name. You told me tonight that I was a good man, that I could never be bad and you were right. What I did tonight could be seen as bad by so many people, but I did it for a good reason. I did it because they took you from me, from all of us. They're going to suffer for that, just as they've made all of us suffer." He stood up, looking down at her for a moment before walking out of the room.

Olivia followed him and touched his arm. He turned, crying silently as she stared up at him. "What did you do tonight?"

"What was necessary." He started to walk away again but was stopped by Olivia.

"Look at me." She pleaded.

"I can't. Not right now." He shook his head.

"Why?"

"Because I don't want you to see me yet. I don't want you to see Sylar, and he's still here. I became Sylar tonight for her, for you, for all of us and what happened tonight, but I still don't want you to see it."

Olivia turned him to her and touched his cheek. "I don't care if you're Gabriel or Sylar. You're still my husband and I love you." She pulled him into her arms. "I'll always love you, no matter what happens to you or me no matter what happens to the world around us."

She felt his arms tighten around her as he sagged against her. "I killed tonight, Olivia. I killed Susan O'Neill, made her scream first. I loved making her scream the way Tatiana screamed. I took her body to Linderman and threw her head at him."

"He's here in town?"

"Not anymore." He shook his head. "I didn't kill him, not yet. I want him to pay more first. I want him to suffer. A quick death now is too good for him. I helped Mohinder and Hana rescue Candice and Laurent, the Haitian. He tried to help Candice escape and ended up a prisoner himself. He's on our side now. I threw Linderman around that hotel room he was holed up in, killed another of his cronies and told him not to return until he was ready to die. I understand now. I understand everything. This is truly a war and we can't take prisoners. We can't be nice. We have to be just as dirty and ugly as they are, even if it means losing our souls in the process or" he glanced down at her and then looked away "sacrificing those that we love the most. We have to do it for one reason and one reason only, because if we don't, he'll win and this world will be Hell on Earth. I'm prepared to do that now."

Olivia placed her head on his shoulder, running her fingers through his hair. "So you believe Mama Alice now? If killing me in the end means that you'll defeat Linderman and save this world, you'll do it?"

"Yes. It'll kill me in the end, but if it means watching him die first, I'll do it." Olivia felt Gabriel's body hitch as he held back a sob. "Faith's not going to get that happy ending being raised by her parents, is she?"

"No. I don't think she is, Baby." Olivia sighed. "But she'll still have a better life, raised in a world without an evil grandfather to fear in the end."

"I can live with that." Gabriel nodded. "Peter will raise her, or Nathan and Heidi, or Angela, or even Noah and Sandra. She'll live in a better world, even if we're not in it."

"That's the reason to do this, to do all of this."

"I know." Gabriel sighed.

"Look at me."

Gabriel closed his eyes for a moment, then looked into his wife's eyes, expecting to see the fear and trepidation that he'd seen in Mohinder's and Hana's eyes earlier after he'd killed Susan. All he saw was love. He finally smiled at her. "You still do love me."

"I'll never stop, no matter what you do." Olivia kissed him gently. "Nothing will ever change that."

* * *

An hour later, Claude allowed everyone to file into his apartment. He stood with Hana, Noah and Gabriel in Tatiana's room as everyone slowly entered her room, one-by-one to kneel by her bed and say goodbye to the child who'd touched their hearts. Noah's eyes widened as Meredith walked in, crying as she looked down at the child and then started to leave. He reached out, touching her arm. "Claire's alive. She was attacked too, but she's okay." 

"I know." She nodded. "Peter came to me and told me." She glanced down at Tatiana. "I liked to sit outside of my trailer in the gardens and watch her playing in the pool and on the swings. She was a sweet kid."

"Yes, she was." Noah smiled softly. "We're all meeting downstairs in the basement in an hour. Everyone's going to be there."

"War meeting?"

"It's going to be a war meeting and a chance for everyone to come together, grieve and decide what to do next. We're going to have a funeral tomorrow evening for everyone. We need to plan it."

"I'll be there." Meredith nodded before leaving the room quickly.

Claude, Noah, Gabriel and Hana shook everyone's hands as they entered her room, accepting their words of comfort and grief for the child that they'd all lost. An hour later, everyone filed down to the basement and entered the training room. They stood around, eyes swollen and sniffling as Noah walked to the platform. He looked out into the room, noting that all of the tenants were there. He smiled sadly at Sandra as she stood to the side, her arms wrapped around Claire and Lyle, noticing how Molly clung to her foster sister. He held up his hands waiting for everyone to stop whispering and cleared his throat.

"As you all know, we've suffered a serious blow to our morale tonight. Linderman was behind it. We've lost eight people tonight, eight people that we loved as family and friends. We've also gained two friends tonight, two people who have become disillusioned with Linderman and his tactics. One of them has been spying on him as a double-agent for us for over a month. She was discovered this morning and spent the day being violently tortured by him and his people. I'd like to introduce you to Candice Wilmer. She's suffered for our cause today, and we won't forget what she's done. Candice, welcome to our home and welcome to our family." Candice stared at her feet as everyone turned and applauded her, tears streaming down her cheeks as Mohinder wrapped his arms around her and kissed her forehead. "Another member of Linderman's team became disillusioned with him today, one of his most powerful members. He tried to help Candice escape and ended up captured and was almost killed also. I would like to welcome Laurent Duvall to our home and into our family as well." The Haitian nodded as everyone turned to applaud him. "Linderman also lost two other members of his group tonight as well, including them man responsible for training them in the art of war. Let's hope it takes him a while to catch up with us on that front." Noah smiled ruefully. "Tonight, with the events that took place on the third floor, Linderman has finally declared out and out war against us. We know that he wants to kill us all, everyone with special powers and everyone who supports the cause against him. Tonight we are united against him, we just became brothers in arms, an army and a family. Tonight, we're declaring war against him as well. Some of us have been training with Hiro, Kaito and Hana. Soon, our training group will splinter off to start training the rest of you. We are going to learn to fight back against Linderman and his army, we are going to take this fight to him, and in the end, we are GOING to win!" He nodded as the training room erupted into cheers and applause.

Sherry leaned against Peter. "What did I say once? VERY Schwarzkopf-esque!"

Peter nodded as Noah took off his glasses for a moment, his face growing somber. "We will not forget the people we've lost tonight: Finn Delaney O'Shea, Patrick Robert Flanigan, Bonnie Elisabeth Cleary, Mary Josephine Cleary, Julia Nichole Martin, Dr. Herbert George Osgood II, Collette Veronique Renard, and Tatiana Alexandria Urovitch-Raines. This evening, at six p.m., I invite everyone to the valley behind our laboratory facility for their funerals. Father Trevor Kelley will be performing the service. After this war is over, after the final battle is done, we plan on building a memorial there for them, so that one day, everyone will know the sacrifices these eight people made in this war." He sighed sadly. "Thank you so much for listening." He stepped down from the platform as everyone began to file out of the room and walked to Sandra. He hugged his wife, then his children. "How did I do?"

"You were wonderful." Sandra smiled at him. "It's not like I needed a reminder, but watching you up there, I remember why I married you in the first place."

"You were great Dad." Lyle hugged him. "I'm proud to be your kid. I don't say it enough, but it's true. You rock!"

Noah ruffled his son's hair. "I rock, huh? Thanks!" He smiled at his family.

* * *

Mohinder entered apartment 1901 with Candice, his arm around her as they walked into the living room. Candice stared around her. "It feels like a hundred years since I've been here, instead of twenty-four hours." 

"I'm glad to have you here with me, to stay." Mohinder kissed her gently. "I love you."

Candice burst into tears and hugged him back. "Thinking of you, wishing for you, that's the only thing that kept me from losing my mind today. The things they did to me." She sobbed against him. "They beat me and tortured me, making Laurent stop me from healing. They'd shoot me and wait until I was almost dead until they'd let me heal again. They broke every bone in my body, repeatedly."

Mohinder closed his eyes, rage building inside of him as he held her. "Bastards, the lot of them."

"Just hold me. Make me forget what they did."

Mohinder nodded, his arms tightening around Candice. "Of course." He whispered.

Gabriel and Olivia walked into their home and trudged to their bedroom, holding hands. Olivia watched as Gabriel pulled off his bloodied clothes and tossed them to the side. "Burn them." He whispered before he walked into the bathroom and turned on the shower. Olivia pulled off her clothes and joined him as he stood under the showerhead, his head down as the hot, steamy water streamed down his naked body. He didn't move as Olivia began to wash him, rinsing Susan and Furkan's blood from him. Finally he turned and wrapped his arms around her, completely breaking down. They sank to the floor of the tub together as Olivia held him, her arms wrapped around him as he sobbed and screamed with grief, finally completely letting himself go. When he finally finished, they stood and turned off the shower, stepping out and grabbing towels to dry themselves off before climbing into bed. Olivia held her husband in bed, letting him continue to cry until he fell asleep, his head on her breast. She stroked his hair and kissed his cheek, letting him sleep as she held him.

Peter sighed, exhausted as he sat on the couch with Sherry. Sherry looked at him sadly and broke down as Peter pulled her to him. "Where's Nikolai?" She whispered.

"Asleep in Herbert's room. Claude and Hana are in Mohinder's old room." Peter closed his eyes, thinking of what he'd seen when he checked in on them. They were both clothed. Claude was asleep with Hana wrapped around him protectively, his head on her shoulder. He sighed as he kissed Sherry. "You okay?"

Sherry sobbed and nodded. "I'm okay, for the most part. I just keep thinking about that little girl. I keep remembering what she was like when she first came here, just a couple of months ago. She was this tiny little thing who had just lost her father and sister. I remember how she cried and held onto Claude and Olivia. I can't believe she's gone, Peter. And Herbert? Collette? My neighbors?" Sherry shook her head. "I can't live on that floor anymore. I can't imagine sleeping there anymore."

"You don't have to." Peter stroked her hair. "You're staying here, with me. You'll get your things tomorrow and move in with me here."

"Okay." Sherry took a deep, shuddering breath. "I love you, Peter."

"I love you too, Sherry."

Mohinder sat in the bathtub with Candice sitting in front of him, not moving as he gently washed her hair and back. She finally leaned against him, her eyes closed as Mohinder rested his cheek on the top of her head, his hands massaging her body in the warm water. They finally got out of the water as it cooled and toweled off, climbing into bed together. Mohinder pulled her to him, sighing happily as she clung to him, sleeping soundly.

* * *

"The lord is my shepherd, I shall not want

He makes me lie down in green pastures,  
he leads me beside quiet waters,

he restores my soul."

They stood together in a circle in the small valley behind the facility, hidden from the building, the road, and the guards. They gathered around the eight graves, sniffling and crying as they stared at the cloth-wrapped bodies that were lying beside each grave. Everyone's eyes seemed to keep slipping to the grave on the end, the smallest one, with the tiny bundle lying beside it, wrapped in yellow.

"He guides me in paths of righteousness  
for his name's sake.

Even though I walk  
through the valley of the shadow of death,  
I will fear no evil,  
for you are with me"

As Trevor stood in front of the graves, dressed in his robes, everyone gazed at each other with swollen, bloodshot eyes. Some sobs were audible over the sniffles and Trevor's gentle voice as he spoke with his Irish/Australian accent.  
"your rod and your staff,  
they comfort me.

You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies.  
You anoint my head with oil;  
my cup overflows.

Surely goodness and love will follow me  
all the days of my life,  
and I will dwell in the house of the lord forever."

Gabriel stared at Tatiana's body, feeling Olivia's hand in his. He looked across her grave to Claude, who sobbed loudly, one arm wrapped around a sobbing Nikolai protectively, another arm around Hana. He looked over at Olivia, smiling softly at the yellow dress she wore and then glanced down at the yellow tie she'd bought for him. He looked around, staring at the other graves, shaking his head at loss of life.

Trevor closed his Bible and lowered his head for a moment, offering up a prayer for the souls of those lost the night before. He lifted his head and smiled gently.

"I'd like to read a quote I found this morning, a quote from Antoine de Saint-Exupery." He unfolded a piece of paper and began to read it "' On a day of burial there is no perspective - for space itself is annihilated. Your dead friend is still a fragmentary being. The day you bury him is a day of chores and crowds, of hands false or true to be shaken, of the immediate cares of mourning. The dead friend will not really die until tomorrow, when silence is round you again. Then he will show himself complete, as he was - to tear himself away, as he was, from the substantial you. Only then will you cry out because of him who is leaving and whom you cannot detain'. That holds true here with us, as we say goodbye to Patrick, Finn, Bonnie, Mary, Julia, Collette, Herbert and little Tatiana. Remember them as they were, the happy, kind people that touched our hearts and souls, not the way they were in death or how they died. Let us celebrate that they lived, not that they are no longer with us." Trevor nodded. "We have not lost them. They are with us and will continue to be with us for the rest of our lives. They will drive us to excel in life in their names, to make them proud." He bowed his head, everyone else following suit as he began to pray again, then ended the funeral.

Gabriel stepped forward with Peter, Nathan, Matt, D.L., Mohinder, Noah and Laurent to help lower the bodies gently into the grave with ropes, starting with Julia on one end, and finally ending with Tatiana. They each stood at a grave and slowly began to fill them in as the sobs around the circle began to grow louder. Gabriel struggled at Tatiana's grave to finish, setting his shovel aside when he'd finally put the last bit of earth over her. He sobbed as Claude gently patted him on the shoulder. "Thank you. She would have wanted you to be the one to do this." He whispered.

Gabriel nodded as he walked back to Olivia, burying his face in her shoulder as she pulled him into her arms. They turned and watched as Niki, Heidi and Sherry went to each grave, placing wreaths they'd bought over each of them. Gabriel stared at Tatiana's wreath, the note attached. _Tatiana Alexandria Urovitch-Raines, July 31, 1997-March 16, 2007. _When they were all finished, they turned and slowly walked back to their cars, waiting five minutes between each group to leave, to keep from attracting attention.

Gabriel sat in the back of an SUV with Olivia, staring off into space as Nathan waited for them to be able to leave. He turned, noticing Peter and Sherry sitting behind him. "We need to talk when we get back, Peter. There's something that Olivia and I need to tell you, something that Mama Alice told us. In her predictions, you play a part in it, a big part."

Peter nodded. "I'll meet you guys in your apartment when we get back."

"Good." Gabriel turned and stared out of his window, looking over at Tatiana's small grave. "Good." He whispered.

* * *

In the apartment later, Peter sat back, stunned as Olivia and Gabriel told him all of Mama Alice's predictions. "Holy-" He shook his head. 

"-I know." Gabriel stared at his feet as he sat on the couch with Olivia. "It's pretty hard to believe, huh? I didn't believe it, any of it, until Tatiana died. If I'd let Olivia get Linderman's powers, not to mention Angela's, that kid would still be alive."

"And we have to kill you?" Peter stared at Olivia, dumbstruck. "In the final battle, we're going to have to KILL you?"

Olivia nodded. "She said 'Only when you feel the swords of your husband severing your neck and younger brother piercing your heart will you know that you have saved them all.' She also told me that Gabriel will die. She said 'Your husband is your soul, your soul will be killed the day your daughter is born, but it will be reborn if you accept it.' I'm still trying to figure out exactly what that means."

Peter shrugged. "Maybe she meant that Gabriel dies, but he lives because of Claire's powers?"

"Maybe." Olivia shook her head. "I don't know. I'm still trying to figure it all out."

Peter ran his fingers through his hair. "So you're going to die at our hands in the final battle, to finally destroy Linderman, your daughter will be a weapon before she's ever born, and Gabriel dies on the day that Faith is born, yet he's still around to kill you with me during the battle, and you have to accept your parents' gifts."

"Their powers." Olivia nodded. "I've already talked to Mohinder. We're imbuing me tomorrow morning after training."

"Yeah, Claire said that she wanted Nathan's flight powers. She's getting imbued tomorrow too." Peter sat back. "This is pretty unbelievable."

"But you're going to have to believe it." Gabriel sighed. "I finally do."

"And we're going to have to kill you." Peter closed his eyes, shaking his head. "You're not going to give us a choice."

"Nope." Olivia shook her head.

Gabriel nodded. "I've accepted it, Peter. It's the only way we'll be able to defeat Linderman, the only way we'll be able to kill him."

"Well, I DON'T accept it!" Peter stood up and started pacing. "I don't give a shit about some stupid prophecy. I'm not killing you, Olivia! How does killing YOU kill Linderman, huh? HOW?" As Olivia started to speak, Peter shook his head. "NO! Don't try and explain, don't talk about it to me, I'm not discussing this anymore. I'm not killing you, you can't make me and if YOU try it" he pointed to Gabriel "I'll fucking kill YOU!" He turned and stomped out of the apartment, slamming the door behind him.

"Well, that went better than I thought it would." Gabriel sighed. "I thought he'd try and hit me or something."

"Give him time, he'll come to accept it." Olivia nodded as she took Gabriel's hand. "Just like we have."

"It'll kill me to do it, but I know I'll have to." Gabriel turned, looking deeply into his wife's eyes. "And until that day arrives, I'm going to spend every day with you as if it's our last. I'm going to make every good memory I can with you to hold onto after you're gone, even though I won't last long afterwards myself." He pulled her into his arms and began to kiss her. "Starting right now."


	60. Chapter 60

Chapter Sixty: New Powers, New Arrival

Olivia came to on the exam table in the lab and took a deep breath, wincing at the raspy feeling in her throat. She glanced over at Gabriel and Peter as they stood over her. "Did I code this time?"

"No." Gabriel sighed with relief. "You came through it like a champ." He leaned down and kissed her forehead.

"Want some water?" Peter asked, holding out a glass. Olivia nodded and sipped her water slowly, smiling as it coated her parched throat. "So, how's it feel to be our new resident healer?"

"Good." Olivia sat up and turned. "So how do we know if it worked?"

"Simple." She turned as Mohinder walked over to her with a scalpel. He opened his left palm and drew the scalpel across it, blood welling up in the cut. He held out his bleeding hand. "Go for it."

Olivia reached out and touched Mohinder's hand, feeling a power surge through her quickly. Everyone nodded in approval as the cut quickly healed.

"Now for that other power you got." Peter grinned at her. "You know, I still don't get why you didn't ask for Claire's power first."

"Because Mama Alice told her to get her parents' gifts." Gabriel grinned. "You can get Claire's soon."

"Yep, I sure can." Olivia glanced over to see Claire sitting on the other table with Noah, smiling at her. "How'd you do?"

Claire shrugged. "I'll find out if I can fly soon enough." She grinned. "Okay, switch with me." She held up her hand. "But if you switch us and then have a problem switching us back, I'm NOT going home with HIM!" She pointed to Gabriel.

"Damn right about that." Noah muttered.

Gabriel made a face. "You have a point. Not that I'd lay a finger on you, even in Olivia's body, but I don't want people thinking I committed incest AND statutory rape all at the same time." He shuddered for a moment.

"Don't even TRY going there, Mister." Noah glared at him.

"So, I need to switch with someone to test out my new power." Olivia looked around the room, grinning before she closed her eyes and concentrated.

'Olivia' opened her eyes again and looked around, then stared down at her hands. "What the hell?" She looked up at 'Gabriel', who stood next to Peter giggling. "That's NOT FUNNY!"

'Gabriel' laughed. "Really? I think it's a riot!"

Peter stared at 'Gabriel', then turned to 'Olivia', leaning towards her. "That's Gabriel in there?" He started laughing.

"NO! She didn't!" Mohinder started laughing with Peter.

Noah snorted with laughter. "Good one."

"Cram it up your asses sideways, okay?" 'Olivia' glared at 'Gabriel'. "Okay Baby, joke's over, your power works. Switch us back now."

'Gabriel' shrugged. "I forgot how."

"THAT'S NOT FUNNY!" 'Olivia' squirmed uncomfortably on the table. "This is not cool at all! I'm a girl!" She glanced over at Claire, who was laughing hysterically. Noah sat next to her, his shoulder shaking with silent laughter. "What?"

"Oh, nothing." Claire grinned. "Just something Olivia mentioned earlier. You know how we women are TMI with each other."

"What? What did she mention?" 'Olivia' looked around at everyone. "Why do I feel so crampy?" She touched her breasts. "And do these things hurt ALL the time? How do you women DEAL with these things?"

'Gabriel' shook his head. "How do you deal with what you guys have to carry around? I've been in your body for one minute and I swear these things itch like crazy!" He squirmed and glared at 'Olivia'. "Are you going 'commando'?"

"Well, technically YOU'RE going 'commando', I'm just over here cramping, feeling bloated and suddenly, I want chocolate."

Claire smirked. "Welcome to the wonders of womanhood."

'Olivia's' eyes widened. "You mean-" She glared at 'Gabriel' as Peter, Claire, Noah and Mohinder laughed harder. "-You're on your-" She shook her head. "NO! Switch us back, NOW!"

"Fine!" 'Gabriel' leaned towards 'Olivia'. "I thought you'd enjoy it since you're always saying how great it feels to be inside me." He whispered.

"Not like this!" 'Olivia' glared at 'Gabriel'. "Seriously? Switch us back, this stopped being funny with the first cramp!"

"Big baby! At least now you know why a couple of days every month I'm rolling up a magazine and smacking you when you get frisky." 'Gabriel' sighed and closed his eyes, taking a deep breath.

Olivia looked around and nodded to her husband. "Okay, we're back in our real bodies, happy now, you big pussy?"

Gabriel touched his chest. "Flat here and a bulge here." He grabbed his crotch and sighed. "Yes, I'm happy now. Go take some Midol, you sadistic harpy and don't EVER pull that on me again."

Olivia snorted as she climbed off of the table. "Keep up with the whining and I'll switch us in the middle of 'happy time'." She grinned. "Or maybe I'll swap us out occasionally when I'm pregnant. I think you'll need to experience the joys of swollen ankles, not to mention the 'other stuff' that happens to women's bodies during pregnancy. Oh, and by the way? Put on some damn underwear! Now I'm going to have to wash those pants twice!"

"WHAT other stuff?" Gabriel stared at Olivia as she walked into the changing room. He turned to Peter. "You're a nurse, what other stuff is she talking about?"

Peter blanched. "You do NOT want to know." He turned to Claire. "Ready to fly?"

"Is it easy?" Claire asked, cocking her head to the side.

"Easy enough, Tinkerbell." Peter winked at her. "Go on, get dressed and I'll meet you outside."

Peter and Noah watched as she walked into the changing room. "That was funny as hell."

Noah nodded. "After the last couple of days, I needed a good laugh." He turned to Mohinder. "We're SO going to rag on him about this for a long time, right?"

"Most definitely." Mohinder nodded.

"Just wait until I tell Nathan." Peter started laughing harder.

Gabriel glared at them. "HELLO? I'm standing right here, assholes!" He turned to Mohinder. "And what's up with you? I thought we were becoming buddies again! I saved Candice from Linderman, you jackass!"

"And neither of us can thank you enough for that." Mohinder nodded. "But you have to admit, watching you deal with 'women's troubles', even if it was just for a moment, was hysterical. You'd have laughed if she'd swapped with any of us."

"I kept waiting for him to cry." Peter smirked.

"I wanted to give him some chocolate and a hug." Mohinder giggled. "Better you than us."

"Yeah, I'd have liked to see YOU handle PMS." Gabriel shuddered. "I DO respect my wife a bit more now. Those cramps? OUCH! How do they put up with that?"

"With an assload of Midol, chocolate and potato chips." Olivia walked into the room. "And heating pads, lots of heating pads." Olivia shrugged. "And 'fat clothes'." She leaned against her husband. "Still pissed?"

"Yes." Gabriel nodded. "That wasn't cool."

"Don't worry, I won't be switching with you or any other guy again. You can keep your dangling, itchy annoyances, I'll stick with the cramps." Olivia turned to see Claire enter the room. "Well, let's see you head off into the wild blue yonder."

* * *

"Okay, so how do I do this?" Claire paced behind the facility, out of view of the guards.

"It's simple." Peter grinned at her. "You just relax, visualize yourself flying and-" He gasped as Claire shot up into the sky. "-just like that."

"Wow!" Noah watched as Claire flew around them, higher and higher. Everyone gasped as she streaked through the sky, creating a sonic boom. "I remember seeing Nathan do that once."

"That was very cool." Gabriel watched the skies for a moment, then turned to Olivia. "I want THAT next!"

"Fine." Olivia laughed.

"I'm not kidding! That's awesome!" Gabriel turned back to look for Claire, his mouth hanging open.

"There she goes!" Peter laughed as they saw something streak through the sky. "And here she comes!"

"You did tell her how to land, right?" Noah asked.

Peter glanced over at Noah, then looked away. "She sort of hauled ass before I could get to that part."

They watched as Claire approached them, then dove out of the way as she landed, yelping as she flipped and rolled along the gravel, bones snapping. Noah ran towards her. "Claire-Bear? Are you okay?"

Claire grimaced as she straightened out her broken legs and a dislocated shoulder. She slowly stood up, glancing at Peter. "You could have warned me about landing."

"You could have given me a chance to do so before you took off like a bullet." Peter grinned and hugged her. "I can't wait to tell Nathan. He's always bragging about going super-sonic, wait 'till I tell him that you could probably beat him in a flying race now."

"It WAS pretty cool!" Claire giggled. "I FLEW!"

"Now you just have to figure out how to land." Noah wrapped an arm around her shoulders as they headed towards the car.

Olivia glanced at her husband, his smile fading as she saw the sad look on his face. He was staring towards the valley, where they'd buried their friends, including Tatiana, the day before. She took his hand. "You want to go talk to her?"

Gabriel stared at the ground, shaking his head. "I need time."

"Okay." She kissed his cheek and wrapped an arm around his waist. "Wanna go home and feed me chocolate?"

"Can I have some too?"

"Sure." Olivia rested her head on his shoulder as they walked towards the car.

* * *

Four Months Later . . .

They sat on the floor of the training room in the basement, everyone one of them looking tired, but proud. Hana, Kaito and Hiro stared out at them. "Today, is the last day you will all train here with us. You've learned the basics of what we know, not to mention quite a bit more. You're all ready to teach your own classes to our army upstairs." Hana held out her hand. "But-" She grinned "-first you all have to do one thing."

Everyone stared at each other, then looked back at Hana. Noah cleared his throat. "What's that?"

"Each person in here is going to fight someone else. First, all of you with powers have been imbued at the very least with Claire's regeneration factor. That is the ONLY power you will be allowed to use when you fight with these." She points to real weapons to her left. "Afterwards, Laurent here will stifle any and all powers in this room and allow everyone to fight everyone else, one-on-one with these." She points to wooden weapons to her fight. "You need to prove that you know how to defend yourselves, no matter what. There are two rules, the only power you can use is regeneration and NO HEAD SHOTS!" She clapped her hands. "So, who's first?"

* * *

Twelve hours later they filed out of the training room. Gabriel had his arm around Olivia. "So how did I do against Peter?"

"Do the words 'Monty Python and the Holy Grail' have any meaning with you? You were both down two legs and an arm and you were still talking smack and trying to attack each other. I'm glad Hana stepped in and took away your katanas when she did. I honestly thought one of you was about to say 'what are you going to do, bleed on me?'."

Gabriel laughed. "They grew back! You know, if I ever wanted to fake my death around you guys, all I'd have to do is hack off a couple of limbs, let them grow back and toss the leftovers into a burning wreckage somewhere."

"I liked your original arm. Not to mention your original legs!" Olivia frowned at him as they stepped onto the elevator. "I know these look the same, with the same scars and markings-"

"-Not to mention the same talents." Gabriel nibbled her neck. "Of course, the fingers on my left hand are virgin fingers. Care to break them in?" He wiggled his eyebrows at her. "I know you want to, I can read your mind now, you little vixen."

"Remind me to stop imbuing you with everyone else's powers so damn much!" Olivia smirked.

"Why? I'm waiting my turn and getting imbued with everyone else. I can now phase, fly, read your hot, dirty little mind and I have super strength." His hands grasped her waist. "You have rebuilt me, you have the technology. You have made me better than I was, better, stronger, faster-"

Olivia giggled. "-and apparently hornier, not that I thought it was possible. I would say though, you're worth more than six million dollars."

"Exactly." His hands groped her as the elevator doors opened.

Olivia stepped away from Gabriel as she spotted Janice pacing in front of the elevator, breathing hard. "Janice? You okay?"

Janice glanced at them, nodding. "Where's Matt?"

"He's on his way up, why?" Olivia's eyes widened. "You're in labor, aren't you?"

"Labor?" Gabriel grinned. "The neighbor man's gonna be a daddy!" He took Janice's arm and gently steered her towards their apartment as Olivia ran ahead of them to open the door. "Come on and sit down. Matt'll be up in a minute. You need anything?"

Janice panted. "A hospital and drugs would be wonderful, really."

Olivia checked Janice's pulse. "When are you due?"

"I was due last week." Janice groaned.

"Okay." Olivia nodded. "Has your water broken yet?"

"Five minutes ago."

"And how far apart are your contractions?"

Janice shook her head. "About seven minutes?" She took deep breaths as Olivia looked over at Gabriel.

"Stand in the hallway and collar Matt the second he gets up here." She turned to Janice. "Did you pack a bag?" Janice nodded. "I'll go get it, where is it?"

"Beside the front door." Janice grabbed Olivia's hand. "I'm having another one."

"Contraction?" Olivia checked her watch. "Before this one, when did you have your last one?"

"When you guys stepped out of the elevator."

"Okay, you're much less than seven minutes apart, Jan." She glanced out the open door towards the hall. "Do you see him?"

"Not yet!" Gabriel stuck his head in the door. "Want me to call him?"

"Yeah! Tell him I'm driving Jan to the hospital now, this baby wants OUT! When you find him, bring him to the hospital." She helped Janice stand and glanced at Gabriel. "Grab her bag? It's beside the front door." Gabriel nodded and ran towards their apartment. "Okay, let's get you to the hospital."

"Have you ever delivered a baby before?" Janice panted.

"Yeah, but I barely paid attention." Olivia shrugged. "I was too impatient to get to the surgical rotation, so I really only paid attention during caesarians." She helped Janice towards the door. "Deep breaths and please, if you feel like you need to push, please don't."

Gabriel handed Janice's suitcase to Olivia as he talked on his cell phone. "Yeah Matt, she's breathing hard, her water's broken and her contractions are very close together so you need to haul ass!" He hung up the phone and got the elevator for the women. "He's going to meet you both there."

"Where IS he?" Janice groaned in pain.

"He wanted to run to town to grab some stuff for the baby, or something." Gabriel shrugged. "I told him to get it later on today when you HAD the baby." He stepped into the elevator with them. "I'll drive Olivia, while you keep that baby from flying out in the car."

"Trust me, I'm going to do everything I can to keep little Matthew here inside Mommy until we get to the hospital."

"The hospital." Janice smiled. "With drugs and epidurals."

Gabriel's eyes widened as he read Olivia's mind. "Yeah, those would be great if you had time to get them."

Janice glared at him as they stepped into the lobby. "What do you mean IF I had time to get them?"

"Shut it, mind-snooper!" Olivia glared at her husband and turned to Janice, smiling. "We're going to get you there so you can get anything you want."

"But you just thought, 'if she's progressing this fast, they're not going to give her anything for the labor', Honey, I just HEARD you!"

"SHUT IT!" Olivia shook her head. _Do you WANT the freaked-out preggo getting MORE upset, you dolt?_

"She's right, lots and lots of drugs." Gabriel nodded as he glanced back at his wife. _You don't think she'll get upset when she asks for drugs at the hospital and gets nada?_

"Everything's going to be just fine." Olivia helped Janice into the car. _She'll be too busy pushing to worry about that, and if she does, there will be plenty of doctors and nurses to handle her, doctors and nurses that are TRAINED to deliver babies and handle worried mamas!_ "So when did these contractions start, anyway?" Olivia asked as Gabriel drove them towards the hospital, tires squealing.

Janice shook her head. "I started having back pain yesterday afternoon, but what else was new, right? I mean, I'm carrying a boulder around my midsection." She gritted her teeth and gasped as another contraction hit her. Olivia reached out with her mind, calming Janice and the baby as Janice breathed through the contraction. "I started having little contractions about three a.m. but I started to REALLY hurt about seven. I guess I should have said something to Matt then, but I figured he'd come downstairs at eight and be back up within fifteen minutes, right? Besides, this is my first baby and the books all said that first babies take FOREVER to come, so I thought 'hey, what's an hour?' And then right after he left my water broke and the contractions started hitting hard.

"You should have called him, Honey." Olivia nodded. "He could have skipped our last class."

"Yeah, especially since he was good enough to kick the crap out of Nathan in the training room." Gabriel smiled at her from the rearview. "You should have seen him. It was beautiful, really."

"He did a good job? He's trained well?" Janice breathed through another contraction.

"He's one of our best fighters." Gabriel nodded. "We had a talk one night and he said the reason he was so ready to do this was so his son would have a future. He's about to get to hold that reason in his arms soon enough, huh?"

"Not too soon, I hope." Janice grasped Olivia's hand. "Are we almost there?"

Olivia glanced up and looked out the window. "We're pulling into the E.R. entrance now. You've done a great job."

"Thanks." Janice smiled as Gabriel parked the car and waved over some orderlies. Janice was placed in a wheelchair and rushed into the hospital as Matt parked his car and raced over to Gabriel and Olivia.

"Where is she?"

"In there!" Gabriel pointed Matt towards the doors as he turned to grin at Olivia. "Let's hope Faith doesn't arrive THAT fast!"

"Tell me about it." Olivia shook her head. "I did NOT want to have to deliver that kid."

* * *

They sat in the labor and delivery waiting room with Peter, Sherry, Nathan, Heidi, Noah, Sandra, Claire, Claude, Hana, Nikolai, Niki, D.L., Mohinder and Candice an hour later, waiting for word. Peter looked around. "Did anyone call Hiro?"

D.L. nodded. "He and Ando are off with Rosario and Leilani. He said something about catching tasty waves around New Zealand."

Peter laughed softly. "Cute."

They all looked up as Matt dashed into the waiting room, grinning from ear to ear. "Well, it's a boy, of course! Matthew Alexander Parkman!" He grinned at Claude. "We decided to give him the masculine version of Tatiana's middle name."

"That's great, Matt." Claude smiled sadly.

"So?" Sandra smiled. "Give us all of the details!"

"He's nine pounds, seven ounces, twenty inches long. He's got the thickest head of dark brown hair and he's got a set of lungs that would make an opera singer proud. Kid came out screaming bloody murder! He was born at 9:25 a.m.!"

Peter stood up first to shake Matt's hand. "Congratulations!"

Matt laughed. "Thanks!" He looked around at everyone, beaming. "I'm a daddy!" He glanced over at Gabriel and Olivia. "Janice wanted me to thank you again for bringing her to the hospital."

"Were they able to give her an epidural?" Olivia asked.

"No, not enough time, but they DID give her some painkillers, apparently good ones, too. I haven't seen her that stoned since college." Matt laughed again as he ran out of the room, returning to the delivery room.

Nathan sat back, smiling. "The first baby born in our group. Pretty cool."

Gabriel winked at Olivia. "But he won't be the last."

"Nope." Candice glanced over at Mohinder. "He'll have a playmate in about eight months." She started giggling as everyone stared at her. "Yes. I am."

Niki stared at her. "Seriously?" She nodded. "Congratulations."

"Thanks." Candice nodded. "Coming from you? Thank you very much."

"Gonna name him Gabriel?" Gabriel grinned as Mohinder stared at him, a horrified expression on his face. "What? Excuse me, but I saved your girl's butt from Linderman, that little one wouldn't even be possible if it weren't for me, thank you!"

"And we have thanked you, repeatedly." Mohinder smirked. "We don't know what we'll name him or here, we just found out yesterday morning."

"We won't know anything for a few more months." Candice laughed softly. "I'm considering letting it be a surprise in the delivery room."

"Word to the wise now." Olivia leaned towards Candice. "Please, the minute you even THINK you're having a contraction? Go ahead and go to the hospital at that moment. You have no idea how relieved I was NOT to deliver little Matthew Alexander."

Candice laughed softly as everyone congratulated her again.

* * *

Henderson strolled past the waiting room, smirking at the news he'd just heard. He quickly drove to the airport and boarded a helicopter. When he arrived at Linderman's compound, he walked into the lobby, noticing how everyone would stare at him, then look away. Frowning, he made his way to Linderman's suite, knocking before being let inside and shown into Linderman's office.

Linderman looked up at him as Henderson walked into the room. "What's the latest news in Las Vegas?"

Henderson stood in front of Linderman's desk, arms clasped behind his back. Parkman's wife gave birth to a son this morning.

"Is that all? How is my daughter? Any news on her? Any news on whether or not she and that lunatic she's married to have decided to breed yet?"

"No, she's not pregnant yet, as far as I could tell." Henderson looked at Linderman, then lowered his eyes. "But someone else is."

"Who?" Linderman sat back in his chair. "Petrelli and that walking bomb girlfriend of his?"

"No Sir." Henderson squirmed uncomfortably. "Miss Wilmer and Dr. Suresh have just announced that they're expecting a child. From what I overheard, she's about six weeks along."

Linderman glared at Henderson, making the man squirm more. "Candice is expecting?" He snorted and rolled his eyes. "Well, good for her." He snapped. He sighed and waved his hands at Henderson, dismissively. "Go ahead. Back to Las Vegas with you. Continue to observe and let me know what else you hear through the grapevine there."

"Sir, before I leave." Henderson glanced at the door. "I noticed downstairs that everyone seems a little-"

"-A little WHAT?"

"Scared, Sir. I know it's none of my business, but-"

"-You're right, it's none of your business why those sheep downstairs are upset, but I'll tell you anyway. It seems that morale has fallen a bit since Candice and Laurent deserted us for that doomed group of do-gooders. They were also quite upset to learn that Susan and Furkan were killed. I had a small mutiny earlier today. A few people tried to rally others to escape and well, things didn't go their way. They're downstairs in the testing lab, learning what happens when you don't follow my orders. The rest have learned their lesson and won't be trying to leave this compound again until I tell them so."

"I understand Sir." Henderson nodded and turned to leave.

"Wait!" Linderman smirked as he picked up the phone and called the lab. "Yes, Doctor Morgan. I have a hypothetical question for you. Let's say a woman with special abilities were to become pregnant. Now, if SHE were injured, she'd heal right away, but what of the child?" He smiled and nodded. "What if she were poisoned? REALLY? You think so? Well, let's test that theory, shall we? Good man. Send something from your laboratory up here for me please, I have a delivery for Mr. Henderson to make." He hung up the phone, smiling broadly. "I have a little task for you to do in Las Vegas." Henderson's eyes widened as Linderman began to laugh. "I told her she wasn't finished suffering yet."


	61. Chapter 61

Chapter Sixty-One: Gabriel's Final Warning

"So, anyway, Matt and Janice had their baby yesterday morning. You remember Matt, don't you? They named him Matthew Alexander, the Alexander is for you, Pumpkin. They gave him your middle name. He's a big baby too, with the thickest, darkest hair. He had a set of lungs on him that were pretty impressive. I'm going to pay hell getting to sleep when Matt and Janice bring him home, but I guess I'll need to get used to it. Olivia and I are going to try in a few months for a baby of our own. We're going to name her Faith Gabrielle, but I'm starting to lean towards naming her Tatiana Faith, after you. We've changed the future somewhat already, why not change our daughter's name, right? Mohinder and his girlfriend Candice announced yesterday that they're having a baby in eight months. I should have figured it out as soon as they stepped into the waiting room at the hospital. I could already hear her baby's heartbeat. I didn't tell them that though, I think they should be the first ones to officially hear it."

Gabriel took a deep breath as he sat next to Tatiana's grave, looking at the valley where she was buried.

"This is a pretty place where you are, but I wish you were still here with us. Olivia and Noah want to build a memorial here after we defeat Linderman. I think that sounds like a good idea. Your daddy is dating Hana now. They moved onto our floor with Nikolai after you-" Gabriel struggled to speak "-after you were murdered. There was an apartment left on the tenth floor that was open. No one lives on the third floor anymore. Sherry's with Peter now too. They live together and Mohinder moved out to the nineteenth floor with Candice the night you died. You didn't get to meet her, but she's a nice lady. You'd probably have loved her power. She can make herself look like anyone she wants. After that night, that night that you and Herbert and the others were murdered, we've beefed up security around the building. You have to have codes to get in and out, there are cameras monitoring the outside of the building and the hallways. We all take turns watching the monitors to make sure no one's coming in our out that shouldn't be there. We also have panic buttons and alarms in every apartment. We don't want what happened to you to happen to anyone else." He reached out and touched the small granite headstone that they'd placed on her grave. It had a bird carved on it with her name, date of birth and date of death. "We had a Fourth of July party last week. It was a big cookout in the back near the pool. Everyone either partied there or on the roof. The kids were playing in the pool and we shot off fireworks afterwards. You would have loved it. I miss you, Little Bird, I miss you like crazy and I'm not the only one. The apartment building isn't the same without you skipping down the halls and running up and down the stairs laughing your head off, and splashing in the pool or playing on the swings-" He looked up as he heard someone approaching. He smiled softly at Olivia, wiping away tears quickly as she knelt beside him. "Hey."

"Hey." Olivia took his head. "Talking to The Baby?"

Gabriel nodded. "Yeah, I was telling her about Matthew and our party last week."

"Did you tell her about Nikolai yet?"

Gabriel laughed. "Not yet, I was getting to that." He took a deep breath and smiled down at the small grave. "Nikolai and Claire had their first official date last weekend. When he found out that they were going to go out, Noah had the 'hurt my daughter and I'll hurt YOU' talk with Nikolai, and then Nathan had that talk with Nikolai and then Peter had the 'hurt my niece and I'll hurt you talk' too. I didn't feel like being left out, so I pulled him aside and told him that he was seventeen, Claire was seventeen, they were old enough to make their own decisions, so they could do what they wanted, just be careful. Then I told him that if he made me a great-uncle before I was forty, I'd kill him. Then I reminded him that I'm only twenty-nine, so they've got quite a few years to go before I'm forty. I think he was a little overwhelmed at all of the relatives threatening him." Gabriel shook his head, grinning. "But we all love him too and we also told Claire that if she hurt him, she'd get in trouble with all of us as well. We tried to be fair."

"Because you are all such fair guys." Olivia laughed. She looked down at Tatiana's grave, smiling. "I do miss her."

"I know." Gabriel shook his head, choking back a sob. "It's not FAIR! It's not fair that, because of Linderman, she's gone. She's gone and he's still around, lurking around that compound in the mountains while she's here in the ground. He's old and she was so young. She wasn't even ten yet!"

"I know." Olivia kissed his cheek. "It pisses me off too. What really pisses me off the most is knowing that half of DNA is because of him. It makes me sick knowing that my father did this, and he's continuing to do terrible things and we have to wait until we're all ready before we can stop him."

Gabriel placed his head on Olivia's shoulder. "I hate him. I hate the things he's done and I hate the person he is and I really HATE that he actually compared himself to me. He said that we were alike."

"You're not." Olivia shook her head. "You two couldn't be more different. You've done things, terrible things, but you've owned up to them, you've tried to make amends for them. You're still human with human feelings. He's nothing but a monster now. He's nothing like you. You're the better man. In the end, that's why you're going to beat him, you and Peter."

"I know." Gabriel took her hand and stood up. "I'm going to beat him for you, for Tatiana, for everyone here who died, and for Faith. I'm going to beat him for myself too." He hugged her. "Ready to go?"

"Yeah. We're meeting Mohinder and Candice for dinner, right?"

"Right." Gabriel sighed and grinned at Olivia. "I still think they should name that baby after me, dammit!"

"You'll have to settle for Faith being named after you, Babe." She winked.

"Can we name her Tatiana Faith instead?" Gabriel walked towards the building, Olivia's hand in his. "I'd rather name her that."

"Okay." Olivia grinned at Gabriel. "Compromise. Tatiana Faith Gabrielle Gray?"

"You're going to make her hate us, right? Do you have ANY idea how hard it is going to be for her to write all of that down in Kindergarten?"

"Eh, she'll get over it." Olivia laughed as she hugged Gabriel.

"My mom gave me two middle names. You saw how our relationship ended."

"Your mom also hounded you constantly about being special, when you already were and came at you with a pair of scissors because she thought you were evil. We're not going to do that to our kids."

"Fine." Gabriel sighed. "You do have a point there. "Tatiana Faith Gabrielle Gray it is." He hugged his wife. "In four more months, we're going to conceive her, you do realize that, right?"

Olivia nodded. "I can't wait, you?"

"Nope, but I'm having a blast practicing." Gabriel hugged Olivia. "Speaking of which, do we HAVE to meet Mo and Candy for dinner? I'd rather stay in and practice some more."

"We'll eat fast and run home, how's that?"

Gabriel shrugged. "I guess that'll do."

* * *

Henderson watched the apartment building from his car, staring at the three vials in his hand. He shook his head, remembering Linderman's words as he gave the vials to him.

"Watch her, follow her. When you see them out in a restaurant, strike. Just pay off a waitress to slip them in her drink or dessert, it has to be in something sweet."

"What is it?" Henderson took the vials, pocketing them nervously.

"Digoxin, arsenic and extract from black cohosh." Linderman smiled evilly. "To slow her heart, poison her and cause contractions. She'll be fine after a few minutes. Her body and healing properties will counteract HER poisoning, but the child she's carrying doesn't have those powers, as far as we know. It'll be an interesting experiment, to say the least." He frowned at Henderson's hesitant expression. "Do you have a problem with attacking one of our traitors?"

"No Sir, but the child she's carrying-"

"-Will grow up and become an enemy of ours one day. Nip them in the bud, that's the best way to go."

"Yes Sir."

Henderson watched the apartment, frowning as Candice and Mohinder stepped out, their arms around each other as they got into a car and drove away. Henderson sighed and started his car, following them to a restaurant. He frowned as he saw them go inside and join Olivia and Gabriel Gray at a table. He quickly got out of his car and asked for a seat at a table near theirs to listen to their conversation as they ordered dinner.

"So, how did the doctor's visit go today?" Olivia grinned at them.

Candice giggled. "Fine. I'm officially due in March." She stared at the table for a moment, then shrugged. "March 16, actually."

Mohinder saw the sad look on Gabriel's face. "It's the day that Candice and I first-"

"-I know." Gabriel. "It'll be good if the baby's born that day. It would be a nice way to remember that day after-" He cleared his throat, then frowned, looking around the restaurant. "-Hmmm."

"What?" Olivia stared at Gabriel.

Gabriel shook his head. "Nothing." He smiled over at Candice and Mohinder as Henderson got up and followed their waitress. "So, did you guys hear the heartbeat yet?"

Mohinder nodded. "It was incredible."

"I know." Gabriel grinned sheepishly. "I heard it yesterday in the waiting room. Strong little heart."

"Yes, it is." Mohinder cocked his head to the side as Gabriel frowned again. "What's wrong?"

"I just thought I heard-" Gabriel's eyes widened as Henderson passed them on the way out of the building. He jumped up as the waitress brought their drinks and snatched Candice's out of her hand. He turned to the waitress. "Someone paid you to put something in here, didn't they?"

The waitress stared at him, her eyes widening. "Uh, what?" Her eyes shifted to the others at the table as they stared up at her in shock. "There was this guy, he said he knew you and was pulling a prank, he said there was nothing wrong-"

"-that man LIED!" Gabriel turned, scanning the restaurant as he tried to hear everyone's thoughts. "He's not here anymore, is he?"

The waitress shook her head. "No, he's not." She leaned towards him. "He paid me a lot of money, I don't make much, please don't tell my boss-"

"-Don't tell your boss that you were paid to POISON one of my friends? One of my PREGNANT friends?" Gabriel glared as the woman stammered. "What did he look like?"

"Blond. He was kind of tall, brown eyes." The waitress shrugged. "I saw him when he pulled up, he had a nice car. It was a red Lexus."

"Thank you." He turned to Olivia. "Come on, I'm going to need your help." He looked at Mohinder and Candice. "Eat nothing, tell the manager what happened, I'm going to find that guy now!" He grabbed Olivia's hand and quickly ran out of the restaurant with her.

"Gabriel, what's going on?"

Gabriel climbed into the car with Olivia and cranked it up. "What's going on is your father paid that guy to poison Candice and kill her baby, that's what's going on! He's not getting away with it. He's not hurting ANOTHER child!" He pulled out of the parking lot, tires squealing.

"How do you expect to find him, huh?" Olivia looked around nervously as Gabriel sped through the city.

"I heard him think something about the airport and reporting to Linderman. We're going to find a red Lexus and then I'm going to need you to make us invisible while I take care of him, do you understand?"

"Fine." Olivia closed her eyes and nodded. "You're going to kill him."

"No. I'm going to rough him up and send him yelping back to your father with a message, that's what I'm going to do." He smirked as he saw the red Lexus in front of them, approaching the airport. Making sure that there wasn't much traffic, he twitched his fingers, sending the car careening into an alley. As he pulled in behind the car, he twitched his fingers again, throwing the car against a building. He turned to Olivia. "Make us invisible, now."

Olivia nodded as she got out of the car with Gabriel, concentrating as they walked, unseen towards the car. They watched as Henderson stumbled out of the wreckage, his head bleeding. He looked around and screeched as unseen hands grabbed him and shoved him against the remains of his car. His eyes widened as Gabriel glared at him.

"We're all invisible, right Babe?" Gabriel asked.

"Yeah." Olivia looked around nervously. "We're invisible."

"Good." Gabriel leaned into Henderson. "Your little poisoning trick? It didn't work, asshole."

"What?" Henderson stared at him. "What are you talking about?"

"I can read your mind. I read it in the restaurant. You're one of my father-in-law's little henchmen, aren't you?" He smirked. "But unlike many of them, you don't have any powers of your own. Kind of pathetic of him to send someone to spy on us and try to poison us who can't fight back, isn't it? I guess he decided you'd be more expendable if caught than one of his more special people, right?" Gabriel nodded. "Where's your phone?"

"What phone?" Henderson stammered.

"The one you use to call your dickhead boss with!" He cocked his head to the side and grinned. "Right jacket pocket, Olivia."

Olivia pulled out the phone and handed it to Gabriel. "Thanks." He searched through the phone and dialed Linderman's number, smirking.

In his compound, Linderman answered his phone. "How many times have I told you that Gitelman can trace these things? Don't call me in Las Vegas, Henderson."

"I've got your boy, Linderman. Your little plan to take revenge on Candice didn't work. She's still pregnant. She's due on the same day that we lost eight friends. That pregnancy will run it's course. You know why?"

"Because you're a sentimental fool, Gray?" Linderman laughed softly. "I never would have pegged you for that. My daughter has really got you quite whipped, doesn't she?"

"Your daughter is the best thing that's happened to me. She's taught me that I have a heart, something, I remind you, that you don't have. I'm still Sylar though, don't worry. Actually, scratch that last part, YOU should worry about Sylar. You see, Sylar is still around and wants nothing more than to rip you from limb to limb and will do so, given the chance."

"Right. Fine. I'm sure. You're quite the big man, threatening me over the phone."

"And you're quite the big man, threatening a defenseless, unborn child while sitting in your castle on high in the Beartooth Mountain range. Oh yes, we KNOW where you are. You threaten another person again, adult, child, unborn baby, I will personally fly there and kick your ass off of that mountain, do we have an understanding?"

Linderman glared into his phone. "I understand that your days are quite number, Mr. Gray." He snarled.

"Big words coming from a dead asshole talking. I'm going to send your boy back to you in one piece. He's going to have a reminder though, NOT to fuck with me or mine again. If I even think I see, hear or quite frankly SMELL another one of your disgusting minions in Las Vegas again, YOU are going to pay!" He snapped the phone shut and stuffed it back into Henderson's pocket. Smirking, he stared at the man's forehead.

"What are you going to do to me now?" Henderson stammered.

"Give you that little reminder!" Gabriel laughed as the man began to scream.

Thirty minutes later, Henderson stumbled on board his helicopter, avoiding the horrified look of the pilot. "Shut up and get me out of here! I don't care what Linderman does to me, I'll be damned if I ever come back here!"

* * *

Mohinder sat on the couch with Candice, his arms wrapped around her protectively as they stared at the city lights from their balcony doors. "Thank God Gabriel heard that man's thoughts." Candice shuddered as she touched her stomach protectively.

"I never thought I'd ever be thankful for Gabriel Gray." Mohinder kissed Candice's cheek, resting his cheek on the top of her head. "He's paid his debt to me. He's paid karma for what he's done to me and my father."

"I know." Candice closed her eyes as she leaned against Mohinder. "I keep thinking about what would have happened if I'd drank that soda." She choked back a sob. "I mean, we just heard the heartbeat today, Mohinder. TODAY!"

"I know." Mohinder nodded. "He saved our child's life." He turned as their doorbell rang. "I'll be right back." He kissed her and stood, answering the door. He nodded to Gabriel and Olivia. "Did you find him?"

"Yeah." Gabriel stepped into the apartment with Olivia. "Linderman did indeed send him. I've sent him back with a message for Linderman to not send anyone else or I'll personally kill him."

Candice stood up and walked to Gabriel, hugging him tightly. "Thank you."

"You're welcome." Gabriel shook his head. "I owed Mohinder." He looked over at him. "That was for your father."

"Thank you." Mohinder held out his hand. Gabriel nodded and shook it. "Thank you for everything."

"Well?" Gabriel smirked. "Little Gabriel Suresh. That's back on the table, right?"

Mohinder sighed. "What's your middle bloody name?"

"My name is Gabriel Quinton James Gray."

Candice smiled. "Quinton Suresh." She giggled. "I like it. That or Jamie if it's a girl."

Mohinder pouted. "I wash thinking Shanti for a girl."

"Shanti Quinn?" Candice nodded. "Hell, I like it!"

"That is nice." Gabriel turned to Olivia. "What about Tatiana Quinn?"

"We've already decided, there are no more negotiations for Faith's name change." Olivia mock-glared at Gabriel.

"Fine." Mohinder rolled his eyes. "Chandra Quinton or Shanti Quinn, are you bloody well happy now?"

"Yes, I am." Gabriel winked at Candice. "Take care of my godchild." He grinned as he and Olivia headed for the door.

"GODCHILD?!?" Mohinder yelled after them. "Now that's too damned far!"

* * *

Linderman looked up, his eyes widening as Henderson entered his office. "Well, now that's quite a reminder."

Henderson glared at him as he sat in a chair. "That's not funny, Linderman!" He shook his head. "I'm scarred for life!"

Linderman studied the words that Gabriel had TK'ed into his forehead. "Interesting that he'd put 'child-killer' there when you didn't even get a chance to kill the little thing."

"It's going to leave a scar. I'm going to have to have surgery to fix this." Henderson shook his head. "You don't even want to know the looks I got when I tried to get to the airport with THIS on my head!"

"Wear a hat." Linderman rolled his eyes as Gota walked into the room, bringing him a drink. "Thank you Darling."

Gota sat beside in on the arm of his chair, laughing softly at the carved words on Henderson's forehead. "So what do we do now? Kill Gray?"

"No. Not yet." Linderman made a face. "My daughter isn't pregnant yet. I want an heir from them, dammit! I've worked too hard without getting that payoff at least." He sighed. "We have no choice but to just train here quietly and back down from antagonizing them for now." He gulped down his drink. "I'll hire someone else to watch them in Vegas and remind them not to get too close. They'll just observe and report to me."

"And then when your daughter is confirmed as pregnant, we kill Gray then?"

Linderman sighed as he grinned at Gota. "Blood-thirsty little wench, aren't you? That's why I appreciate you so." He shook his head. "I was hoping to wait until they'd had more than one so I could choose which heir I preferred, but I see we can't wait that damn long. It's been almost a year now and she's still not even trying to have a child. I'll give her six months. If she's not in the family way by then, we'll strike out against the entire group."

"And if she IS pregnant?"

"We wait until she's far enough along so that no 'upsetting incidents' cause her to miscarry. Once she's far enough along so the shock of losing her dearly beloved doesn't endanger my grandchild, we'll strike out at him first and take her. Once the baby's born, we'll dispose of her and raise that child the way it SHOULD be raised, after wiping out the rest of that little hornet's nest in Vegas." He grinned up at Gota. "It'll be nice hearing the pitter-patter of tiny little feet around here."

"Nice indeed, Darling." Gota kissed him.

Linderman turned to Henderson. "You may go now."

"But, my forehead-"

"-Oh for God's sakes!" Linderman stood and walked to Henderson, placing a hand on the man's arm. The bloodied marks on his head quickly healed, leaving no trace of the carvings there. "Happy now?"

Henderson smiled and nodded. "Yes. Thank you, Sir."

"You're welcome. Now keep your mouth shut about what we're planning, you little shit!"

"Indeed!" Henderson stood, shaking Linderman's hand. "I've been wanting to retire to Hawaii. You've paid me so well, I think it's time I do so."

"You do that." Linderman rolled his eyes as Henderson walked out. "Idiot." He muttered.

"Do you want him taken care of?" Gota asked.

"No. Let him relax on a beach in Waikiki. We might need him again in the future. He's stupid, but occasionally useful."

"You REALLY want to wait until your daughter is pregnant? I could give you an heir just as easily as she could."

Linderman smiled. "It's a thought, but two bloodthirsty animals like us? No. That child would be uncontrollable. Better to have a grandchild from a docile creature like my daughter. A child from her would be much more malleable than one of ours. Beside, Olivia needs to be good for something, right?" He winked at Gota.

"But what if the child takes after her father?"

Linderman sighed. "Then I'll find another way to get her to submit to us."

* * *

"You? Are very adorable." Olivia lay in bed, watching her husband as he stepped out of the bathroom.

"How so?" Gabriel asked.

"You're this big champion for little kids. It's very sexy."

"Maybe I'm just finding my paternal instincts kicking in." He climbed into bed with Olivia, kissing her. "Just training for fatherhood with Faith." He sighed as he slid under the covers and pulled his wife close to him. "Did you see me yesterday holding Matthew in the hospital? I'm a natural, right?"

"Very much so." Olivia kissed him. "You didn't let that little head drop or anything."

"Like I said, I'm a natural." Gabriel wiggled his eyebrows at her. "So, watching me defend babies, hold them and whatnot is sexy, huh?"

"VERY sexy." Olivia slid her foot over his leg under the covers. "I think I spontaneously ovulated when you held little Matthew yesterday. You were precious with that baby in your arms."

"Hell, I'm just glad Matt let me hold him. He's still a little twitchy around me."

"He's coming around though. They all are." Olivia kissed him. "Hell, Mohinder's even naming his baby after you."

"He should! If it weren't for me, Candice wouldn't even BE here to get pregnant! I'm responsible for that kid twice over now."

"Yes you are." Olivia sighed. "So, feel like practicing that whole conception bit?"

"Definitely. Practice makes perfect, right?" Gabriel nibbled on Olivia's neck, smiling as she laughed softly.

"In that case, we'll definitely be perfect by the time we're ready to actually TRY for our baby." Olivia moaned as Gabriel rolled over on top of her, kissing her passionately.


	62. Chapter 62

Chapter Sixty-Two: A Year to the Day

He was in pain, so much pain. The stab wound to his chest throbbed as he felt his heart start to slow. Breathing was difficult, it felt like trying to breathe in water and he was reminded of the time when he was a child and his mother and father had taken him to Coney Island for the day. He'd swum too far out into the water and had gotten tired, too tired to swim back against the tide. He'd fought to stay above the water, flailing exhaustedly until he finally sank under the surface. As he struggled to breathe, he felt strong hands, his father's hands, grab him and pull him to the surface. He felt safe in his father's arms as they made their way back to the beach. Now, in the most excruciating pain of his life, he thought of that moment, wishing he could go back to being that small, innocent kid again.

He felt hands pulling at him again, now as he lay in the alley, wondering how he'd ended up there after Kirby Plaza. He felt himself being listed on a gurney while voices around him spoke urgently about hypotension, bradycardia and bleeding out. He winced as he heard a siren begin to wail, piercing his sensitive ears and making his head want to explode. He finally passed out from the pain, thankful that he didn't have to feel it anymore.

He came to a few minutes later, hearing orders barked around him as he felt himself being moved to another gurney. Bright lights blinded him as one of the voices began to ring louder than the others. "We don't have time for any of that, he's lost too much blood already!" The voice was feminine and Southern-accented. He saw a face hovering above his as he struggled to focus his eyes. Two dark blue eyes looked down at him, filled with love and concern as he felt a small, warm hand squeeze his. "Get him into surgery now, I'm scrubbing in." He heard the voice say as he felt himself being moved, yet again. He stared into those eyes, wondering why she was looking at him so tenderly, and wondering why they were filling with tears. Then, he heard a voice fill his head instead of his ears. _Just hold on, Gabriel. I don't want to lose you, I just found you. Please don't die on me, please. _Then, he felt that warm hand stroke his arm before the eyes left his line of sight and he heard her run away.

Gabriel woke up, smiling as he rolled over to cuddle his wife. He kissed her neck as he heard her sigh. "Good morning." He whispered.

"Good morning." Olivia rolled over to kiss him. "How did you sleep?"

"Great! Apparently was little Matthew's first time sleeping all night next door! Baby's getting bigger and bigger, isn't he?" Gabriel lay back and watched her smiling.

Olivia cocked her head to the side as he smiled at her. "What is it?"

He reached out and tucked a curl behind her ear. "Do you know what day it is?"

Olivia nodded. "November" she smiled, flashing dimples "eighth."

"A year ago today, Nathan was elected to Congress, Peter and I got into our huge fight in Kirby Plaza, I was stabbed-"

"-And I laid eyes on you for the first time." Olivia grinned. "And fell in love the moment I laid eyes on you."

"Even though I was getting my ass handed to me by Peter, Niki and Hiro."

"I didn't notice any of that. I was too busy watching you smack my brother around in that hot, black coat."

"I just remembered something."

"What?"

Gabriel kissed her. "When I first heard your voice when I was in my coma, I realized I'd heard it before. Now, I know where I heard it before."

"Where?" Olivia snuggled up to him, wrapping her arms around him as she stroked his back.

"After I was stabbed, I ended up in an alley-"

"-I know. After the fight, while everyone was trying to figure out what had happened to Peter and they were trying to help D.L. and Matt, you came around and TK'ed the manhole you were lying beside to crawl away. I had my men track you. You came out in the alley-"

"-I remembered being put in an ambulance and taken to your hospital. I heard your voice then, both in my ears and in my head. You were begging me to stay alive. You really were already in love with me, weren't you?"

"Yes." Olivia kissed him. "Yes, I was."

"I remember looking into your eyes and feeling your hands on me." He sighed. "But it's nothing compared to feeling them on me now." He kissed her softly as he felt her legs wrap around his waist.

"Well yeah." Olivia laughed softly. "Now, when I put my hands on you, you moan with pleasure. Then, you were in a lot of pain and when I touched you, it was to cut you open and fix you."

"Oh, you fixed me alright." Gabriel's lips traveled down her neck. "One year ago today, we met. It took me a year to finally remember it, but I'm glad I finally did."

"Officially, we met a week later, when you started hearing my voice again." Olivia moaned as Gabriel's hands caressed her body.

"I think today is going to be what really counts." Gabriel shivered as Olivia's hands touched his chest, tracing the scar along his sternum, the scar from where she'd operated on him and saved his life. He kissed her as they began to make love. "Happy anniversary, Honey."

They lay together afterwards, debating on whether or not to get up. "Whose day is it to teach team one?" Gabriel asked. In the last four months, they'd started training everyone in the building, dividing them into four teams that trained every other day. At eight a.m. team one would be taught for twelve hours, with Hiro stopping time everywhere. At eight p.m. team two would be trained. The next day would follow with teams three and four, with the main group dividing to teach the classes, three to a class.

Olivia sighed. "I think this morning it's Matt, Noah and Sandra teaching. Tonight, it's you, me and Mohinder."

"So what do you want to do for the next twelve hours, to celebrate our anniversary?" Gabriel grinned at her.

Olivia raised an eyebrow. "I don't know. Any suggestions?"

Gabriel nodded. "It's November. You've been off the Pill for two weeks." He kissed her passionately. "I want to get started on Faith." He smiled. "I know. Technically, IF the calculations were correct, she's not going to be conceived for another week. How do we know she wasn't a week late?"

Olivia shook her head. "We don't know. You're right. First babies are notoriously late." She rolled over, climbing on top of her husband. "In fact, I could be just a few days pregnant right now."

"Really?" Gabriel grinned at her, then shook his head. "No, I don't think you are." He moved his hips, smiling as she shuddered with pleasure. He moaned softly as he moved underneath her. "But I think you will be after today." He sat up, wrapping his arms around her as she moved on top of him, both of them moaning loudly. "I think she was meant to begin today. A year to the day that we met, that's when she's conceived." He cradled her face in his hands, staring into her eyes as their movements began to speed up. "I just know it. She was meant to start today."

"I think so too." Olivia whispered breathlessly. "Right now."

* * *

Mohinder smiled as Candice finished her laps and climbed out of the pool. "You ARE taking it easy in there, right?"

Candice laughed as she wrapped a towel around her swelling midsection and nudged him aside in his lounge chair, snuggling up beside him. "Yes, I AM taking it easy. The doctor said that swimming is good exercise. It's good for my heart, it's good for the baby and it keeps me in shape so I won't have such a hard delivery." She kissed him softly as he touched her stomach, smiling at the kicks that he felt under his hand. "She likes it when I swim."

"So you really think it's a girl?" Mohinder stared down at her stomach.

"Yeah, I really do." Candice rested her head on his shoulder, relaxing in the warmth of the sun. "I honestly think we're going to have a girl."

"But you don't know for sure."

"Well, it's not one-hundred percent, but yeah, I think it's a girl. I WAS imbued with Olivia's telepathy before I got pregnant, and I've been practicing it by trying to listen in on the baby's thoughts. I'm getting a definite girly-vibe."

"You can hear her thoughts." Mohinder smiled tenderly as he massaged her stomach. "What is she thinking about?"

Candice shook her head. "She's not thinking actual 'thoughts' like you and I think about. I'm mainly getting emotions. I get feelings of warmth, happiness, contentment. She gets excited when I swim or when she hears your voice. She kicks like crazy when she hears your voice."

"She knows her daddy." Mohinder looked into Candice's eyes. "She doesn't know what we're doing when we-"

"-NO!" Candice laughed. "Not that I'm really paying attention to anything but you, but I haven't gotten any 'Hey! What's going on out there?' vibes when we're having sex. She doesn't realize anything is going on."

"Thank God!" Mohinder lay back and laughed softly. "I don't think I'd want to go four months without being able to touch you."

"Me neither." Candice giggled as she kissed him again.

"Hey you two! Cut it out! This is a semi-public place!" They looked up to see Peter and Sherry strolling towards them. Peter laughed as they rolled their eyes. "Besides, you're pregnant. You don't want to give that kid a big dent in the top of his or her head, do you?"

"Where do you think the soft spot REALLY comes from?" Candice winked.

"That's just wrong." Peter sat down in a chair while Sherry rolled her eyes.

"Yeah, you complain about stuff like that now. If my stick ever turns blue, I'll be bringing this conversation up with you, yet again. In fact, I think I'll just swat you away for nine months following, just to see if you change your opinion on the whole having sex while knocked up thing." Sherry kissed the top of his head before pulling off her tee shirt and jumping into the pool.

Peter watched as she swam laps, his eyes scanning over her bikini-clad figure. "I should learn to keep my mouth shut, shouldn't I?"

Candice nodded. "I think so, yes."

Mohinder laughed. "I would have thought you and Sherry would be having some down-time this morning. You both taught a class last night with Nathan, didn't you?"

Peter nodded. "I had to get out of the building. Sometimes, I really, really, REALLY regret picking up super-hearing from Gabriel."

"Meaning?" Candice stared at him, confused.

"Meaning the two of them are across the hall, trying very loudly, and very frequently to join the mommy and daddy ranks with the two of you." Peter shuddered. "After the third time of hearing them scream 'don't stop, yes, yes, yes' I grabbed Sherry and told her that we needed to get down here before they ruined sex for me forever. I swear to God, between those two nearly pounding a hole in their wall with their headboard, and Hiro yelling 'yatta!' next door whenever Leilani comes over to 'visit', I really don't think I want to have sex ever again."

Candice sat up. "Wait a minute. You mean HIRO and LEILANI are finally-"

"-Like bunnies." Peter lay back in his chair. "Super-hearing SUCKS! She keeps calling him her 'big kahuna'." He shook his head as Candice and Mohinder started laughing. "It's not funny, Man!"

"Then stop listening!" Sherry climbed out of the pool. "I think that it's sweet that they're finally together, even if Ando and Rosario broke up." She kissed Peter. "You know, Gabriel has apparently figured out a way to tune others out-"

"-No he hasn't. He said the other day that he really wished Matthew would start sleeping through the night because the baby kept waking him up when he was fast asleep." Peter shook his head. "He wakes me up too, but he's a baby. He'll grow out of it soon."

Sherry sighed. "My poor baby with his super-hearing." She winked at him. "Of course you know the saying, 'if you can't beat them, join them'. You USED to ask me if I wanted to give them a run for their money whenever you'd hear someone start up in the building."

"I know." Peter grinned at her. "We could do that later."

"Yeah, we could." Sherry grabbed a chair and stretched out on it next to Peter. "So a year ago today is when all this shit really got started, huh?"

"Yep!" Peter nodded. "A year ago today, I nearly blew up New York and the two sex monkeys up there first met." He frowned. "And in a year to the day, we're going to have to fight Linderman."

Candice nodded. "I say let him bring it. We've got a big group with a lot of powers. I'm ready to kick his ass."

"Have the baby first before you start kicking ass, okay Darling?" Mohinder kissed her cheek.

"We've got a year." Candice nodded. "I'll be back in fighting form by then."

Peter nodded. "We've got a year." He whispered.

They stayed out by the pool together for most of the day, joking and laughing with each other until Claire came home from school with Sanjog, Lyle, Molly and Micah. The four of them waved at the kids and teens until they entered the building, noticing how Meredith stepped out of her trailer to watch Claire return home from school. Sherry smiled softly, glancing at Peter. "So they STILL haven't talked? She's been here since February."

"Meredith barely talks to anyone." Peter shrugged. "I've gone over there a few times, but she gets so nervous around others. At least she's taking the defense classes and training with the rest of us."

Sherry shook her head. "She and Claire REALLY need to talk."

"I know." Peter sighed. "I've tried to get Claire to go over there, but she keeps making excuses. Her latest one is 'I have to go out with Nikolai' or 'I'm too busy with Nikolai' or 'Nathan and I are going to go flying'-"

"-I've been meaning to talk about that." Mohinder sat up in his chair. "I want to do some research on Nathan and Claire."

Peter turned to him. "Research about what?"

"I have a theory that I want to test out, using Nathan and Claire's blood samples. I ought to test Olivia and Angela as well." He leaned forward as everyone watched him. "Has anyone noticed that, almost from the moment she was imbued with her father's powers, she has shown considerable skill and control with them, almost even more than Nathan himself has shown?"

"With the exception of her first landing," Peter nodded "yes, I've noticed that she's probably the best flier here."

"She's even better than Nathan." Mohinder raised an eyebrow. "She's a faster and stronger flier than he is."

"So what's your theory?"

"What if, when a subject is imbued with a power from a parent, or someone else with a strong genetic connection, that subject's genes allow that power to become expressed even more strongly, than in the original host? Claire and Nathan share genes. Nathan's genetic power, when combined with his own genes in Claire-"

"-makes that power even stronger." Peter's eyes widened. "Meaning that Olivia, with Angela's power-"

"-Can swap back and forth quickly and more frequently than Angela herself. And Olivia, with Linderman's powers-"

"-Could theoretically raise the dead, not just the dying." Peter sat back, his eyes wide. "If you're serious about this, if this theory is proven as a fact-"

"-Mama Alice had a very serious point in wanting Olivia to have had those powers BEFORE Tatiana's death because-"

"-She could have brought Tatiana back moments after she died, even though I couldn't." Peter stared at Mohinder. "Don't tell her that and don't you DARE tell Gabriel that. He beats himself up enough about that as it is."

"I wasn't planning on telling him. I think Olivia should know about it, but not Gabriel." Mohinder shook his head. "I agree about Gabriel. Besides, if he thought Olivia could raise the dead-"

"-He might want her to try and resurrect Tatiana now." Peter shuddered. "That would not be a good idea. Even IF Olivia could do it, God only knows what she'd bring back."

Sherry made a face. "Like Gage in _Pet Sematary_? Gross!"

"I know." Peter stared at Mohinder. "What do you think, if this theory is true about Olivia, the window would be for resurrection?"

"I don't know." Mohinder shook his head. "Minutes? Hours? Days?" He frowned. "Certainly not days or months or years, but minutes or hours, most definitely. The biggest question would be, WHAT would she be resurrecting. According to religious belief, death occurs when the soul leaves the body. Medically, it's when the brain and body have stopped functioning. If she could resurrect the body, but not the soul, the touch of her hand on someone deceased-"

"-Could bring back a zombie." Peter closed his eyes. "Holy shit."

"It's just a theory though. I'd have to research it more."

Candice stared at Mohinder, her eyes wide. "Yeah, you do that, Baby." She stood up. "Now, if you don't mind, this talk of resurrections and zombies have sort of freaked me out. I'm going to go lie down for a while and talk to my baby."

"I'm going inside too." Sherry made a face at Peter and Mohinder. "This discussion just got officially creepy as hell!"

Peter watched as Sherry and Candice walked back into the building, then turned back to Mohinder. "So do you REALLY think this could be more than just a theory?"

"I don't know." Mohinder shook his head. "I honestly don't want to think about it. I'd rather test it on Nathan and Claire first."

"Fucking weird." Peter sighed. "So if Nathan and Claire prove it, what are you going to tell Olivia?"

"I'm going to tell her that once someone's dead, they're dead. There's no bringing them back and she shouldn't even try." Mohinder stared at the ground. "No matter what."

Peter nodded. "Good idea."

* * *

"So, think you're pregnant yet?"

Olivia laughed as Gabriel lay next to her, touching her stomach. "I don't know!"

"When will you know?"

"In a few weeks after I miss a period." Olivia grinned at Gabriel as he made a dejected face. "Oh come ON! You saw Faith's birth certificate. Odds are, I'm knocked up Sport!"

"I know." Gabriel lay back against the pillows behind him. "I just wish I KNEW."

"You will. Just be patient." Olivia cuddled up beside him. "We need to get some sleep if we're going to teach tonight."

"You're probably pregnant, you're not teaching shit." Gabriel glanced at her as she glared at him. "Hey, it's not a good idea for you to be punching people and getting punched if you're pregnant."

"We don't know if I AM yet, first of all. Second of all, TEACHING isn't going to hurt either of us for a while. And finally, don't you DARE start getting all overprotective of me, you got that? I might be possibly pregnant, but I'm not made of glass and I'm not going to break!" She climbed out of bed, tossing a pillow at his head before pulling on a robe. "Now, I'm going to grab something to eat. I've worked up quite an appetite after spending all day in bed with you."

"Make sure you eat a lot!" Gabriel grinned as he settled against the pillows. "You're probably eating for two." He stared at the ceiling, smiling. "I'm gonna be a daddy." He sighed. "It's about damn time, too." He sat up and grabbed a robe, pulling it on as he headed into the kitchen.

Olivia glanced at him as she made a sandwich. "What's up?"

"I just realized, I'm hungry too." Gabriel laughed as he grabbed Olivia's sandwich. "Sorry, you were going to eat that?"

"Yeah!" Olivia glared at him as she turned to make another sandwich. "You know, you probably just took food from your starving little baby's mouth, you do realize that right?"

"Please, she's probably just two or three little cells right now. This sandwich would be WAY too much for her." He smiled at her. "So we're probably parents right now."

Olivia shrugged. "Probably."

"Good!" Gabriel looked around the apartment. "So when do we move into one of the bigger places upstairs?"

"You're kidding me, right?" Olivia sighed. "Fucking spoiled!"

"You said-"

"-I said we'd TALK about it! We don't even know if I'm pregnant yet, Gabriel! Besides, I like living here on the tenth floor. My brother's across the hall-"

"-And Leilani is riding the Big Kahuna every night." Gabriel made a face. "I'd hear less higher up." He sighed. "FINE! But the minute that stick turns blue, I'm packing our shit and dragging us up to the twenty-second floor. No one's living there!" He winked at Olivia. "We'd be all alone with no one on our floor to bother us."

"Spoiled ass rotten!" Olivia ate her sandwich as she stared at her husband, shaking her head in amazement.

"And you know you love it."

* * *

Peter sat by the pool, Mohinder's words running through his head. He looked up as Claire entered the gate carrying books, Nikolai following her. He glanced over to see Meredith step out of her trailer, her eyes following Claire as she took a seat and opened her books, Nikolai sitting beside her. "How was school today?"

Claire grinned at him. "It was good. How was your day?"

"Weird." Peter shook his head. "Don't ask." He noticed Meredith watching them from the garden. "When are you going to talk to her?"

Claire frowned, looking down at her school book as she ignored her mother. "Who?" She asked coyly.

"You know who I'm talking about, Claire. She's been here for nine months now. She comes out of her trailer every morning when you leave to go to school and every afternoon when you come home from school, just to watch you."

"You really should talk to her." Nikolai nodded.

"I've told you why I'm not talking to her." Claire refused to look at her uncle and boyfriend.

Nikolai sighed in an exasperated tone. "I know that the two of you have not had the best relationship, but-"

"-She left me to die in a burning building when I was a toddler." Claire pretended to read her book.

"Okay, so she screwed up." Peter leaned forward, watching as Claire cut her eyes at him, then looked away. "She was a scared kid, Claire. She wasn't much older than you are now."

"That's no excuse." Claire whispered. "Besides, she wasn't a kid when she used me to blackmail Nathan, was she?"

"Give her a chance." Nikolai touched her shoulder, turning her to look at him. "She's your mother."

"Sandra Bennet is the only mom or mother I'll ever claim." Claire glared at Nikolai and then turned to Peter, her eyes blazing. "So can we drop this now?"

"No." Peter shook his head. "She came here, she agreed to come here and join this group, fight alongside us. Doesn't that count for SOMETHING?"

"No, it doesn't." Claire shrugged and returned to her book. "She probably thought there was money in it or something. You probably told her Olivia was loaded."

"No, we didn't. I think Mohinder filled her in on it during their trip here, but she didn't agree to come because of money, Claire. She came here because she wanted to fight alongside us, alongside YOU. She came here to be closer to you and to help us all survive." Peter looked at his niece sadly. "Please just go and talk to her. She's standing over there now, watching you."

"I know." Claire pursed her lips together. "She's always there when I come out here. It's like she has radar where I'm concerned."

"And yet you still come out here." Nikolai added. "You still come out here, knowing she's watching you."

"I'm not going to turn down a chance to catch a few rays while studying just because my egg-donor stares at me." Claire sighed and closed her book. "You two aren't going to drop this, are you?"

"Nope." Peter shook his head.

"Fine!" She stood up and grabbed her book. "It's too hot out here right now anyway." She rolled her eyes at her uncle and boyfriend and stomped back into the building.

Nikolai shook his head, turning to Peter. "She's stubborn. That's one of the things that normally I truly do lo-" he blushed "-like about her. Usually." He stood and followed her inside, smiling kindly at Meredith as he passed her. "Have a lovely day, Miss Gordon." He whispered as he went inside.

Peter turned to watch as Meredith walked towards the pool and sat beside him. "Did you hear any of that?"

Meredith shook her head. "I was too far off. I get the feeling that her little blow up was about me. Am I right?"

Peter sighed. "She's stubborn."

Meredith laughed. "She's half mine and half Nathan's. Of COURSE she's stubborn." She sighed sadly. "I don't know why I came here. I just upset her."

"You came here for the reason I just told Claire. You're here to fight alongside us and help ensure that we all survive, including Claire. You're here to make sure the next generation doesn't have to live in fear."

"Sure." Meredith sat back in her chair. "So do you think she'll ever forgive me for anything?"

"Give her time." Peter winked at her. "We've had this talk with her quite a few times in the last nine months, she's starting to give in, I think."

"What makes you think that?"

Peter grinned. "This time she didn't throw her book at me or kick me in the shins before she stomped off in a huff."

"She did that?" Meredith cocked her head to the side.

"Yep!" Peter laughed. "She's done that a few times, actually. Trust me, she's starting to soften."

"Sure." Meredith stood, smirking. "Maybe in another nine months, she'll actually look in my direction when she's stomping off." She sighed. "I'll keep giving her time."

"Good girl." Peter stood up and stretched. He thought of his dream with Sanjog and Claire's reaction to Meredith's death in it. "I really do think she'll come around. You two have a lot to work out, but I think that by this time next year, you'll actually be getting along. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going inside to grab some dinner."

"I need to do that too." Meredith nodded. "I'm with team two, so I'll be training tonight. I need my energy for that. I don't know who's more of a slave driver: the scientist, your sister or her crazy-ass husband." She laughed as she waved to Peter. "Talk to you later."

"Chin up, okay?" Peter winked at her as he walked towards the gate. "And remember, just-"

"-give her time." Meredith grinned. "I know."


	63. Chapter 63

Chapter Sixty-Three: Questions Answered In Dreams

Peter rolled over in his bed to watch over Sherry as she slept beside him. He smiled softly as he tucked a light brown strand of hair behind her ear. She opened her eyes for a moment and grinned at him. "Hey." She whispered.

"Hey you." He smiled sheepishly. "I didn't mean to wake you."

"It's cool." Sherry stretched before she snuggled next to him. "Something's on your mind."

"I'm just worrying about stuff, that's all."

"Care to unload on me?" Sherry kissed his shoulder.

"The battle. According to Future Hiro, it takes place a year from tonight."

"I know." Sherry glanced up at him. "You're worrying if you only have exactly one year left with me, don't you?"

"With you, with my family, with my friends-" Peter sighed. "If we don't fix things, everyone in this building has only one year left to live. And I keep thinking about my part in Mama Alice's predictions, the ones she gave to Olivia and Gabriel."

"Where you fight beside Gabriel as a brother and kill Olivia to defeat Linderman."

"She's my sister. I can't kill her, Sherry."

"Even if she wants you to? Even if it's the only way to destroy Linderman and save our lives?"

Peter frowned. "I don't think I have it in me to watch my sister die."

Sherry sighed. "I hate to tell you this, Babe, but I get the feeling it's either going to be Olivia only, or all of us, including the baby you saw me carrying in that battle."

Peter closed his eyes. "I know. My sister, or my entire family."

"It's a lose-lose situation, I know." Sherry stroked his arm as she rested her head on his chest. "I don't envy you."

"I don't envy me either, me or Gabriel. We're supposed to kill her together. She's supposed to feel my sword in her heart and Gabriel's on her neck." Peter shook his head. "I don't know if I'll be able to do it, I just don't know."

* * *

"So, do you think you're pregnant yet?"

Olivia started laughing as she rolled over to kiss Gabriel. "Are you going to ask me that every hour for the next few weeks until I'm able to take a pregnancy test?"

Gabriel raised an eyebrow. "Um, yes. I am."

"Fine." Olivia sighed. "This is going to be my usual answer for you: I don't know yet. It's too soon to tell."

"Okay." Gabriel grinned as he pulled his wife closer to him. "You tired?"

"Yes, actually I am." Olivia yawned. "After a marathon sex session all day and then twelve hours of training tonight, I'm pretty worn out, why?"

"No reason." Gabriel sighed loudly.

"What?" Olivia sat up, leaning on one elbow. "You cannot be serious. You're not exhausted?"

Gabriel wiggled his eyebrows at her. "When are you going to figure out that I'm never too exhausted when it comes to ravaging you all night long?"

"Oh for God's sakes!" Olivia sighed as she lay back on the bed. "Just hurry up then so I can get some sleep."

"Oh, that's sexy." Gabriel sighed. "When did we become a married couple?"

"Eleven months ago." Olivia smirked. "Hey, be glad you got eleven months of unlimited nookie."

"Act like you're into it or I'll start comparing notes with Nathan about how often HIS wife gives it up."

"I've already compared notes with Heidi. It's two or three times a week, tops."

Gabriel's eyes widened. "You're KIDDING!" He shook his head. "My balls would be bluer than-"

"-I know!" Olivia smirked. "I can't imagine it either." She snuggled up next to him. "You know I was just kidding about being too tired, right?"

Gabriel smirked and stretched out on the bed. "Just hurry up then so I can get some sleep." He laughed as Olivia snatched the pillow from under his head and popped him with it. "Oh, this is going to turn into a pillow fight, huh?" He sat up and grabbed Olivia around the waist, tickling her as she shrieked and giggled. "I like tickle fights better."

"Me too." Olivia struggled to breathe as she laughed and squirmed away from her husband. "Okay. Seriously. Cut it out." She grabbed him around the waist and fell back, pulling him on top of her. "Enough with the foreplay."

Gabriel shook his head. "Oh Baby, you haven't even SEEN foreplay yet." Olivia gasped as he began to kiss her neck, his lips sliding to her breasts, then her belly before they went lower.

* * *

Peter frowned as he slept, dreaming about a dark corridor. He walked into it and spotted Sanjog. Sighing, he nodded to him. "Time for another dream walk?"

Sanjog cocked an eyebrow. "You summoned me, not the other way around."

"Right." Peter looked around. "So what are we seeing tonight?"

"You tell me." Sanjog began to walk down the corridor with Peter. "Something's been troubling you."

"Some THINGS have been troubling me." Peter sighed. "I don't know how you can help me with them."

"I can help you by showing you what you ask to see." Sanjog pointed to a valley and Peter frowned. It was the valley from his last dream with Sanjog, the valley in the desert where the battle had taken place."

"The battle again? The battle through Future Hiro's eyes? THIS is what I want to see?"

"Yes." Sanjog nodded. "You know it's true. You saw the end of the fight, now see the beginning of it."

Peter closed his eyes and shook his head as he and Sanjog stood on the ridge overlooking the valley. He saw them coming first, Linderman's army, as they flew into the valley and landed, looking around as they gathered around their leader. He turned and saw himself and his friends arrive, flying as Linderman's people did. They landed, with Peter, Nathan, Olivia, Claude, Hiro, Niki, D.L. and Sherry in the front. Peter watched as both armies quickly marched towards each other, lined up in a battle formation. He saw Linderman raise his arms, stopping his army and watched his own group stop as well.

Linderman smirked and stepped forward. "I want to speak to my daughter first."

Olivia stepped forward as Peter grabbed her arm. "Don't do it, Liv. Don't go to him. He's been trying to kill all of us for the last two years, picking us off one by one. He only stopped when he did because you were pregnant. He started back the day after Faith was born, the day he tried to kidnap you both."

Linderman cleared his throat. "Olivia Darling. Come speak with me now and I'll let your friends all leave here alive. Speak with me now, and I'll tell you where to find Gabriel."

"We could have found him already if we'd wanted to. We do have Molly, you know." Claude spoke up.

Linderman glared at the Englishman. "Olivia. We've already found Gabriel. We have him."

Olivia shook her head. "No."

"We found him the day your daughter was born. When you and your friends ran us out of the building after my attempt to see my grandchild, I decided that she needed her father. I found him, Olivia. He's been with me these last three months."

"No, he's not." Olivia shook her head.

"Yes he has." Linderman purred. "I know how much you miss him. I know how much you need him." Linderman held out his hand. "Come and have a word with me now, and I'll let your friends go and I'll let you see your husband."

"You're lying." Olivia shook her head. "And I'm not coming anywhere near you."

Linderman smirked and shook his head. "Unfortunate." He reached out his hand, twisting it as Olivia gasped. He started laughing as Olivia was pulled towards him by an unseen force. Peter and Nathan reached out to grab her and were shoved back as Linderman raised another hand to block them. "Your husband isn't the only one with telekinesis, My Dear." He snarled. "I met a lovely woman in Toronto with it, many, many years ago. Her blood was used for the very first serum, which was tested on me. I only use it now on 'special' occasions"

On the battlefield, Peter raised his head as he heard a voice. On the ridge with Sanjog, Peter turned to see someone running towards the battle, yelling. Peter recognized Gabriel as he ran towards their team. "Stop! I'm here! I'm here to help!" He slid down the ridge and entered the valley as Linderman smirked.

"You're here alright!" He grasped Olivia by her long, curly ponytail. "You're here to watch your lover die!" On the ridge and on the battlefield, Peter shouted as Linderman pulled out a scimitar and decapitated Olivia, tossing the head towards their feet. Gabriel screamed in heartbreak, kneeling at Olivia's body as Linderman spun around and walked through the ranks of his army. "Kill them all." He shouted.

Both armies ran towards each other, shouting in anger as Gabriel and Hiro ignored the bedlam around them. Hiro knelt beside Olivia's head and nodded, quickly disappearing. Gabriel cradled Olivia's body in his arms, sobbing. Peter saw someone rush Gabriel, their sword raised to kill him. As the sword came down, Peter's blocked its descent. They struggled as Peter glared down at Gabriel. "GET UP!"

"I just want to die!" Gabriel sobbed and shook his head. "I never should have left her. I never should have run. I could have stopped him, I could have saved her."

"She couldn't be saved, she was never meant to be saved! Now GET UP AND FIGHT DAMMIT!" Peter kicked at Gabriel as he struggled to fight his attacker. "Get up and help us in her name! Do it for Olivia!"

Gabriel looked around at the people fighting and scanned the crowd, spotting Linderman as he stood alone on high. His face twisted into a snarl as he picked up Olivia's sword. "I'll kill them all for her. I'm saving that bastard Linderman for last. I'll prove every one of you wrong." He stood. With a flick of his finger, Peter's attacker fell to the ground, his head rolling away from his body. "Every one of them must die until I get to him." Gabriel's eyes blazed as he and Peter began to march together into the fray, fueled by anger and grief as they began to cut down anyone in their way.

On the ridge, Peter turned to Sanjog. "And I had to watch my sister die because?"

Sanjog looked at him. "You must accept Mama Alice's prediction. You must accept your role in it. As you can see, you've already changed so much. Gabriel has stayed so far, and may stay until the battle is over. You've already figured out Linderman's secret weapons and you've acquired one of your own that you didn't have before. Who knows what else you can change? Maybe we will all have a future after all."

"What about my sister? I just told Gabriel that Olivia wasn't meant to be saved. Does that mean-?"

"-Either she dies by your hands or her father's. She wasn't meant to be saved."

Peter shook his head, tears streaming down his cheeks. "I can't sacrifice her."

"Then we'll all die." Sanjog hung his head sadly. "Fate always finds a way, even if it's outcome not written in stone. New York was meant to be the site of an explosion a year ago. If you hadn't been there for it to happen, Sprague or Gabriel would have done it. That was fate. What wasn't written in stone was your brother finding a way to save you and the others, lifting you to the skies to detonate there." Sanjog turned to him. "Now you must find a way to let fate happen and change the outcome."

"Find a way to save Olivia."

"If she can be saved. If not, find a way to save us all."

Peter raised an eyebrow. "Or find a way to save everyone, including her."

"If fate allows." Sanjog nodded.

"Okay." Peter turned to see that he was standing in the corridor again, this time alone. He began to walk down it, and soon found himself running.

He awoke in his bed with a start, glancing over at Sherry as she slept beside him. He lay in bed awake, thinking of Sanjog's words and how he could save his sister, while saving the world.

* * *

Peter woke up again the next morning as Sherry's cell phone rang. He smiled as she leaned over him to answer the phone and grasped at her waist, kissing her neck as she laughed and answered it. "Hello?"

Peter listened as a voice spoke through the phone. He'd heard it before and knew it was Sherry's mother, Madeline. "Sheryl? It's Mama. What are you doing?"

Sherry made a face and swatted Peter's hand away as he groped her. "Just getting ready to go to work, Ma."

"You've still got that job with that technology company? They ain't fired you yet?"

Sherry sighed as she sat back on her heels, rolling her eyes at Peter as he smiled sweetly at her. "No Ma, they ain't fired me. I'm doing very well here."

"Oh." Peter heard a smacking sound and made a questioning face to Sherry. Sherry answered him by pantomiming eating. "Well, listen. Your brother's comin' from Iraq in time for Thanksgiving. He's coming home to stay. He's finished his tour. You're comin' home to see him, right?" Sherry closed her eyes as Peter sat up, nodding excitedly. Sherry opened them and stared at him, shaking her head. Peter nodded again as Sherry continued to glare at him, shaking her head vehemently as he heard the woman on the phone sigh. "Sheryl! You still there? This call ain't been dropped, has it?"

"No, Ma. I'm still here." She slapped at Peter's hands as he tried to reach for the phone. "I've got plans for Thanksgiving already, I can't come home."

"PLAAAANS?" Peter heard the voice whine. "Sheryl Maria Antonia Veronica Tiffany Bombano," Peter started giggling as Sherry glared at him. He started mouthing off all of her names as she raised a fist, glowering. "just WHAT plans do you have that are more important than coming home to Newark to see your brother for Thanksgiving? What's more important than seeing your TWIN brother after he's been away for the last year in Iraq, fighting for this country and our freedom, including yours, Missy! He's been risking his life so you can hang out there in Las Vegas, doing God knows what with God knows who, at some stupid technology company, which I doubt even exists" he heard the voice gasp "Sheryl, are you a hooker?"

"MA!" Sherry climbed out of bed, her eyes narrowing. "For the last time, I'm NOT a hooker! Why can't you believe that I ACTUALLY work for a technology company? Why does your mind always go to HOOKER?"

"You'd better not be one." Peter winked at her. "You're mine."

"Did I just hear a man's voice in there? Did you have a man stay over at your place all night?"

Sherry leaned against the wall as Peter frowned. "She doesn't know about me?" He whispered. "We're going to Newark."

"Ma, I have to get ready to go to work. I have to put on clothes that HOOKERS don't wear, okay?"

"I'm not hanging up this phone until you agree to come home for Thanksgiving. I can call back all day, your father found a way to get us unlimited minutes. I don't ask questions. Now you answer my question, did you have a man over?"

Sherry sighed. "He's coming home with me for Thanksgiving Ma, it's serious."

"It had better be even more damn serious by the time you two come here if he's sleeping over, Young Lady! It had better be married serious!"

"We're NOT getting married before Thanksgiving!"

"What am I gonna tell your father, then?"

"You don't have to tell him anything except that I have a boyfriend, it's serious and I'm bringing him with me." She glared at Peter. "I'm sure he can't wait to meet you."

"What's his name?"

"Ma, I've really gotta go." Sherry hung up the phone and threw it on the bed. "I'm in Hell."

"You haven't told your MOTHER about me?" Peter stared at her.

Sherry sighed. "Don't be mad." She looked over at him. "And please don't give me those sad puppy-dog eyes. Why on EARTH would you want to come to Newark? You've heard me talk about my family, okay? They're a nightmare."

"You still should have told them about me." Peter lay back on the bed.

"Oh Baby." Sherry climbed back into bed with him as she snuggled up beside him. "I'm ashamed of them, okay? I didn't want them to know about you because then they'd want to meet you. Besides, once they hear the name 'Petrelli', I know my family's going to be yapping to everyone about how their daughter's dating a Congressman's brother and the last thing Nate needs is to be associated with them. He doesn't need any more mob connections, trust me."

Peter glanced down at her as she rested her head on his chest. "Nathan can take care of himself. You should have told them about me. I want to meet them. I want to see where you came from."

"WHY?" Sherry looked up at him, tears brimming in her eyes. "Peter-"

He silenced her with a finger to her lips. "I know you're ashamed of them. I know everything about your family. You've told me everything. I just want to meet them and let them know that I love you, no matter what. I also want them to see you. I want them to know that, no matter how hard they've obviously tried to pull you down to their level, they haven't succeeded." He wrapped his arms around her, kissing her forehead. "I don't care what your family's like, Sherry. I love you."

"I know." Sherry sighed. "I love you too."

"I love you Sheryl Maria Antonia Veronica Tiffany Bombano." He started snickering as Sherry poked him in the stomach.

"I was the only girl, my father had a LOT of people he promised to name his daughter after and my mother was a showgirl who wanted a kid named Tiffany, so drop it!" She stared laughing. "I'm naming our first kid Bob, not Robert, no middle names, just BOB!"

"I think it's cute!" Peter began to kiss her. "I think it's very cute. I'll just have to memorize all of them so when your parents drag us to a minister with a shotgun, I won't mess it up in the wedding."

Sherry shook her head. "If my parents try to pull a shotgun wedding on us, we are SO teleporting back here and never going back." She kissed him back, sighing as he slid the straps of her nightgown down her shoulders.

* * *

Gabriel and Olivia looked up from their breakfast as Peter knocked and walked into the apartment. Peter stared at him, then stared at his watch. "It's almost noon. Did you two just get up?"

Gabriel grinned. "We slept in. We had a late night that went on until almost dawn."

"Gross." Peter sighed as he sat at the table, looking at the two of them. "Are you SURE that Mama Alice told you both that we'd have to kill you?" He glanced at Olivia.

"Yeah." Olivia nodded. "She told both of us that the only way to defeat Linderman was for the two of you two kill me. Your sword in-"

"-your heart, Gabriel's against your neck." Peter nodded. "I know." He looked up at both of them. "I had another dream walk with Sanjog. I saw how the battle began in Future Hiro's past."

"The battle that I showed up at?" Gabriel asked. "I was gone from Olivia's life by then, right? I had run off after Olivia got pregnant?"

"That one." Peter frowned. "Linderman has telekinesis too. Apparently he got it from some woman in Toronto. He used it to force Olivia to come to him before the battle, when we were all standing against him and that's how he got close enough to her to cut her head off."

"I see." Gabriel sighed and leaned forward on his arms. "Anything else?"

Peter thought of his own words during that battle _"She wasn't meant to be saved." _As he pushed those words away, he heard Gabriel and Olivia both gasp. "Shit. You both heard that, didn't you?"

"Yeah." Gabriel reached out and took Olivia's hand. "We both heard it. You forget both of us now have Parkman's mind-reading abilities. Care to explain what you mean?"

Peter shrugged. "I tell you that during the battle, after Olivia died and you wanted to die beside her. I told you that to make you stand up and fight."

"I see." Gabriel looked over at Olivia again. "So? You don't think we'll be able to find a way to save her?"

"Maybe I really and truly wasn't meant to be saved." Olivia nodded. "It's fate that I die on that field, whether you two kill me or Linderman does, right?"

Peter slumped down in his chair. "I think you're right." He shook his head. "I just don't know yet." He looked at his sister, tears brimming in his eyes. "We're going to find a way around it, just give us time, okay?"

Olivia smiled softly as she reached out with her free hand and grasped Peter's. "I'm okay with it, really. I know you aren't. I know Gabriel isn't, but I'm really and truly okay. I have less than a year left. I'm going to live it as fully as I can and give my husband, my mother, my brothers and my friends a child to remember me by. Just promise me that both of you will make sure she finds a way to remember me."

Peter nodded, tears slowly streaming down his cheeks. "I will." He stood up and kissed Olivia's cheek, exchanging a pained look with Gabriel as he stood and left the apartment.

* * *

Gabriel lay awake that night, thinking of Peter's words. _"She wasn't meant to be saved." _He rolled over and studied Olivia while she slept beside him. He closed his eyes and concentrated, seeing if he could hear another heartbeat within her yet and frowned. "She's not far enough along yet." He whispered to himself. Sighing, he rolled over onto his back, smiling as Olivia snuggled beside him, her hand stroking his chest as she slept soundly. He wrapped an arm around her and kissed the top of her head as his eyes closed.

He was walking through a corridor, one that Peter would have recognized. He turned, recognizing the young boy beside him. "I was wondering when you were going to show up. I was starting to feel deprived. You keep popping in to see Peter."

Sanjog shook his head. "Peter summons me, you never have until tonight."

"So what are you going to show me?"

Sanjog smiled. "Something in the past, something that has to do with a decision you must make."

Gabriel smirked. "Right."

His eyes widened as he realized he was riding in the back seat of an SUV. It was dark as the vehicle drove down the road. Gabriel realized that he recognized the man and woman in the driver's and passenger seats. They had aged since the last time he'd seen them, in Olivia's memory, but they were still recognizable as Jack and Sally Greene. Jack glanced in the rearview mirror and smiled. "You still awake back there, Kiddo?"

Gabriel turned to see Olivia sitting beside him, reading a book with a flashlight. She was seventeen and adorable. Her dark brown hair was pulled back into a braid with curls escaping out of it to frame her face. Gabriel grinned to see that she was wearing glasses. She looked up from her book and smiled at her dad. Gabriel saw a wire around her top teeth, a wire from a retainer. "I'm still up, Dad." She returned to her book as Jack laughed and shook his head.

"So what did you think of Key West this year?"

"It was good." Olivia answered back absently as she read her book.

Sally glanced over her shoulder. "Be careful reading like that Sweetie. You'll strain your eyes."

"Strain her eyes, Hell she's going to end up puking all over the car if she's not careful." Jack laughed softly.

Gabriel smiled to himself as he watched Olivia look up at both of her parents, her expression filled with exasperation and love. "I won't strain my eyes and I won't get carsick, I promise. I look up and look around every few minutes to keep that from happening."

Gabriel felt the vehicle start to slow down. He looked out the window and saw someone standing in the road, his face hidden under the brim of a hat, his head lowered. "What the hell?" Jack started to ask.

The man raised his hands and flicked his fingers as they approached him. Another car had slowed coming the other way. As the man's fingers twitched, the cars flew at each other, smashing together. Gabriel realized that he was no longer in the car. He yelled out as he saw Olivia fly through the windshield and hit the ground, seconds before the cars rolled over her as they rolled down an embankment. The man stood near Gabriel, watching the cars for a moment before they exploded. He watched as the man went to Olivia and checked her pulse. He lifted his head, causing Gabriel to gasp as he grinned and stood up over his daughter's body. It was Linderman. He watched as Linderman strolled past him and climbed into a waiting car, parked on the other side of the road. He turned to his driver. "Make the call. She's still alive. I knew she would be. Mama Alice told me she was meant to live for more than this." He turned and watched his daughter, smirking as his driver called for an ambulance before they drove away.

Gabriel started to run to Olivia and looked around, confused as he realized he was standing in a corridor again with Sanjog. "What in the hell was that?" He turned to the boy. "Linderman KILLED her parents? He left her lying by the side of the road to die?"

"It is what you have asked to see." Sanjog nodded. "There is more."

Gabriel looked around, realizing he was in a restaurant he'd passed in Manhattan many times. It was known as one of the most elegant, exclusive and expensive restaurants in the city. Gabriel walked through the place, weaving past tables until he spotted Linderman eating dinner with Olivia and Angela. His eyes narrowed as he stomped forward, wanting to wring the man's neck. Olivia looked as she did when he'd first met her. As he passed a table, he glanced down to see a newspaper, noting the date. It was November 7, 2006. Linderman spoke first, smiling at Angela. "So how were you able to get away from the family? There must be quite a lot of excitement, with the election tomorrow. Also, how is Claire? She's settling in well with you, yes?"

Angela looked over at Olivia, her expression sad as the young woman ignored her. She turned to Linderman. "Claire's doing well. I'm taking her on an extended trip to Paris tomorrow evening. I'm getting her out of town before the incident."

"You mean before my brother blows this city to Kingdom Come?" Olivia looked over at her mother, sneering with contempt. "Some mother you are. Thank you so much for giving me up at birth. Otherwise-"

"-Otherwise you'd be spiriting off to Paris as well, my Dear." Angela's eyes snapped towards her daughter. "You're welcome to come now if you'd like."

"She can't be spared." Linderman smiled at Olivia. "After tomorrow night, our daughter is going to be betrothed."

Gabriel noticed the way Olivia bristled at Linderman's words. Angela gasped and shook her head. "You cannot be serious! You're still planning on putting her with that lunatic?"

"She'd be with him already if that ineffectual waste Bennet had been able to keep him in Odessa. He was supposed to send him to me after running tests on the man. Instead, he let him escape." Linderman sighed. "No matter, he's back in New York again and ready to wreak havoc." He winked at Olivia. "He won't know what hit him once our girl here turns the charm on. Am I right, Olivia?"

Olivia looked over at him, her blue eyes blazing with hatred. Gabriel watched as she struggled to contain it and smile. "You're right. He won't know what hit him." She whispered. She looked around and placed her napkin beside her plate. "Excuse me. I need to go to the ladies room." She stood and made her way towards the restroom, glancing over at her shoulder to make sure she wasn't being watched by her father. Gabriel followed her as she slipped onto a balcony and braced herself against the rails, staring out into the city. He studied the way she gripped the rails and shook her head, tears silently streaming down her cheeks.

"You don't have to stay here, you know." Olivia and Gabriel whirled around to see Angela walk onto the balcony. "You can go with us to Paris, me and Claire. I'd love for you to meet her."

Olivia looked away, embarrassed. She hastily wiped away tears. "Take Peter with you so he doesn't destroy the city."

"I can't." Angela stood beside her and stared out at the city. "What a lovely view." She mused. "Peter was meant to do this. You've seen Isaac's paintings, Dear."

"I know." Olivia sighed. "Peter's fate is to blow up in New York. My fate is to marry Gabriel Gray or Sylar or whatever he calls himself. Linderman's already told me that. Apparently, Linderman has paintings from Isaac about us as well."

"Oh?" Angela frowned. "I haven't seen those."

"Me neither." Olivia sighed. "I need to check my makeup. No sense in Linderman seeing that I've been crying, not that he'd care."

"I care." Angela turned to her. "Come to Paris, Olivia."

"No." Olivia gave her a dirty look as she walked past her. "You don't care about anyone but yourself and I'm not going anywhere with you. Your time to play doting mother with me ended when you gave me to Jack and Sally Greene. It also ended when I was injured in that wreck and you were too busy worrying about your manicure to make sure your only daughter was okay." Olivia stomped past Angela as her mother stared at her sadly.

"Damn that bastard." Angela hissed.

Gabriel turned to follow Olivia and found himself in a corridor again. He turned to Sanjog. "So what's next? I've seen Olivia's past, I know that her father killed her and was forcing her to be with me. What do I see now?"

Sanjog nodded. "A future that happened to a Hiro that is not in our reality. A future that, hopefully has been changed now."

Gabriel turned to find himself standing in their apartment. A Christmas tree was shimmering and sparkling in the corner as Olivia paced in front of it. This Olivia was tired and looked beaten-down. She looked up as Gabriel walked into the apartment, unshaven and haunted-looking. Gabriel watched as Olivia ran up to his future self. "Where have you been? I was so worried and-"

"-Just drop it." Gabriel was shocked to hear how angry he sounded as he snarled at his wife. He glared at her menacingly. "This was all your idea, you silly bitch. You wanted all of us to live together under this roof and you told me over and over again that everyone would learn to accept me."

"They will, just give them time-"

"-I've given them almost a year!" Gabriel grabbed Olivia by the arms and shook her. "They hate me, they all still hate me! I was fine with it before, but now?" His mouth twisted into a snarl. "You told me I would be accepted. You told me that, as long as you loved me, nothing else mattered. You lied."

"I didn't." Olivia shook her head, tears streaming down her cheeks. "Nothing else DOES matter to me."

"It matters to me!" Gabriel shoved Olivia away as he stomped towards their bedroom. "I was happy being alone! I was happy being Sylar!" He spun around to wave a hand at Olivia as she tried to follow him. She flew backwards down the hall, falling against the sofa. "Then you came along. I knew better than to listen to you." He quickly packed his bags and walked into the living room, shouldering them. "You swore you never had me in your thrall with your powers once we left the hospital together, but you've been lying about that too, haven't you?"

"No." Olivia shook her head. "I haven't used them on you one single time."

"Bullshit. Why else would I have stayed and dealt with this abuse from your friends and your brothers?" He smirked as he set his bags down, his eyes glittering dangerously as he stepped towards Olivia. "I'm going to leave, but first, I'm leaving them a going-away gift. Your body. They'll know better than to mess with me from here on out."

"Gabriel no-" Her voice was cut off as Gabriel twisted his fingers. Olivia gasped for air as he drew her to him with his telekinesis. From across the room, Gabriel watched in horror as he saw himself shove Olivia against a wall, pinning her to it. As he raised his finger to cut her head open, he paused, his eyes widening as he heard something. Across the room, Gabriel heard it too. Along with Olivia's heartbeat, another heart was beating as well, a smaller heart that was beating three times as fast as hers. Gabriel released Olivia as he backed away in horror.

"You're-" He turned away, tears filling his eyes. "-I almost killed you and our child."

"I found out this morning. I was going to tell you tonight-" Olivia looked away as Gabriel held up a hand, shaking his head. "We'll fix this. I'll tell them, all of them to leave you alone."

"It doesn't matter. I've just proven to myself what they've been saying all along." With his shoulders slumped sadly, Gabriel grabbed his bags. "I can't stay here. I'm leaving."

"What? NO!" Olivia stepped towards her husband, who held her back gently with a wave of his fingers. "Please don't do this."

"I have to." Gabriel looked at her sadly. "I almost killed both of you tonight. Who's to say I won't try it again and the next time, succeed?" He stared at the floor. "I'm a killer. I'm a bastard and you and our child are better off without me." He turned and quickly left, phasing through the door as Olivia struggled and cried, still held in place by his powers.

As Gabriel tried to reach his wife, he groaned in frustration to find himself in the corridor with Sanjog again. "So what are you trying to tell me with these dreams, huh?" He asked angrily.

"The future has hopefully changed from that last scene." Sanjog sighed. "The rest is for you to figure out on your own."

"Oh like hell it is!" He stepped towards Sanjog and yelled as the boy turned and ran. "Get back here! I want answers!" He started to run after the boy and gasped as he woke up. He sat up in bed, looking around their bedroom and turned as Olivia stirred beside him. He smiled softly down at his wife as she sat up. "Go back to sleep, Honey."

"What were you dreaming about?"

"I don't know." Gabriel lied. He lay back down beside her, pushing the memories of his dream away before Olivia could sense them. "Just go back to sleep."


	64. Chapter 64

Chapter Sixty-Four: Dream Talk, Cooking Lesson

Peter shivered as he stood outside of the apartment building. He turned as Gabriel strolled out and nodded. "Okay, I got your telepathic SOS, what's up?"

"Let's try not to look too suspicious okay?" Gabriel sighed. "Let's go for a run or something."

"Whatever." Peter shrugged. "I need to warm up anyway. What the hell?"

"It's November, jackass." Gabriel started jogging.

Peter rolled his eyes and started jogging beside Gabriel. "It was hot yesterday."

"Global warming. I think yesterday was the last warm day we're going to get until spring." Gabriel glanced over at Peter. "Time to finally cover the pool, huh? Hey, at least we had it hot until now, right?"

"I liked it better warm." Peter took a deep breath as he and Gabriel jogged. "So what's going on?"

"I got a visit from your little buddy Sanjog last night. News flash, he's a cryptic little shit."

"No kidding." Peter glanced over at his brother-in-law as they ran. "So what did he show you?"

"A few things. First off, Olivia's car accident when she was seventeen? It wasn't an accident. Linderman caused it."

"There's a shocker." Peter grimaced.

"It was pretty bad. He has telekinesis, Pete. He stood in the middle of the road and slammed her parents' SUV against another car, threw Olivia out of it, and shoved both cars into a ravine to blow up, after they rolled over Olivia and crushed her. Then, after he made sure she was still alive, he left her lying there for EMS to find."

"God." Peter shuddered. "Just when I thought that man couldn't get any sicker. So why did he do it?"

"To kill her parents so he could get access to her, and to injure her badly enough to make your mother beg for Olivia's life." Gabriel shook his head as they jogged down the street. "I know either Angela or Olivia one has told you that Olivia was a vegetable after that accident. Olivia's parents had Angela set up in their will to take Olivia if anything happened to them. Linderman knew that. He also knew that Angela would do anything to keep her daughter alive. He forced Angela to beg for Olivia's life and to hand over custody of her if he saved her."

"I know." Peter frowned. "I always wondered what would have happened if Mom had taken her at seventeen. I wonder how different things would have been."

Gabriel glanced over at Peter. "Honestly? I would have gone Sylar on her too, just as I did with you. In a way, Linderman causing that accident and taking Olivia is the reason we're together. If Angela had taken her, if she hadn't been seriously injured in that accident, I would have just been her brother's enemy, and probably hers as well." Gabriel stopped for a moment. "I would have been dead-set on killing her, just as I was set on killing you, Claire and anyone else I met with powers."

"That's weird." Peter turned to Gabriel. "All of this would have never happened."

"I know. Linderman probably would have continued unchecked with his tests without Olivia to start up her own version of them. He would have gained power and come after us one by one and ended up victorious in the end. By causing Olivia's accident, taking her in, and making her a part of his 'master plan', he ended up shooting himself in the foot."

"Couldn't happen to a better man." Peter studied Gabriel as he stared at the ground. "So what else did Sanjog show you?"

"He showed me Olivia, Linderman and Angela having dinner the night before we all met up in Kirby Plaza. Apparently, Angela slipped away long enough for dinner. Linderman told her that he was going through with his plan to force us together. Olivia wasn't happy about it. She went onto a balcony to cry and bitch to and at your mother when she offered to take her to Paris with herself and Claire." Gabriel shrugged. "Olivia always told me that she was against Linderman's plans to put us together until she saw me, but I never realized just how against it she was. Her life really wasn't her own at all around him, was it?"

"Anyone who's under Linderman's thumb doesn't have their own life. They always belong to him." Peter grinned. "But at least Olivia ended up going along with it. All it took was getting a look at you to change her mind, right? Girl got hit with the thunderbolt while you were getting hit with a parking meter."

Gabriel laughed softly. "I know. It just bothered me to see her so upset at the idea of having to be put with me."

"Don't take it personally. She wasn't against you as much as she was against being a pawn in her father's plan."

"If Linderman hadn't faked his death, if he'd stayed around, do you think she still would have been as wonderful to me in the beginning?" Gabriel looked at Peter, his expression sad. "Or do you think she would have just been going through the motions reluctantly? I fell in love with her despite myself and my urges to kill her because of the way she treated me. She was gentle and open and vulnerable, but so strong at the same time. Would she have been that way if Linderman was behind her, pushing her, or would she have just done it half-heartedly?"

"I can't answer that." Peter shook his head. "What do you think?"

Gabriel shook his head. "I don't know. I'd like to think that, as soon as she saw me, whether Linderman was whispering in her ear or not, she would have fallen in love at first sight, like she did after he 'died'. I'd like to think that we would have come together and found away to get away from him and make our lives our own again."

"Have you told Olivia any of this?" Peter raised an eyebrow.

"No." Gabriel shook his head. "I've been mulling it over all night, blocking my mind from hers when she'd wake up to ask me if I was okay. I don't want her to know what I dreamed about."

"Why not?"

Gabriel shrugged. "The last thing Sanjog showed me was pretty scary. It was from Future Hiro's time. It was the night I attacked Olivia, tried to kill her and found out that she was pregnant with Faith. I was so horrible and hateful to her. I shoved her around, I yelled at her and said things to her that I would NEVER say to her now."

"That was from a future that won't happen now." Peter placed a reassuring hand on Gabriel's shoulder. "You were angry because no one was accepting you-"

"-And I took it out on her. I was Sylar in that room. I didn't even recognize myself in that dream. And Olivia looked so haunted and haggard. You could tell that she'd spent the last year in Hell because of me and my fighting all of you. She was even skinnier than she was when I first met her and she looked exhausted and-" He shook his head. "-I know that future isn't going to happen now, but it kills me to know that in some reality, in some other dimension, I made her that miserable and unhappy, and yet she still loved me so much. You could see how much she needed and loved me, even though I was a complete bastard to her. I never want to make her feel that way, I never want to make her that unhappy."

"Then don't." Peter grinned at him. "Do anything you can to make her as happy as she obviously makes you."

"I'm trying." Gabriel grinned back at him. "Thanks for the talk."

"No problem." Peter stretched. "Now let's do some more running. I'm freezing my ass off here and I need to warm up."

Gabriel nodded and turned to start jogging again, with Peter beside him.

* * *

Olivia looked up as Gabriel walked into the apartment, breathing hard. "Hey! How was your run?"

"Good. I had some things I needed to think about." Gabriel walked over to Olivia and wrapped his arms around her, hugging her tightly as he buried his face in her hair. "When's the last time I told you how completely and totally in love with you I am?"

"About twelve hours ago." Olivia turned in Gabriel's arms until she was facing him. Smiling gently, she caressed his face. "So are you finally going to tell me what kept you up all night?"

Gabriel nodded, pressing his forehead to hers. "You're going to have to sit down for this."

Thirty minutes later, Olivia took a deep breath as she sat on the couch, Gabriel sitting beside her. She leaned forward, burying her face in her hands as Gabriel rubbed her back. "I'm sorry to have to be the one to tell you all of this." He whispered.

"He killed my parents." Her voice was husky as she fought tears. "Just when I couldn't hate him more." She looked over at Gabriel, tears brimming in her eyes. "He caused that wreck? He stood there and just smashed those cars together, like Matchbox toys?"

"Yeah." Gabriel nodded sadly.

"He murdered Mom and Dad." Olivia's face twisted angrily. "I'm going to KILL him!"

"We all will." Gabriel pulled her into his arms as she began to cry, her body hitching with sobs. "He's going to pay for everything. If we could kill him, resurrect him and kill him again, I'd do it over and over again. I'd do it for you, for me, for Tatiana-" His arms tightened around her. "-He'll suffer for all of this."

"Bastard." She whispered. "And you also saw our dinner from the night before-"

"-Yeah." Gabriel nodded. "I saw how upset you were at the idea of being with me."

Olivia lifted her head from his chest, staring into his warm brown eyes. "You realize it had nothing to do with you and everything to do with his scheming, right? The minute I saw you, nothing else mattered."

"Do you mean that?" Gabriel touched his wife's face, stroking her cheek. "I know you said that you resented me and even hated me-"

"-BEFORE I met you." Olivia kissed his palm, placing her hand over his. "The moment I laid eyes on you, whether Linderman had been around or not, I would have loved you. What I resented and hated was his control over my life, but planning to put us together, putting us in each other's paths? That's the only good thing he's ever done for me."

"Do you mean that?" Gabriel looked into his wife's eyes, smiling softly at her. "You really think you would have been this crazy in love with me if Linderman were standing over us all the time?"

"Yes. Without a doubt in my mind." Olivia leaned forward, kissing him. "Besides, I have a feeling that if he'd been hovering around, I would have had an ally against him from the beginning with you. We probably would have found a way to get rid of him and be together without him breathing down our necks."

"That's a good thought." Gabriel kissed his wife, grinning. "We could have been a devious, patricidal Bonnie and Clyde."

"Or Sid and Nancy. That's what Peter keeps calling us." Olivia smiled.

Gabriel frowned. "We definitely fit that Sid and Nancy mold in Future Hiro's past. I was a seriously abusive shit."

"But you're not now." Olivia snuggled against Gabriel. "You couldn't shove me around or hit me if you wanted to."

"And I never want to." Gabriel sighed and closed his eyes as he buried his face in Olivia's hair again, inhaling her perfume. "I could never be that man now."

"Thank God for that." Olivia murmured.

"In fact," Gabriel began to nibble her neck "if you're in the mood, I'd like to show you the man I am now."

Olivia laughed. "You mean, compared to the man you show me every night, repeatedly?"

"Hey, a guy's gotta have hobbies, right?" Gabriel winked at her. "If I'm not splitting skulls, I need something else to occupy my time."

"You're not too tired after being up all night and running with Peter this morning?"

"Too tired to have mind-altering sex?" Gabriel shook his head. "Oh, NEVER!" He took Olivia's hand and led her into the bedroom. "I could never, ever be too tired for this."

"Good." Olivia began to kiss him as they sank to the bed. She giggled and sighed as he pulled off his clothes and tackled her, nibbling on her neck, his hands sliding over her body as they tugged her clothes off. She wrapped her arms around his neck, then frowned as he lay on top of her, still. "Gabriel?" She smirked as he began to snore softly. "Too tired my ass." She gently rolled him over and curled up beside him as he slept. "Maybe later, huh?"

"You're so good." He murmured softly.

"Honey, you're asleep, we're not doing anything." Olivia whispered in his ear.

"I love it when you do that." Gabriel sighed.

"Fine." Olivia shrugged as she lay next to him. "Sweet dreams."

* * *

Sherry looked up from the couch as Peter walked into the apartment, frowning. "My mother called again."

"Oh?" Peter flopped down on the couch beside her. "Making more plans for Thanksgiving?"

"God yes!" Sherry sighed as she blew a strand of hair out of her eyes. "That woman is going to drive me to drink one day. She's cleaning my room and wanted me to tell you that the bed in the couch is very uncomfortable, but you'd have to make do because 'ya'll ain't sleeping together under my roof unless you're married, dammit!'. God she's a prude. I told her that SOMEONE ought to be having sex under her roof, since she and Pop haven't done anything since the last Bush was in office."

"Oh no." Peter looked at Sherry and shook his head. "You did NOT tell her that!"

"Yeah, I did." Sherry leaned back, closing her eyes in frustration. "She wasn't amused. She said she was telling my father that I have a fresh mouth and am, apparently, a big huge tramp."

"Lovely." Peter smiled as Sherry leaned against him, resting her head on his shoulder. "They're going to kill me at Thanksgiving, aren't they?"

"Yeah, but if it makes you feel better, they'll kill me first." Sherry frowned. "Are you SURE you want to meet those lunatics? I can call her back and tell her there's been a change of plans."

"Sherry, you haven't seen them in almost a year-"

"-And I don't miss them, trust me-"

"-And your TWIN brother is coming home after being in Iraq. You should be there to welcome him home." Peter kissed Sherry's forehead. "I can handle riding a couch for a few days."

"I can't." Sherry tilted her head back until she was looking into Peter's eyes. "I'd rather you be in my bed where I can ride YOU."

"Dirty girl." Peter laughed. "You DO have a fresh mouth. Your mother's going to wash it out with soap when we get there."

"It didn't help me when she did it when I was five, or seven, or ten, or sixteen." Sherry shrugged. "I had a dirty little mouth as a kid."

"You still do!" Peter shrugged. "So we're going to leave the day before Thanksgiving and return that Sunday?"

"I guess." Sherry smirked. "Five days with those people will be more than enough."

"I can stand anything they throw at me." Peter kissed Sherry's cheek as she snuggled beside him. "So, I have a question."

"Shoot."

"It's pretty much been decided that powers are genetic."

"Yeah?" Sherry glanced over at Peter. "Really?"

Peter nodded. "So which one of your parents has powers?"

"Neither of them!" Sherry shook her head. "Unless you count being pains in the ass as a power. I don't."

"You've never noticed either of them able to accomplish anything that would indicate that they're special?"

"Just Ma polishing off an entire cake in one sitting. Maybe that's her power, to unhinge her jaw and inhale an entire buffet at once."

"That's kind of mean, Sherry."

"You'll see what I mean, trust me." Sherry turned to Peter. "Just one thing though. If you want to live through the weekend, no Jenny Sacramoni jokes. She and Pop might fight all the time, but he shot a guy in the ass once for asking her how Johnny Sack was doing and how pissed was she that Janice and Bobby moved into her house."

"Damn." Peter's eyes widened. "I'd never make a joke like that. Now THAT'S mean!"

"What's bad is that she looks just like Jenny Sack." Sherry nodded. "So are you SURE you don't want to stick around here for Thanksgiving? Olivia said the other day that Heidi and Angela were going to try and teach her how to cook so she could help them with dinner. Your whole family is going to be here."

"OLIVIA'S going to try and cook?" Peter groaned. "Oh, that settles it. We're definitely going to Newark!"

"She's not THAT bad of a cook, is she?"

"Wanna stay here and find out? I have a feeling that around here, Thanksgiving is going to end with tears, recriminations and a lot of vomiting from food poisoning if Olivia cooks. She can't even boil water without setting off the smoke alarm."

"Seriously?" Sherry shook her head. "Poor Gabriel. Now I know why she's always dragging him into the bedroom for sex. You've gotta keep your man happy somehow and if she can't cook in the kitchen, she'd better keep him on his toes in the bedroom at least."

"See, I'm lucky." Peter grinned. "I have a girlfriend who can do both."

"Flatterer." Sherry poked him in the ribs. "You're so bad."

"That's why you like me."

"No. That's why I LOVE you." Sherry closed her eyes. "So you're SURE you want to go to Newark. It's going to be hell on earth, I'm just warning you."

"It'll be FINE!" Peter shook his head. "Just stop stressing."

"So, if Olivia's such a terrible cook, I guess I shouldn't have agreed to dinner tonight?"

Peter frowned. "Why? Is SHE cooking?"

Sherry nodded. "Heidi invited us. She said that she and Angela are going to teach her something tonight and we're going to eat it. Or else."

"Oh no." Peter stood up and headed for the door.

"Where are you going?" Sherry asked.

"To the store. I'm going to buy all of the antacids I can get my hands on. We're going to need them after dinner. Trust me on this."

* * *

Heidi answered the door that afternoon and smiled to see Olivia standing in front of her. "Time to learn how to cook?"

Olivia shrugged as she walked into the apartment. "I'm telling you, I'm a lost cause."

"No such thing." Angela walked into the living room from the kitchen. "You'll do fine. You NEED to learn how to do this, Olivia. You can't honestly expect that lunatic downstairs to live on love. Learn how to cook or he'll probably decide to take your brain for a snack when he's tired of moaning like a dying wildebeest in the bedroom."

"Like he'd ever get tired of me that way." Olivia winked at Heidi. "You and Nathan still keep the fires burning, and how long have you two been married?"

"Long enough to have a few dry spells." Heidi sighed. "Angela's right. You need to be able to actually cook. Take-out's good on occasion, but you can't honestly expect to live on it. Come on." Heidi took Olivia's arm. "It's easy, you'll see."

Olivia whimpered as she allowed herself to be led into the kitchen. "So what are you going to show me how to cook today?"

"Something simple." Angela smirked. "Spaghetti. You can't honestly mess THAT up!"

An hour later, Nathan entered the apartment, making a face. "Oh dear GOD! What's that stench?"

Heidi rushed into the living room from the kitchen. "Be NICE!"

"What?" He sniffed the air. "It smells like something died." He whispered.

"Your mother and I are teaching your sister how to cook. She made dinner." Heidi smiled tightly. "She made spaghetti, I think. At least, Angela and I tried to show her how to make it."

Nathan sighed. "Oh no. You actually let OLIVIA cook? Have you heard nothing about Gabriel's description of her trying to make grilled cheese sandwiches? Do you have any idea how easy those things are to make? He said they looked like blackened bricks when she was done."

"I know." Heidi nodded. "Like I said, be nice. She's trying and we're teaching."

"You must not be teaching very well." Nathan grumbled. "We do have Hong Wong's take out on speed-dial, right?"

"You'll eat it and you'll like it and you'll be supportive. Gabriel's on his way here too. Olivia called and said she had a surprise for him."

"Oh, this should be rich. I can't wait to see his face when he realizes that we're going to have to eat his wife's cooking." Nathan sighed. "I wonder if maybe they actually dated before he became a serial killer. Maybe her cooking is what made him start craving brains."

"SHHH!" Heidi glared as the doorbell rang. "I'm going back into the kitchen, you're going to answer the door and you and Gabriel are going to be nice and supportive when we eat dinner or I won't be doing that thing you like for a VERY long time!"

Nathan sighed as he went to the door and let Gabriel, Peter and Sherry inside. "Run for your lives as fast as you can." He hissed.

Gabriel made a face. "What died?"

"My sex life if you don't shut it!" Nathan glared at his brother-in-law. "Your wife is cooking."

"Oh hell." Gabriel glanced towards the kitchen. "And you're LETTING her? Do you have a death wish?"

"My wife and mother are trying to teach her."

"They're not doing a very good job of it." Peter shuddered. "What is she cooking anyway, liver?"

"Spaghetti." Nathan grimaced.

"How in the hell can you screw that up?" Sherry asked.

"Trust me, Olivia could find a way." Gabriel muttered. "Have I told you about the time she made grilled cheese sandwiches for our six-month anniversary? Or the time she heated up a can of chicken soup when I had a sinus infection last winter? I'm just glad I couldn't breathe and actually smell it, and all she had to do was open a can and heat it up."

Peter looked towards the kitchen. "Is it too late to make a break for it?"

"Yes, it is." Nathan shot Peter an angry look. "If I have to suffer through this, you all do."

"Why?" Gabriel looked around. "Hey, I didn't marry her for her cooking skills. I don't let her cook or eat her cooking, why should anyone else?"

"Because my wife thinks they can actually teach her something." Nathan sighed. "And if we're not ALL kind and supportive, I won't be getting any, so the first person who hurls at the dinner table is getting my foot in their ass, understand?" He glared at everyone until they nodded. "Good. Now just remember, swallow as much as you can whole without actually TASTING it and drink a lot to wash it down." He turned and plastered a fake smile on his face as Angela walked into the living room. "Smells good, Mom!"

Angela rolled her eyes. "Oh don't lie, you suck at it. Olivia tried, that's the nicest thing I can say."

"Do we still have to eat it?" Peter asked.

Angela's eyes snapped towards her son, glittering darkly. "YES." She hissed as Olivia brought the food into the dining room and set it down.

"Ready for our last meal?" Peter whispered to Sherry as Simon and Monty entered the room. They made faces and tried to sneak back out, only to be collared by their father and herded to the dinner table.

"It won't be that bad, I hope." Sherry sighed as she and Peter joined everyone at the dinner table.

Angela smiled sweetly at Olivia. "Before we begin, I would like to thank my daughter for this wonderful meal and I think everyone else should thank her too." As Olivia squirmed uncomfortably, everyone mumbled thanks. Angela's smile faltered as she began to heap the spaghetti into clumps on everyone's plate. "She worked very hard to learn how to make this. I'm sure it's going to be just delicious. It smells, good."

"Oh for crying out loud, Mother." Olivia rolled her eyes. "You DO have a working nose, right?" She looked around the table at everyone. "You don't have to eat it. I'm a surgeon, or else I will be again after next year, not a chef."

"That's okay Honey." Gabriel poked at the unrecognizable lump on his plate. "I'm sure this will be fine."

"Last chance." Olivia looked around the table. "I can call take-out right now and it can be here in thirty minutes."

"Pizza would be good." Monty piped up. He frowned as Heidi elbowed him. "But this looks good too, Aunt Olivia."

Everyone started to eat, making faces and gulping down water as they tasted the food. After two bites, Olivia shoved her plate away and tossed down her fork. "That's IT! Stop eating this crap right now. You don't have to get food poisoning just to pretend that I'm actually learning anything in that kitchen." As everyone stared at their plates and continued to try and shovel the food into their mouths quickly, Olivia slapped her hands on the table. "I mean it! I'm not mad at anyone, this food sucks beyond reason and I don't want you eating this anymore!"

"Oh thank GOD!" Gabriel shoved his plate away. "Honey, I'm sorry but-"

"-When we move to Tybee Island, I'm hiring a cook, don't worry."

"Thank you!" Gabriel kissed her cheek. "That was the worst thing I've ever had, and you're talking to someone who used to eat raw brain."

"It wasn't that bad." Peter said. As Olivia cocked her head, raising an eyebrow at him. "I've had worse."

"Really?" Sherry turned to him. "And when were you in a third-world prison?"

"SHERRY!" Heidi gasped.

"Oh please!" Sherry turned to Olivia. "You were honest with me about my make-up and hair when I first came here, I owe you. How in the hell did you overcook and undercook the pasta at the same time? Parts were soggy and other parts were crunchy? And the meat? What did you DO to it?"

Olivia started laughing. "I honestly have NO idea! I think I burned half and the rest is still raw." She stood up, winking at Monty. "The pizza is going to be here in thirty minutes, I'm calling now."

"Oh thank GOD!" Monty and Simon high-fived each other as Olivia and Sherry stood to collect the plates.

* * *

"So how much Maalox did you need by the time I took that plate of food away?" Olivia giggled as she climbed into bed beside Gabriel.

"Only half a bottle." Gabriel grinned at his wife. "Honey, if you swear to never, ever, ever cook again, I'll stay married to you for the rest of our lives."

"Cross my heart." She nuzzled her husband as her hands slid under the blankets. "Mother and Heidi got the idea that I might actually be taught how to cook in their heads and I couldn't stop them. I think I've proven that I can't ever be taught."

"You can do whipples, appendectomies, and open-heart surgery Baby, but please don't ever go near a stove again." Gabriel groaned as Olivia's hands began to massage and tease him under the covers. "Now, THIS you can do very well." He pulled her close and tugged her tee-shirt off of her, his hands sliding across her bare back as he began to kiss her breasts. "So who's cooking for Thanksgiving now?"

"Mother and Heidi." Olivia nibbled on his ear. "I've been told to stay the hell out of the kitchen for it, so I'll be watching football with you, Nathan and the boys. I'd rather be doing that anyway."

Gabriel glanced up at her, narrowing his eyes. "You fucked that food up on purpose just so you wouldn't HAVE to cook on Thanksgiving, didn't you?"

Olivia grinned at her husband as she straddled him, her hands rubbing his chest as she winked. "Ask me to make spaghetti again one night and find out."

"You're evil!" He nuzzled her neck.

"I know. I get that from you." Olivia kissed her husband. "Now, let me show you where my REAL talents lie."

"I already know where they lie, but I'll let you demonstrate them as often as you want." Gabriel kissed his wife, moaning as they began to make love.


	65. Chapter 65

Chapter Sixty-Five: Meet the Bombanos

"Sherry, come on! We need to get to the airport!" Peter paced in the living room surrounded by luggage as Olivia and Gabriel walked into the apartment.

Peter grinned as his sister gave him a big hug. "Ready to head off to meet Sherry's family?" She asked.

"It'll be a moot point if Sherry doesn't hurry." Peter sighed as he glanced down the hall. "Our flight leaves in four hours and you KNOW with the holidays it's going to be crowded as hell. It'll take four hours just to get through all of the security checkpoints." He headed down the hall. "Sherry!" He stopped as Sherry stepped out of the bedroom, carrying one last bag. "We're not moving back, Honey."

"I know." Sherry fiddled with her bags nervously. "I just want to make sure I look good all the time." She frowned at Peter. "And I still don't understand why we're taking an airplane when we can just teleport to Newark."

"Because your parents are expecting to pick us up from the airport." Peter took her bag and headed down the hall quickly, with Sherry hot on his heels.

"So we just teleport to the Newark airport! No harm, no foul and we don't have to fight the crazy holiday crowds." Sherry nodded.

Peter turned to Sherry, smiling softly. "Honey, as crowded as that airport's going to be, do you HONESTLY think that NO ONE is going to notice when two people and enough luggage to make Cleopatra think we're overdoing it just appear out of thin air?"

"You're right." Sherry made a face. "Ready to go?"

"I've been waiting for you." He kissed her cheek as he turned to Gabriel. "Let's get this stuff loaded."

"Why should I help?" Gabriel looked around. "She's not my overpacking girlfriend." He rolled his eyes as Peter, Olivia and Sherry all gave him annoyed looks. "Fine, I'd rather help than have you try and make my probably pregnant wife do it." He flicked his fingers, grinning as a group of suitcases levitated off of the ground and glided out of the apartment through the open door and into the waiting elevator. He turned, smiling. "Ready to go?"

"Cool trick." Sherry nodded. "When in the hell is Mohinder going to figure out how to isolate your powers so we can pick and choose, 'cause I want THAT one?"

"No idea." Gabriel shrugged. "Mo's too busy right now tending to his pregnant girlfriend to worry about something as trivial as research!"

"He is not!" Olivia sighed as she followed everyone out of the apartment. "He's trying to figure that one out." She frowned. "He said there was some other research he was conducting as well, something about testing Nathan and Claire?" She noticed a look that passed between Peter and Sherry and raised an eyebrow. "What?" She leaned towards then and glared. "Don't you dare close your minds off to me!"

Peter shrugged. "If Mohinder wants you to know about it, he'll tell you, okay? It's just a theory he has anyway, nothing major." He smirked at his sister. "And we wouldn't close off our minds if you weren't so hell-bent on probing our thoughts. Why they gave Matt's power to two nosey parkers like you and Gabriel anyway is beyond me."

At the airport, Olivia and Gabriel hugged Peter and Sherry. "Enjoy the flight." Olivia grinned at them.

Sherry rolled her eyes. "Yeah, I'll enjoy flying in a metal pressurized tube when I'd rather fly myself or teleport. Being a civilian sucks."

"I know." Olivia winked.

"Hell, I say you two just teleport right into Sherry's parents' living room and after they get over their heart attacks, sit them down and tell them just how special you both are." Gabriel winked as Peter rolled his eyes.

"I'd rather her parents think we're 'normal' for now, thank you."

"Besides," Sherry sighed "knowing Mom, she'd be running hell-bent for leather to the nearest tabloid office to blab about how Congressman Petrelli's brother is a flying, teleporting, phasing, long-jumping, nuclear freak." She turned to Peter. "Not my words really, but Ma would think that."

"I know. Hence the pretending to be simple civilians." Peter nodded.

Sherry glanced at the lines forming. "We need to get in there and start heading towards our flight if we want to make it." She turned and gave Olivia one last hug. "I would stay now that I know you won't be cooking, but Peter has this insane-o idea of meeting my parents."

Olivia laughed. "They can't be as bad as my father, just keep telling yourself that."

"True." Sherry playfully kicked Gabriel in the shins. "Remember, turkey is for Thanksgiving not brains!"

"I know." Gabriel laughed. "Brains are better for eating on Halloween or Valentines Day!" He waved goodbye as Sherry laughed and headed towards the gates with Peter. He turned back to Olivia. "Well, that's two people we won't have to worry about for Thanksgiving."

"Now we just have to deal with MY family." Olivia sighed as she and Gabriel left the airport.

* * *

Seven hours later, Sherry and Peter stepped off of their plane in Newark and collected their luggage. Sherry scanned the airport terminal, frowning. "Figures Ma would be late. She probably had to crowbar her ass out of her car."

"Sherry." Peter sighed. "Try to be nice. She's probably here and just doesn't recognize you." He smiled softly at her, pointing to her dressy casual clothes and honey brown hair. "You do look very different from the last time you were here."

"Damn right she does!" Peter and Sherry whirled around to see a heavy-set woman with a black bouffant hairstyle standing behind and staring up at them. Peter cocked his head to the side as the woman regarded her daughter. She wasn't as heavy as Sherry had made her out to be, but she was shorter than he thought. Madeline Bombano was four-feet ten inches tall, her feet stuffed into hot pink heels that matched her pantsuit. Her dark brown eyes scanned over Sherry. "Where's all the makeup and bleached out hair? And what the hell happened to your short skirts?" She nodded. "Glad to see you gave all that shit up, it made you look like a whore." Peter blanched as Sherry rolled her eyes, her jaws bouncing on the gum in her mouth.

"Yeah, good to see you too, Ma. You've lost weight."

"Fifty pounds so far, so I didn't have to crowbar my ass out of my car, you mouthy little brat! I had the gastric bypass in August, which you'd freakin' know about if you picked up a phone to call home sometime. Why I even bother with you-" She turned and regarded Peter. "This the boyfriend?"

"Yeah Ma." Sherry sighed. "This is Peter Petrelli."

"Petrelli? Italian? Thank freakin' GOD!" She turned back to Sherry. "That brother of yours brought home a freakin' AFGHANISTANI girl! Her name's Toolie, or something stupid like that! I don't understand him, I swear to God! They're married! Can you believe that shit?" She turned back to Peter. "Petrelli, why do I know that name?" Her eyes widened as she gasped. "Holy freakin' shit! You're that brother of that guy that ran for Congress that tried to take a swan dive off of a building before your brother saved your life, aint'cha?"

Peter closed his eyes and sighed as Sherry groaned. "Yes ma'am, I am that guy."

"She finally finds an Italian guy and he's a mental case." Madeline sighed as she shoved past Sherry and Peter. "The car's out in the parking lot. Because of the stupid ass terrorists we can't park at the curb no more, even to pick someone up. Come on, I'm losing money just standing here, you know those thieving parking lot attendees charge you by the hour!"

Sherry grabbed her bags and gave Peter a sad weary look. "Let's go." She sighed. _Welcome to my family. Sure you don't want to run like hell NOW?_

Peter smiled softly at her as he helped her with her bags while carrying his own. _I told you, I can handle them, Honey. She's not so bad once you get used to her, I'm sure._

* * *

In the car, Sherry braced herself against the dashboard, closing her eyes in fright as Madeline wove through traffic while talking on her cell phone. "Yeah, it's Maddie, I got Sheryl and her boyfriend." She turned to Sherry. "It's your sister-in-law Cadie, you know" she covered the phone with one hand, steering the wheel with her knees as Sherry cringed "the WASP-y one that your brother Luciano just HAD to marry." She returned to the phone, driving with one hand. "Yeah, Sheryl's boyfriend? You ain't going to BELIEVE who he is, Honey! He's that Congressman from New York's kid brother, that Petrelli guy! YEAH THAT ONE!" She glanced in the rearview mirror as Peter smiled kindly at her. "He seems okay, but hide the freakin' knives by the time I get home, alright? Bye!" She shut her phone as she careened down the highway. "Cadie says hello, the snooty little twat! You know she AND that little hooker that Sal married are both pregnant—AGAIN! That Tootsie girl that Tony brought home from Afghanistan isn't yet, but you just KNOW she will be soon, just so she can get a green card or whatever. I can't believe your twin brother, Sheryl."

"Maybe she's nice, Ma." Sherry sighed.

"NICE? She's from AFGHANISTAN, for cryin' out loud! That's where all them terrorists are hiding! Mark my words, she'll blow us all to kingdom come during Thanksgiving dinner, she's probably been ordered to do it by her Taliban bosses."

"I doubt she'll do that, Ma." Sherry's voice already began to sound frayed and weary as she ran her fingers through her hair. "So how did Anthony meet her?"

"How the hell should I know? He met her in Afghanistan when he was sent there after the towers blew up. Apparently she was some sort of refugee or something like that. He helped out her group, he remembered her, they wrote and before he came home this last time, he went to Afghanistan, found her and married her." Madeline shook her head. "You know she wants to become a Catholic?"

"That's nice." Sherry shrank down in her seat as she turned to watch the world fly by her window.

Madeline glanced at Peter in the rearview mirror, her eyes narrowing. "So are YOU Catholic?"

Peter smiled softly at her. "Yes ma'am, I am."

"You know suicide's a sin, right? If your brother hadn't saved your life, you'd be burning in hell right now, you know that don't you?"

"Yes I do." Peter nodded. "And I thank God every day for him and for his guidance."

"You should." Madeline pursed her lips as she turned towards an affluent-looking neighborhood. "All of your brothers are visiting, with all of their damn kids!"

"How many do Sal and Lucky have now?" Sherry asked.

"Seven, not counting the two on the way. Cadie's popped out four already and whats-her-face the stripper has had three already. You'd think they'd keep their damn legs closed by now." She glanced back at Peter again. "You planning on marrying my Sheryl and having children?"

Peter glanced over at Sherry, grinning. "I'd like that very much."

"Hope they don't get whatever gene made you suicidal, for crying out fucking loud!" She pulled into a driveway and Peter nodded appreciatively at the large two-story house they'd arrived at. "Nice house, ain't it? God knows I deserve it, having to put up with Big Johnny and his roving eye all these years!" Madeline climbed out of the car and lumbered towards the house, waving at children as they ran towards her. "Not now, go say 'Hi' to your Aunt Sheryl, she's finally decided to grace us with her presence."

Peter watched as five children, all with dark hair and eyes ran towards them, screaming at the top of their lungs. He smiled as Sherry's face finally broke into a genuine smile as she knelt down and was tackled by the children. After hugging and kissing all of them, she turned to Peter. "Peter Petrelli, I'd like you to meet my nieces and nephews at least, the ones who are big enough to walk and talk." She started with the oldest, a serious looking boy with dark brown hair. "This is Luciano Junior, we call him L.J. He's Cadie and Lucky's oldest."

"I'm six." The boy piped up.

Sherry pointed to a girl standing beside L.J. "And this is his twin sister Lucy." She turned to another boy. "And this Lucky and Cadie's 'middle' child Vincent. He's five."

"I got a sister inside named Gracie. She's eighteen months old." Vincent nodded. "And Ma's having another one in six months."

"That's cool!" Peter smiled.

"Not really." Vincent rolled his eyes. "Too many Goddamn kids!"

"LANGUAGE!" Sherry popped the boy in the back of the head before turning to the two smallest children, two identical girls with wide dark green eyes and black hair. "And this is Rain and Sunshine. They are Sal and Ginger's twins. They're four. They have a little brother inside who is thirteen months old. His name is Salvatore Junior."

Peter cocked an eyebrow at Sherry. "I take it twins run in your family?"

"You're not just whistling Dixie." Sherry sighed as she winked at her nieces and nephews before helping Peter grab their bags. She pointed to a curvy redhead sitting in a lawn chair by the fence, smoking a cigarette while rubbing her swollen belly. "That's Ginger, Sal's wife." She leaned towards Peter, whispering. "She was a stripper at the Boom-Boom Room in town, Sal's favorite strip joint. She gave him an extra special private lap dance, and he gave her a wedding ring after he also gave her an extremely positive pregnancy test."

"And she's smoking." Peter sighed. "While pregnant."

Sherry smirked. "Welcome to my dysfunctional family."

As they walked into the house, Peter could hear Madeline talking inside. "JOHNNY! JOHNNY WHERE ARE YOU?"

Peter heard a deep man's voice from inside the house. "I'm in my office! What the FUCK do you want?"

"Sheryl's finally come home with her boyfriend!"

"Oh?" Peter heard the man's voice change in demeanor at that announcement. "My Sherry Baby's home? Thank God!"

"That boyfriend of hers is a fucking nut job! He's that Congressman's brother who tried to fly off of a building last year. Can she pick 'em or what?"

"Oh va fa napole, you stupid bitch! Leave Sheryl alone! You're gonna give me agita here!"

As they entered the house, Peter spotted an older man as he entered the living room. He was medium height, wearing a blue track suit, his dark black hair was slicked back into a pompadour. His hangdog face turned up into a beaming smile as he spotted Sherry. "My little girl!" Johnny Bombano walked over to Sherry, throwing his arms around her as his dark brown eyes sparkled with unshed tears. "I've missed my pretty girl so much!" He rocked back and forth with Sherry, murmuring in Italian before he turned to Peter, his expression turning serious. He extended his hand, raising his eyebrows. "Johnny Bombano."

Peter smiled as he shook the man's hand. "I'm Peter Petrelli. It's nice to meet you Sir."

"Sir!" He beamed at Sherry. "Manners! She finally found one with some manners!" He pulled Peter into a bear hug. "It's good to meet you Son!" He whispered into Peter's ear. "Sorry about the wife, the facia bruta, what a pain in the ass she is." He let Peter go, winking. "Don't judge us all from my rude-ass wife, okay?" He nodded as he turned back to Sherry, grabbing her bags. "Let's get you two kids settled into Sherry's room upstairs!" As he turned, Peter heard Madeline's voice ringing from the kitchen.

"The boyfriend sleeps on the couch, Johnny!"

"It's my fucking house, shut up and make dinner! If Sherry wants her boyfriend with her, he'll be with her, for crying out loud! You already told me they live together, didn't ya? What do you think they do there, sleep in separate rooms?" He sighed as he turned to Sherry. "Don't ever start acting like that she beast in there, for the love of God!"

Peter turned as footsteps pounded down the stairs in time to see Sherry tackled by three men. He smiled as Sherry laughed, hugging and kissing her brothers. She turned to Peter, waving at her three brothers as they lined up in order of age. "This is Sal, Lucky and Anthony, my brothers. Guys, this is Peter, go easy on him." Peter smiled as they waved to him.

Sal was the oldest and, at five foot eight, the tallest. He regarded Peter with dark glittering eyes. Lucky was identical to Sal, but an inch shorter and Anthony, Sherry's twin was five foot five with dark brown hair and hazel eyes. He smiled kindly at Peter and stepped forward first, extending his hand. "Anthony Bombano. It's nice to meet you."

"Peter Petrelli." He grinned as they shook hands, suddenly feeling a shock ripple through his arm. As he glanced at Sherry, his winked at her, suddenly realizing that she wasn't the only Bombano with a power.

"Introductions later." Johnny patted Peter on the shoulder. "Let's get you two upstairs in SHERRY'S ROOM" he directed the last part of that sentence towards the kitchen, smirking as Madeline refused to respond "and then Pete, you come downstairs to my office. We need to talk."

"Go easy on him, Pop." Sherry's voice had a warning tone to it as she began to ascend the stairs."

"WHAT?" Johnny shrugged. "I can't interrogate the man my daughter's seeing to make sure he's good enough for her?" He turned to Peter. "My office."

"Yes Sir." Peter climbed the stairs with Sherry and followed her to her bedroom, glancing at all of the bedroom doors on his way down the hall. "How many bedrooms are in here?"

"Five." Sherry sighed as she set the bags down and flopped onto the bed. Peter smiled and lay beside her, holding her hand. "Feel like running now? We could just teleport back to Vegas."

"They're fine." Peter rolled over and kissed her. "Stop worrying so much."

They sat up as Anthony knocked on the door and entered the room. "It's safe to come in, right?"

"Sure!" Sherry nodded as Anthony grinned at her. "Glad you're home."

"Me too. It's good to be here." He turned and led a young woman into the room, smiling proudly at her. "Sherry, Peter, I want you to meet my wife, Tulia. Tulia, this is my twin sister Sherry and her boyfriend Peter Petrelli."

Sherry stood up and walked to the woman, holding out her hands. Tulia was tall and beautiful, with a slender figure. Her shoulder-length hair was straight and dark brown and her eyes were a striking jade green. Sherry took the woman's deeply tanned hands into her own as she nodded to her. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Tulia."

"You as well, Sherry." She nodded to Peter. "And you Peter."

"How did you two meet?" Sherry asked.

"I was a refugee in Afghanistan. My village was attacked by one of the local warlords who supported the Taliban. My family was killed there. I was in Kandahar seeking aid with the other survivors of my village when I met your brother. He was with a peacekeeping force that provided aid to my people. I spoke English, was the only one who did and I was the translator for him and his group and my people. After he was sent home and later back and forth to Iraq, Anthony and I corresponded with one another and fell in love." She turned to Anthony, her eyes shining brightly as she smiled at him. "When he found out that he was returning home, he wrote to me and proposed. I accepted. We were married in Kabul last week and returned here as man and wife."

Sherry reached out and hugged Tulia. "Welcome to the family. Sorry so many of us are such bigots."

"I have dealt with worse." Tulia smiled gently.

"I'll bet you have." Sherry sighed as she turned to Peter. "Pop won't wait too long before he comes up here looking for you."

"Don't worry." Anthony winked at him. "His bark's worse than his bite, usually. At least he ain't drunk yet."

"Great." Peter stood up, sighing. "Time to face the firing squad."

"I thought you said we weren't so bad." Sherry teased as Peter walked past her.

He turned, winking at his girlfriend. "I still don't think you are."

"Good to know!" Anthony slung an arm around Peter's shoulders. "I'll show you to Pop's lair while these two get to know each other."

As they descended the stairs, Peter glanced over at Anthony. "So what's your power?" He whispered.

Anthony stopped on the stairs as he turned to look at Peter, his eyes widening. "The hell?"

Peter leaned close to him. "I know, okay? I know about Sherry and I know about you. I have a power too."

"I don't know what you're talking about." Anthony's expression turned stony as he herded Peter down the stairs and down a hall to Johnny's office. "Pop's in there." He quickly turned to walk away, giving Peter a wary final glance as he left.

Peter sighed as he knocked on the door and walked in. Johnny's "office" was more like a sports den, with heavy dark wood interiors and black leather furniture. A desk sat against the far wall. Peter spotted Johnny across the room, racking up billiard balls on a pool table while a football game played on a plasma television on the wall. He cleared his throat. "Mr. Bombano?"

"Call me Johnny!" Johnny lit up a cigar and nodded to Peter. "Want one?" Peter shook his head. "Play pool?"

"Sure." Peter grabbed a cue stick off of the wall and began to shoot balls with Johnny.

As Johnny lined up a shot, he glanced over at Peter. "So," Peter noticed the change in Johnny's voice, it seemed to grow smoother, silkier as he talked "tell me the REAL reason you jumped off of that building. Maddie says that she read in the papers that your brother claims that you were depressed."

Peter felt almost as if he'd been drugged as he listened to Johnny's voice. He could hear himself responding to his question, feeling an overwhelming urge to tell the truth. "I wanted to see if I could fly."

"Could you?" Johnny knocked a ball into a pocket and grinned, walking around the table to line up his next shot. "Could you fly?"

"Sort of. It was my brother's power, actually. I flew for a moment, but only a moment. Nathan flew up to save me, but I fell."

"I see." Johnny nodded as he knocked a ball into a pocket, and then cursed as the cue ball followed. "Fucking scratch!" He turned to Peter. "Your turn."

Peter looked around, feeling as if he'd just snapped out of a trance. His eyes widened as he stared at Johnny. "You-"

"-Me what?" Johnny winked at Peter.

"You have a power too?"

"Where'd you think Sherry Baby and Anthony got it from?" Johnny leaned against the pool table as he puffed on his cigar. "I knew the minute I laid eyes on you that you had a power too. When you've dealt with people as long as I have, you begin to notice things like that off the bat. What's your power?"

"Empathic mimicry." Peter cocked his head to the side. "And yours?"

"I compel people to tell the truth." Johnny chuckled. "Comes in handy in my line of work, lemme tell 'ya!" He nodded towards the pool table. "It's your turn, Kid."

"Sure." Peter lined up a shot and glanced over at Johnny, grinning as he knocked a ball into the pocket. "So you tell me something, why did you marry Madeline when you obviously hate her so much?"

Johnny's head snapped back as he chuckled. "You didn't have to use my own power against me for that one, Son! I married her because I knocked her up and it was time to settle down. You wouldn't know it to look at her now, but Maddie was a looker in the day. She looked a lot like my Sherry Baby actually, only not as pretty."

"So why'd you keep having more children after your oldest was born?" Peter lined up his shot and missed.

Johnny took his shot. "Because I wanted a daughter. Sons are great and all, they carry your name on after you die, but daughters? They're the apple of every daddy's eye, right? You'll know what I mean one day when you and Sherry Baby have children. You ARE planning on kids, right? You ARE planning on marrying her?"

"Yeah." Peter grinned. "I am planning on marrying her and having as many children as we can." He cocked an eyebrow at Johnny. "And you didn't need to use your power on me to get me to tell the truth on that one either."

"Good boy!" Johnny laughed as he clapped Peter on the back. "I like you! It'll be nice to have someone NORMAL around here for a change!"

* * *

At dinner that night, Peter looked at Sherry's family as they gathered around the table in the dining room, the sound of children squealing and laughing reverberating from the kitchen as they ate. He smiled at Anthony, Tulia, Ginger, Sal, Lucky and Lucky's wife Cadie, a slender blond with icy blue eyes and an equally icy demeanor. As he turned his smile to Madeline, it faltered as she rolled her eyes at him. "I think he's simple, Johnny."

Johnny looked across the table at his wife, glaring. "What'd you say?"

"Sheryl's boyfriend. He just keeps smiling at everyone like a simpleton."

"Would you rather he walk around looking like he's got a stick up his ass like Cadence here?" Johnny turned to Cadie as she sniffed with disdain. "No offense, Sweetie, but you have GOT to loosen up!" He turned back to Madeline. "First of all, the boy's sitting right here with us, so stop talking about him like he ain't here! Second of all, he ain't simple, I talked to him and he's a smart fella! And third of all Madeline, shut your trap and go stick your face in a box of Ho-Ho's or something, damn!"

Madeline glared at her husband, her mouth snapping shut as she began to slice the small portion of meat on her plate, attacking it angrily. Sherry lowered her head and began to eat as quickly as possible while Peter followed suit. "I'm not eating Ho-Ho's no more, I had the gastric bypass." Madeline muttered.

"Good! You were getting as big as a damn house! I thought I was going to have to add a new wing just to accommodate your ass!" Johnny turned as he heard the flick of a lighter and glared at Ginger as she lit a cigarette. "And YOU! Put that shit out! There's no smoking in my house, especially at the dinner table, ESPECIALLY when you're freakin' PREGNANT! I don't want another premature grandchild weighing four fuckin' pounds!"

"It's easier to push them out when they're smaller." Ginger sulked as she put her cigarette out.

"That's because you're a lazy-ass twat!" Lucky muttered.

"HEY!" Sal turned to Lucky. "That's my fucking wife you ass! You don't hear me talking about your cooz of a wife!"

"YOU CAN SHUT UP ABOUT MY WIFE, YOU FUCKING CRIMINAL!" Lucky stood up quickly, his chair scraping the floor before it fell over. Sal followed suit, glaring angrily across the table at his brother.

Sherry sighed as she glanced over at Peter, then Tulia. "Just keep your heads down, eat fast and run like hell when they pull guns." She whispered.

"Guns?" Peter gasped.

"You DON'T want to know." Sherry sank down in her chair as she gulped down her dinner.

"SIT THE HELL DOWN THE BOTH OF YOU!" Johnny stood up, glaring down at his two eldest sons. "Sherry and Anthony are home and you two are acting like animals? We've got two new guests that have either joined or will be joining this family and you act like this? I'm ashamed of the both of you! Either sit down and have a civilized fucking meal or pack up your damn wives and your rugrats and go home for the night!" He gave both of his sons angry looks, his eyes glittering dangerously until they both picked up their chairs and sat back down. "Good!" Johnny slowly sat back down, shaking his head as he turned to Peter and Tulia. "Sorry about that, Kids. My two remaining oldest here don't know how to act with company."

"That's okay." Peter squeaked.

"It is quite alright." Tulia nodded. "Trust me, I've been through worse."

Sherry stared at Tulia, raising an eyebrow. "Believe me when I tell you this. They're just getting warmed up."


	66. Chapter 66

Chapter Sixty-Six: Visions of Death

"Just keep an eye on the kids, will 'ya? We'll be back from the emergency room in a little while!" Johnny waved to Sherry, Peter, Anthony and Tulia as he ushered Sal and Lucky out of the back door, glaring angrily at his sons as they limped alongside of him. "Why the two of you have to have knife fights with SOMEONE at every damned holiday is beyond me! That ER is going to be packed, with it being Thanksgiving and all!" He turned to his wife and daughters-in-law. "Hurry the hell up before the boys bleed to death!"

Madeline slowly lumbered along behind her husband, Cadie and Ginger trudging behind her, their expressions filled with fury. "Why you boys gotta fuck up every holiday, huh? Thank GOD it was actually a small family gathering this year, with everyone else going to your grandmother's!"

"We'd have gone to Nana's too if someone wasn't always bitching about the food bothering her 'bypass'." Ginger muttered as they left the house.

Peter glanced over at Sherry as she sat at the dinner table. They'd only been in Newark for a little over twenty-four hours, and already Sherry was showing signs of wear. The corners of her mouth turned down as she slowly stood up and began to clear off the table. "Happy fucking Thanksgiving." She muttered.

Peter sighed as he walked to Sherry, kissing her cheek before he began to help her clear off the table with Tulia. "It could be worse. We could have stayed in Las Vegas and asked Olivia to cook."

Sherry gave Peter a wry, exhausted smile. "Then we'd be the ones in the ER with food poisoning instead of carving knives in our thighs."

"Your brothers are pretty hardcore." He watched as Tulia left the room and turned to Sherry. "I was this close to just healing them both, but then I remembered that your mother would have freaked out."

"They deserve to be stitched up and allowed to heal slowly." Sherry rolled her eyes. "Maybe if they do this enough times, they'll either end up killing each other, or realize that stabbing a family member at every holiday does not have to happen."

Peter winked at her. "Just a few more days."

"I know." Sherry frowned and shook her head. "But I'm so scared I'm going to go completely crazy by Sunday. Maybe a huge emergency should call us back, something technological. Maybe someone's motherboards have crashed or something like that."

"And they're calling in two technicians in Newark instead of Las Vegas?" Peter cocked his head at Sherry.

"Maybe we're the only two technicians that can truly fix it." Sherry looked at Peter, tears brimming in her eyes. "I can't stay here another day, much less three."

"They're your family, Sher." Peter followed her into the kitchen and helped her scrape off plates and put up food before washing dishes.

"I know. They're driving me crazy. If Ma criticizes me one more time, or talks about her damn gastric bypass and talking about what she can and can't eat while cramming food into her mouth, I'm going to scream."

"I thought I was the only one losing it!" Peter and Sherry turned to see Anthony and Tulia in the doorway, each of them toting a toddler on their hips. Anthony winked at Sherry. "At least you get to head back to Las Vegas on Sunday. Tulia and I have to hang around here and listen to Ma and Pop fighting like cats and dogs once you guys leave."

"You can always come back with us." Peter nodded.

Sherry glanced over at Peter. _Are you NUTS?_ She asked him telepathically. _They're civilians, they would shit twice and go BLIND if they found out what was REALLY going on there!_

Peter continued to glance at Anthony. "We could use someone with your talents in Las Vegas." He gave him a pointed look as Sherry stared at him, then her brother. Peter glanced over at Sherry before returning his gaze to Anthony. _I'm telling you, he has a power, he just won't admit it._

Anthony glared at Peter for a moment, then looked away. "The boys in the living room want me to referee them while they play with their Wii. Can someone take Little Sal?" He indicated the little boy on his hip, Sal and Ginger's youngest. The toddler in question held his arms out to Peter, babbling happily.

Peter sighed and took the child from Anthony, and gasped as his mind became filled with an image. He saw the child he was holding in his arms as a teenager, driving along the interstate, smoking a joint while laughing with other teenagers in the car. As the boy turned to laugh at his friends in the backseat, the car veered over the median and slammed into another car headfirst with a sickening crash. As a horn blared, Peter could see the boy slumped in his seat, obviously dead. Peter's legs gave way as Sherry gasped and grabbed a chair, scooting it under him as Anthony scooped the toddler out of Peter's arms. Sherry touched Peter's arm. "Baby? Are you okay?"

"October 9, 2023." Peter whispered.

Anthony's eyes widened as Peter closed his eyes. "WHAT did you say?"

"October 9, 2023. Car accident. He was driving while stoned." Peter whispered.

"Honey?" Sherry stared at Peter, her eyes widening with concerned. "What in the hell are you talking about?"

Anthony cleared his throat as he handed Little Sal to Sherry and turned to Tulia. "Why don't the two of you go into the living room and referee that Wii game? It's boxing. L.J. and Vinnie usually end up dropping the controllers and fighting each other by the end of it."

Peter glanced over at Sherry nodding. "I'm okay." _I think Anthony and I need to talk alone._

Sherry nodded and left the kitchen with Tulia and the babies as Anthony glared at Peter. "What in the hell are you up to, you little shit?"

Peter stared at Anthony, his eyes widening as he realized what he'd just experienced. "THAT'S your power, isn't it?" Peter leaned forward. "You can see when someone's going to die and how."

"Fuck." Anthony turned away from Peter, bracing himself against the counter. "So you can do it too?"

"Apparently I can now." Peter grimaced. "Don't want to ever do it again, though."

"Shit." Anthony turned to Peter, his eyes brimming with tears. "It sucks. I hate it. Do you know what it's like to know when the people you love are going to die? It started when I was sixteen, the day our brother Johnny died. Sherry and I had been bugging him all week to take us to the movies, to see _The House on Haunted Hill_, so he did. He was cool like that, you know? He was twenty-six years old, and he had time to take two idiot teens to a horror movie. He was an awesome brother, no matter his other faults."

"I've got a brother like that." Peter smiled softly.

"The Congressman? Really? He kinda looks like an asshole."

"He is. He can be, but he's the best brother. He's saved my life a few times. He's pretty great."

"So you know what I'm saying, right?" Anthony nodded. "Anyways, after the movie, Johnny drove me and Sherry home. I knew he was going to Kitty's Strip Joint afterwards, he always did that at night to hang with his friends. When I got out of the car, he stopped me and reached into his pocket for some money, telling me to take Sherry and get some ice cream. When he handed the money to me, I could see him dying. I saw him walking out to his car with his friends, all of them drunker than shit, stumbling around and laughing. It was dark outside. I saw a car pull up beside them and saw the window roll down. I recognized Larry and Sonny Gorgano in the car. Sonny stuck his hand out the window and I saw the gun. I saw them shoot Johnny in the head before they drove off, while his friends shot at the car."

"Damn." Peter whispered.

"At first, I thought I was just seeing things, you know? Then Johnny died that night. I thought I was having a fucking mental breakdown or something. I was scared to tell anybody. A few months later, I was holding hands with this girl I was dating and I saw her, at forty years old, getting stabbed to death by a rapist in an alleyway in the Bronx. After that, almost everyone I touched? I saw their deaths. I saw Sal getting capped at forty-six by Ginger, who by then was starting to look like Ma. I saw my own mother dying of a heart attack, which will be happening in about five years. I saw my Pop dying at eighty-two of a stroke while Tulia and I and our children took care of him in our home. When I went to Afghanistan, then Iraq, I saw my friends dying from roadside bombs before it would happen."

"Did you ever try to find a way to stop it?" Peter asked. "Maybe find a way to circumvent things?"

"You mean if I knew that someone would walk out of my house and get hit by a bus? Yeah, I tried to find ways to stop it. I was the guy in my platoon who had to assign the roadside patrols. If I knew that one of my guys was going to die that day in a bomb, I'd try to tell them to go another way, or assign someone else. Sometimes it worked, sometimes it didn't. The bomb would end up elsewhere, or another guy would die in his place. Sometimes they'd all come back fine because I found a way around it for them. It's fucked up, you know? I apparently gave Sal Junior in there a few more years. I saw him falling and drowning in the toilet next week while Ginger watched her soaps, so I bought them toilet latches. I guess they're using them. It's like with Sherry-"

"-What?" Peter's eyes widened as his heart began to pound. "What about Sherry?"

"Don't worry!" Anthony grinned as he winked at Peter. "For many years, I saw her death. She was pregnant and fighting in some battle in the desert. This big guy cut her head off with an ax."

"I know." Peter shuddered.

"I saw that for years, but when I saw her and hugged her yesterday, I saw something new. She's going to live through that battle in the desert, whatever it is and have those babies she was carrying-"

"-Wait." Peter's eyes widened. "Did you say 'babies' as in more than one?"

"Yeah!" Anthony nodded. "They gonna be yours or something?"

"Yeah." Peter slumped in his chair. "She was carrying twins in that fight?"

"Twins." Anthony grinned as Peter's face drained of color. "What? Take a look around this house, Petey-Boy, twins obviously run in our family, or haven't you noticed?"

"I need to sit down." Peter whispered.

"You're already sitting down."

"I need to lie down."

Anthony chuckled as he shook his head. "Don't worry, you've got more than a year to get ready for them." His expression turned serious. "Anyway, Sherry lives through that battle. I saw her as an old woman, surrounded by children and grandchildren and probably great-grandchildren, dying peacefully in her sleep at ninety. She outlives you." He frowned at Peter. "Actually, she outlives your ass a few times. You can come back from the dead?"

"Sort of." Peter stared at the floor. "Twins." He whispered.

"The next death I see for you happens on August 3rd next year. I see you running through a doorway into a hall and getting shot in the head while I hear Sherry screaming your name." He nodded. "And another woman screaming out the name 'Gabriel'. What's that mean?"

Peter looked up at Anthony, his eyes widening. "Mama Alice." He whispered.

Anthony cocked his head to the side, regarding Peter. "You and my sister aren't technological consultants or bullshit like that, are you?"

"No, we're not." Peter shook his head.

* * *

Sherry walked into the kitchen an hour later, a sleeping Sal Junior cradled in her arms. "Sorry to interrupt, but where are the travel beds for these guys? Sal's out, Gracie's falling asleep with Tulia and the others are all getting sleepy and cranky too." 

Anthony looked up from the kitchen table and turned to Sherry. "You look good carrying a baby around, anyone ever tell you that? You should go ahead and practice, try carrying Gracie around at the same time." He turned to Peter, winking.

Sherry's eyes narrowed as Peter blushed. "What's going on in here?"

"Just guy stuff." Anthony nodded. "Ma usually puts all the boys in Sal and Lucky's old room and all the girls in yours, but just put them in mine. If Ma and Pop don't come back with the Wild Bunch before we all go to bed, Tulia and I'll crash on the pull-out couch."

"Okay." She frowned as Anthony started giggling again. "Okay, seriously, WHAT the FUCK is going on in here?"

"NOTHING! Sheesh! I can't bond with one of your boyfriends? Get outta here and get those kids in the bed before they start smacking each other around all punchy."

"Va fa napole. Okay?" Sherry rolled her eyes as she left the room.

Anthony laughed softly as he turned back to Peter. "So you guys are all gearing up for this big fight next year?"

"Yeah." Peter brushed his bangs out of his eyes as he nodded. "It's either defeat Linderman, or everyone with powers dies."

Anthony whistled softly under his breath. "That's fucked up. And just when I thought I was through fighting for my country, now I have to fight for my people, my REAL people."

Peter smiled. "So you're coming back to Vegas with us on Sunday?"

"I've gotta talk about it to Tulia, but anywhere's better than here. Pop's great, but Ma's a fucking bigot. If she makes one more towelhead remark to Tulia, I'm gonna smack that fat offa her ass."

"Great." Peter nodded. "You can get other powers, too."

"More than I've already got?" Anthony shrugged. "It's gotta be better than seeing people die, right?" He stood up and shook Peter's hand. "Consider me recruited."

"So what do you think changed in Sherry's life to help her survive the battle?" Peter asked.

"Search me." Anthony shrugged. "You're the one who knows what's changed and what hasn't since this future Hiro dude visited you."

"Yeah." Peter nodded. "You're right."

* * *

"So my brother can see when people are going to die?" Sherry rolled over to stare at Peter as they lay in bed together. "That's fucked up." 

"Tell me about it." Peter smiled at Sherry. "You know, for years he saw you dying in that battle in the desert. He told me that when he hugged you yesterday, he didn't see that death for you anymore. He said that something's changed to save you."

"So you're not going to lose me next year after all." Sherry smiled. "That has to take a load off, right?"

"It really does." Peter kissed her. "Of course, there was something else he told me too."

Sherry frowned. "What?"

"I'd tell you, but I'm afraid you'd never let me touch you again afterwards."

"Excuse me?" Sherry's fingers glided playfully up and down Peter's arm as she giggled softly. "What could you tell me that would ever make me NOT want your hands on me?"

"Next year when you're pregnant? It's going to be with twins." Peter grinned.

Sherry's eyes widened as she snatched her hand away from Peter's arm. "Ex-fuckin-cuse me? And HOW do you know that?"

"When Anthony saw your death in the battle, he also saw the deaths of the unborn twins you were carrying." Peter raised an eyebrow at Sherry. "Told you that you wouldn't want me laying a finger on you ever again."

"Honey, it's not your fingers I'm worried about." Sherry smirked. "But you're right. I'm no longer in the mood. Good night." She rolled over, turning her back to Peter as he watched her. Peter grinned as his hand slid under the covers, making Sherry moan softly. "Stop that." She whispered. "Ma and Pop just got home. They're right down the hall from us."

"And?" Peter moved closer to her.

"And they'll hear us."

"So?"

Sherry gasped and moaned again as Peter's hands began to caress her body under the sheets. "Stop that."

"Stop that?" Peter's hands moved lower, causing Sherry to squirm beside him. "Or THAT?"

"HEY!" Sherry and Peter jumped as Madeline's voice boomed from down the hall. "NO HANKY PANKY IN MY DAMN HOUSE YOU TWO! I KNOW YOU TWO ARE STARTING SOMETHING UP IN THERE!"

"OH SHUT THE HELL UP!" They heard Johnny's voice ring out from Johnny Junior's former bedroom.

"AH, GO FUCK YOURSELF BIG JOHNNY!"

"YOU'RE JUST PISSED BECAUSE I'D RATHER SLEEP IN MY DEAD SON'S BEDROOM THAN BESIDE YOUR FAT ASS! I'D THROW YOU ONE IF I COULD FIND YOUR SNATCH UNDER ALL THAT FLESH!"

Sherry sat up, her temper boiling over. "BOTH OF YOU SHUT THE HELL UP SO WE CAN SLEEP! THAT'S ALL WE WERE DOING ANYWAY, TRYING TO SLEEP!" Sighing, she lay back down. "Hurry up, Sunday." She muttered as she rolled over and buried her head under a pillow while her parents continued to scream insults at each other from down the hall.

* * *

The next morning, Peter and Sherry stumbled down the stairs, exhausted from the fighting they'd heard most of the night. Madeline glared at her as she made breakfast, studying her daughter's tank top and pajama bottoms with disdain. "You should cover up more, you don't look decent." 

Sherry ignored her mother as Johnny glanced at her from over his paper. "What's so indecent about her? She should walk around in a muumuu from Omar the Tentmaker like you do, you bitch?"

Can we please have one meal in this house without the two of you at each other's throats?" Sherry rubbed her temples as she sat at the table.

"What?" Johnny shrugged. "Okay, I'll try to be nice for you, Princess."

"Princess." Madeline scoffed from the stove. "Princess my ass. She's fucking spoiled."

"You had little Johnny, I've got Sherry, don't be sore with me just because your pet is cold in the fucking grave." Johnny glared at Madeline.

"One of these days, you bastard-"

"-WHAT?" Johnny folded up his paper and slammed it on the table as Sherry sighed wearily. "Finish that sentence, I'm begging you."

Madeline turned on him. "You know, I don't have to put up with this shit, you hateful son of a bitch! I can leave, you know! I can find other men."

Peter watched as Sherry buried her face in her hands, sighing as Johnny started laughing. "Other men? Tell you what, Sugar, you find these 'other men' and I'll GLADLY pack your bags and let you leave with them!"

"God, you two fighting again?" Anthony sighed as he walked into the kitchen with Tulia and sat at the table. "We can't get through one meal without hearing you two?"

"Amen." Sherry moaned.

"We're just having a healthy discussion Sherry Baby, that's all." Johnny shrugged. "It's better to vent than keep it bottled up. That's how you have heart attacks and strokes."

Peter glanced over at Anthony as the young man snorted. "Yeah, that'll help you both." He muttered.

Madeline stared at Tulia, her eyes narrowing. "Bacon Dear?"

"Yes please, is there anything I can do to help with breakfast?" Tulia smiled kindly at Madeline.

"No." Madeline snorted as she turned back to the stove. "So you can eat bacon? I thought you were Muslim."

"I'm converting to Catholicism Mother Bombano. Catholics can eat bacon, yes?"

"Yeah." Madeline muttered.

"Which reminds me." Tulia folded her hands in her lap. "I would like to go to Mass this morning. Will you be going, Mother Bombano."

"I'm going Christmas shopping. It's Black Friday." Madeline turned and began to set plates of food in front of everyone, sighing gustily. "I'd eat this food too, but my bypass won't allow it. I'll just have my egg-white omelet before I get ready to go shopping."

"You look like you're doing really good with it, Ma." Sherry nodded.

"Why you kissing my ass?" Madeline's eyes narrowed.

"I'm NOT!" Sherry sighed. "I'm telling the truth."

"You're kissing my ass for something. You pregnant?"

"Not yet." Peter whispered as Anthony snorted with laughter.

"WHAT?" Madeline glared at her son and Peter. "What did you say?" She glared at Sherry again. "You and this boy trying to have a baby without the sacrament of marriage? Are you two trying to have a bastard?" She began to cross herself hurriedly.

"NO MA!" Sherry stared at her plate and began to eat quickly. She looked over at Tulia. "I'll take you to Mass. God knows I'm going to need it before Sunday."

"And what's THAT supposed to mean?" Madeline stood behind Sherry, her hands on her hips."

"It means you're driving her crazy, along with the rest of us, you stupid sow!" Johnny yelled with a mouthful of food. "It means you're running my baby girl out of this house because you're jealous!"

"Jealous of what?" Madeline smirked.

"Because she's younger than you, prettier than you, skinnier than you and more successful than you, okay?" Johnny nodded. "My Sherry Baby's making something of herself without forcing a guy to marry her because she got herself knocked up, unlike SOME people in this room!"

Madeline glared at her husband angrily, then turned on her heel, stomping out of the room. Johnny grinned as he continued to eat. "Wondered how long it would take before I could run her ass outta here. Hateful old bag. Good thing the kids went home with their parents last night, Madeline's enough of a hassle first thing in the morning, I didn't want the grandkids climbing all over me too. NOW we can eat in peace."

"I told Pop about your offer to go to Vegas last night Pete." Anthony grinned. "Tulia and I talked about it too, we're on board."

"Does he know everything?" Peter glanced over at Johnny, who nodded.

"Yeah, he caught me up to speed. So that bastard Linderman's still kicking around huh? Damn shame, I celebrated when it came down the wire that he was dead and buried. You know those Gorgano boys worked for him, didn't you?"

Sherry gasped. "The ones who killed Little Johnny?"

"Yep!" Johnny crossed himself as he ate. "One and the same, may they suffer in Hell for all eternity. They did his dirty work, kept his hands semi-clean. I'd see him around New York sometimes, with that little dark-haired comare of his."

"Comare?" Peter glanced over at Johnny.

"Yeah. Tall, pretty, too fucking young for him. Someone told me she was a doctor or something."

Peter laughed. "That wasn't his mistress, that was his daughter Olivia. She's my half-sister. Mom and Linderman had an affair before I was born, Olivia was the result."

"No shit!" Johnny shook his head. "The way he controlled her when he was in town, I could have SWORN she was his mistress. Poor kid, I'd see them out to dinner and it looked like she couldn't drop a deuce without his permission."

"She couldn't, really." Peter shrugged. "When he 'died', she was finally freed from him, at least for a while."

"So you guys are all gearing up to fight him in the desert." Johnny nodded. "Good. Kill him for good this time, for my boy Johnny, may he rest in peace." He smiled at his daughter. "And you? Take care of yourself as well, I don't want my Baby Girl dying out in the desert. I don't want Linderman killing another one of my kids."

Sherry looked up at her father, as Peter noticed the first smile he'd seen on her face since she'd seen her brothers. "I'll be careful Pop. I promise."

"Good." Johnny finished breakfast and stood up, taking his plate to the sink. "Good girl."

* * *

Sunday afternoon, Madeline bawled and cried as she hugged Anthony. "My baby boy is leaving again! You just got back!" 

"I know Ma." Anthony hugged his mother, smiling softly before he finally let go of her. "But Tulia and I can't live here forever with you and Pop and Pete says that his sister will be more than happy to hire me at that Greene Technologies place. The stuff I learned in the Army will come in handy." He turned to Johnny, holding out his hand. "See you soon, Pop."

Johnny ignored the hand and pulled his son into a bear hug. "We'll come out and visit soon, after we find a plane big enough to put your Ma on."

"Asshole." Madeline muttered under her breath.

"You take care of that sweet wife of yours and take care of your twin sister." Johnny nodded, his eyes boring into Anthony's. "Don't let anything happen to any of you, got it?"

"What'll happen to 'em in Vegas?" Madeline sniffled.

"We'll be good, Pop." Anthony winked as Johnny turned to Sherry, hugging her tightly.

"My little girl! I know you had a rough time with this visit, even rougher than when you lived here, but I'll try to make your Ma and brothers behave next time, okay?"

"Okay." Sherry blinked back tears as she hugged her father back. "I love you, Pop."

"And I love my little girl!" Johnny turned to Peter. "Guard her with your life."

"She's my life, you know I will."

"Good boy!" Johnny sighed, wiping away tears. "Okay, let's get all your shit in the car so I can get you kids to the airport."

"I can drive them, you know!" Madeline sulked.

"You drove them home, I'll drive them to the airport." Johnny growled as they left the house.

He drove them a few miles down the road, pulling off on an isolated stretch of road. He frowned as everyone got out of the car, carrying their luggage. "This is safe, right?"

"Totally." Sherry nodded. "Peter and I do it all the time." She smiled at her father. "Take care of yourself and don't let Ma give you too hard of a time."

"I won't." Johnny sighed as everyone took hands and suddenly disappeared. "Bye Kids." He whispered as he turned and slumped back towards his car. Glancing back at the place where they'd teleported, he shook his head. "If I was twenty years younger, I'd be running with you guys." He sighed as he started the car and drove around town for a while, before returning home.

* * *

Okay, it's time for pimping/shout-outs here: There are two stories that I've been reading and LOOOVING that I wanted to share with you guys, so go check 'em out already! They're all Gabriel/Sylar-centric and they ROCK! One is Echoes in the Darkness by OnyxRiver. It's a sequel to her awesome story Tortured Souls. The other is The Ties that Bind by SmithsBabe, the sequel to her story The Devil's Own. Also, I have another story that I've been working on as well, called Fear Itself, also starring Sylar. If you like this story, go check out the ones I've mentioned above, you WON'T regret it!!!!


	67. Chapter 67

Chapter Sixty-Seven: Glad Tidings

Peter came home and grinned to see Anthony on the couch. He watched as Anthony turned invisible, then turned visible again, laughing softly as he did it. Anthony turned to Peter as he opened his hands, flames appearing on his palms. "Holy shit, Dude! I could get used to this, you know? God only knows what I could have done with these powers in Iraq!"

"It's a lot of fun, huh?" Peter nodded as he walked into the kitchen, taking a deep breath as he inhaled the scent of dinner. He walked behind Sherry, wrapping his arms around her waist as she stood at the stove, stirring a pot as Tulia washed dishes. "What's on the menu tonight?"

"Alfredo." Sherry lifted up the spoon and blew on it to cool off the sauce before letting Peter sample it. "Good, huh?"

"It's great!" He turned to Tulia and smiled. "How are you adjusting to Las Vegas?"

Tulia nodded at the sink. "It's going well. The last two weeks have been wonderful, everyone's so nice."

"Good to hear." Peter nodded. Since returning from their Thanksgiving trip, Anthony and Tulia had been living with Peter and Sherry as they adjusted to life in Las Vegas. In order to catch up with his counter parts, Anthony had been at the lab every other day to be imbued with different powers. He had quickly been accepted by the group members, and had developed a hilarious friendship with Gabriel, after Gabriel had decided that, since they were trying to have a baby, Olivia didn't need to teach the fight-training classes anymore and had asked Anthony to teach them instead with him and Mohinder. Peter shook his head, marveling at how quickly Gabriel and Anthony had bonded, then frowned as he remembered the sad look on Anthony's face the first time he met Olivia and shook her hand. He hadn't asked Anthony to tell him what he saw, he knew it was bad, especially when Anthony glanced at both Peter and Gabriel and then looked away. Anthony had later asked him if he wanted to know what he saw for his sister's future. He'd refused. Peter wasn't ready to know. Besides, he already had good idea what Anthony had seen and he wasn't ready to hear that he'd been forced to kill his own sister.

"Set the table?" Peter broke out of his reverie when Sherry turned to him, smiling. "Dinner will be ready in a few minutes, we're just waiting on the garlic bread."

"Sure." Peter kissed Sherry on the cheek and went to the cabinets, grabbing plates and cutlery before walking into the dining room.

* * *

Olivia's face was flushed with excitement as she walked into the apartment. Her eyes sparkled as she spotted Gabriel in the corner of the living room, cursing as he struggled with a Frasier Fir. "What's this?" She asked.

"Christmas tree." Gabriel smiled triumphantly as he finally got it to stand up straight in it's stand. "There! You have NO idea how much of a pain in the ass this thing has been from the get-go. First, the sales guy wanted to gyp the unholy hell out of me on the price, so we went round and round on it until he finally threw in a stand and rope to tether it to the top of the SUV. I think I still got gypped though. That stand is a piece of shit. I've been fighting with it for over an hour." He sighed as he turned to Olivia. "And how was your day?"

"Good!" Olivia started giggling excitedly. "Great actually."

"That's good." Gabriel turned back to look at the tree. "Does it look crooked to you? It looks crooked to me. The guy that sold it was definitely crooked, why not give me a crooked tree?"

"Gabriel-"

"-Damn tree salesmen! Next year, we're getting an artificial one." He shrugged. "Of course, next year, if we're still alive, we'll probably be living it up on Tybee Island, right? How are the trees there? I remember riding the bus down there around this time last year-"

"-Gabriel-"

"-There were pine trees and cedar trees all over the place. You could probably just go into your back yard with an axe to get your Christmas trees, there, right?"

"Gabriel?"

Gabriel turned back to Olivia, finally noticing her flushed face. "You feeling okay?"

"Yeah. I'm feeling wonderful, actually." She began to laugh excitedly. "I uh, bought an ornament for the tree." She held out a box. "It should be the first one we put on there."

"Good idea." Gabriel kissed her cheek as he took the box. "You know, we didn't have any ornaments last year, but I like this idea." He began to open it as he turned back to the tree. "Let me guess, something pretty and silver for our first Christmas together as newlyweds? That sounds cool-" His voice trailed off as he opened the box and pulled out a silver ornament in the shape of a baby bootie, tied with a pink ribbon. He turned back to Olivia as she nodded, laughing again. "We're, you're-" He sat on the couch, the ornament in his hands as he stared at her. "-Are you saying that you're-"

"-Pregnant." Olivia grinned. "I've suspected it for a couple of days now and I took a home pregnancy test this morning at the lab. It was positive, so I went to the doctor and had it confirmed. I'm due August 8, but I think she'll arrive about five days early, don't you?"

"We're having a baby." Gabriel whispered as he stared off into space.

"I thought you might already know, that maybe you heard a heartbeat." Gabriel shook his head, a dazed expression on his face. "I heard it this afternoon at the doctor's office. It's faint, you could barely hear it, but it's strong."

"Really?" Gabriel held out his hand and took Olivia's in his as she walked over to him. He wrapped his arms around her waist and pressed his hear to her belly, smiling softly. "I can hear it. I'm surprised I didn't hear it before now." He looked up at her. "That's our daughter."

"It's Faith. She's going to be here at the end of next summer."

Gabriel began to laugh as he stood up and pulled Olivia into his arms. "HOT DAMN WE'RE HAVING A BABY!" He looked at Olivia. "Are you feeling okay? I mean, everything's good, right?"

"I've been tired the last few days and I was a little queasy this morning and my breasts have started getting sore, but other than that, I'm good."

"THAT'S why you smacked my hand this morning." Gabriel shook his head. "I just thought you weren't in the mood."

"They were sore! And no, I really wasn't in the mood. My stomach was spinning somewhat."

"That's fine." Gabriel began to kiss her. "A baby. We're having our baby girl." He turned back to the tree and held up the ornament. "How crazy would it be to have that be the only thing on our tree this year?"

"Crazy as hell!" Olivia laughed. "We'll put it in the very front so everyone can see it."

"We'll do that, later." Gabriel turned to Olivia and grabbed his coat. "Come on."

"Where?" Olivia stared at him.

"We have to go out to dinner! We have to celebrate and you need to eat! You're eating for two now." He pulled on his coat and helped Olivia with hers.

"I don't know." Olivia made a face. "I've been a little queasy all day." She shrugged. "More than a little, actually."

"You still need to eat." Gabriel looked down at her, his expression stern. "Remember, you're eating for two."

"No, I'm eating for myself and a clump of cells that's smaller than my pinkie." Olivia shrugged off her coat as she sat on the couch. "And I'm really too tired to go out, Babe."

"But, dinner-"

"-We can celebrate later." Olivia sighed. "Now that the adrenaline from finding out is wearing off, I'm really exhausted and I'm not that hungry."

"Can I get you SOMETHING? Anything?" Gabriel pulled off his coat, making a face.

"Crackers and ginger ale if we have it."

Gabriel paused as his coat slid down his arms. He shrugged, pulling the coat back on. "Give me thirty minutes to run to the store and I'll have this place stocked with enough crackers and ginger ale to last you nine months." He leaned down and kissed her forehead. "You just sit here and relax, Mommy." He laughed. "You're going to be a Mommy."

"And you're going to be a Daddy." Olivia grinned at him as she reclined on the couch. "That sounds very cool, doesn't it?"

"What'll sound even cooler is when Faith says it. It'll probably be two years before I hear that from her."

"Maybe." Olivia yawned.

"Stay here, relax and I'll be back soon!" Gabriel turned and left the apartment, beaming as he walked towards the elevators. He stopped and turned, heading to Peter's. He knocked on the door and grabbed Peter the moment he opened the door, pulling him into a bear hug. "Hey Uncle Peter! How's it going?"

"Uncle?" Peter's eyes widened. "So you two crazy kids did it?"

"Yep, and it got her pregnant too!" Gabriel laughed as he walked into the apartment and headed into the dining room. "Guess who's going to be a daddy!" He held out his arms. "ME!"

Sherry looked up from her dinner, smiling. "So you finally got her knocked up huh? Great!"

"That's awesome man!" Anthony waved to him.

"I KNOW!" Gabriel did a quick dance. "I'm going to be a daddy." He sighed. "And now I have to run. I just wanted to tell you guys first before I ran to the store."

"Store?" Peter asked. "For?"

"Crackers and ginger ale." Gabriel sighed happily. "Someone's got all-day morning sickness. It's wonderful."

"Morning sickness is wonderful?" Sherry made a face. "You spend all day hugging a toilet and then tell us how wonderful it is."

"It's wonderful because it means we're going to be parents." Gabriel winked at Sherry. "You'll see what I mean by this time next year."

"Oh hush!" Sherry shuddered. "I don't even want to think about it, especially since I'm apparently going to have a litter!"

"Twins ain't a litter!" Anthony smirked. "We weren't."

"Not to hear Ma talk about it. She said her pregnancy with us was the worst of all of them." Sherry stared down at the food on her plate. "She said she puked her guts out all day every day until the day we were born, and then she was in labor for two days before the doctors finally had to do a c-section to get us out."

"Ma's full of shit." Anthony shrugged. "Pop said she ate like a horse with us, using the excuse that she had two babies growing instead of just one, and had to have a c-section because the doctor said she'd gained so much weight with us that she was about to develop that pre-eclampsia thing that pregnant women get sometimes. That's also why we were preemies."

Peter shook his head, smiling as he turned to Gabriel. "Send Liv my love and tell her I'll stop in and visit her later if she's feeling up to it. Now, go get my preggo sister some crackers and ginger ale to ease her stomach."

"Later!" Gabriel waved to them as he left the apartment, beaming.

Peter laughed as he sat back down. "I've never seen him THAT happy."

"Impending fatherhood agrees with him." Sherry nodded. "You think you'll be THAT goofy and giddy when my pregnancy test turns blue?"

"Apparently, I'll be TWICE as giddy!" Peter winked at her as they finished dinner.

* * *

"Sorry I'm late! I stopped by Peter's to tell him about the baby and then when I was in the store, I saw-" Gabriel's voice trailed off as he noticed that Olivia was sleeping. He smiled gently as he set the bags in his hands down on the floor and walked over to her. He carefully slid his arms under her body and lifted her up, cradling her in his arms as he carried her into their bedroom and placed her on the bed. He slowly undressed her and tucked the blankets around her. "Get some sleep, Honey. You're going to need it." He looked down at her for a moment before he walked back into the living room. Carrying the bags into the kitchen, he set a box of crackers on the counter, and put away a couple more in a cabinet before stocking the fridge with ginger ale. He took the remaining bags and went into their bedroom. Gabriel sat on the edge of the bed and pulled out a pair of pink baby booties and a baby tee shirt. Smiling as he read the "Daddy's Little Girl" printed on the shirt, he placed the shirt and booties beside Olivia's pillow and undressed. He slid under the covers and turned to Olivia. "Goodnight, Baby." He kissed her on the cheek. "Goodnight Faith." He whispered as he gently rubbed Olivia's stomach.

* * *

"So, is the future grandmother ALWAYS going to be the last to know?" Angela swept into the apartment the next morning as Olivia sat on the couch, slowly sipping a glass of ginger ale as she nibbled on crackers. "Congratulations, Dear."

"Thanks, Mother." Olivia shrugged. "I was going to tell you this morning."

"Your brother Peter beat you to the punch. Apparently your husband was so excited, he ran across the hall to tell them all about it on the way to the store to get something for you to eat." Angela sighed as she sat on the couch. "Crackers and ginger ale, I remember those days well."

"I thought you said you didn't have morning sickness."

"Not with you, but I had the WORST time of it with Nathan. Not even what you're nibbling on now would settle my stomach. I actually LOST ten pounds during my first trimester. The doctor wasn't pleased with me."

"Ten pounds?" Olivia sighed. "I can't afford to lose any weight, according to the doctor."

"You'll just need to eat as much as you can, even if most of it ends up coming back up. Trust me, you'll gain weight once the food cravings start." Angela smiled. "I remember with you, I craved fruit, especially peaches. With Nathan, it was cheese and sour candies and with Peter, I couldn't get enough olives and chocolate, and I couldn't get enough ice cream with any of you. I craved ice cream twenty-four seven with all of my pregnancies. Sometimes stereotypes exist because they're true."

"I'll just be glad to want ANY food again." Olivia shrugged. "When did your morning sickness end? Mine's just started in the last day or two and I'm already sick of it."

"Most of the first trimester, with Nathan, if I recall. I was occasionally queasy with Peter, but with you? I never had the first moment of nausea or illness. You really were calm and easygoing from the very beginning."

"Speaking of Nathan, does he know yet?"

"He and Heidi should be arriving later on in the month with the boys after school lets out for Christmas, I'm sure you'll tell him then." Angela perked up. "Well, for once I guess I WON'T be the last to know something!"

"You're rarely the last to know anything, Mother." Olivia set her drink down as she made a face. "Oh no."

"Nausea?" Angela frowned as Olivia nodded. "Just breathe through it." Olivia took a deep breath, then leaped up from the couch and ran towards the bathroom, her hand covering her mouth. "Oh dear. That's not good." Angela sighed as she heard her daughter retching down the hall.

Gabriel walked into the apartment, carrying bags. "Olivia's sick again?" He frowned as Angela nodded. "She threw up three times this morning, as soon as she got up." He dropped the bags and headed down the hall. "Honey? Can I get you anything?"

"A room that's not spinning would be wonderful." Olivia stepped out of the bathroom. "And no food ever until then would be even better."

"Poor baby." Gabriel kissed her forehead. "Feel like seeing what I bought this morning?"

"More baby clothes?" Olivia smiled up at her husband. "Why do I get the feeling that Faith is going to have two rooms before she's ever born? One will be her nursery and the other will be her closet?"

"Because I'm getting ready to spoil her rotten the moment she arrives." Gabriel winked. "Speaking of extra rooms-"

"-You've GOT to be kidding me!" Olivia sighed as she entered the living room and sank back onto the couch.

"What?" Angela stared at Gabriel. "What must you be kidding ABOUT?"

"Olivia promised me that after she got pregnant-"

"-I didn't promise you anything, I said we'd TALK about it-"

"-That we'd move into one of the four bedroom apartments upstairs-"

"-And the idea of moving from this couch, much less moving into a whole new apartment exhausts me just thinking about it."

"We'd each still be able to have a room for our work-"

"-work?" Olivia snorted. "He doesn't want to give up his little art studio, the studio he NEVER uses!"

"I use it!" Gabriel nodded. "The day before Thanksgiving, I painted Peter and Sherry arriving with Anthony and Tulia, didn't I? I've used that studio and no, I don't want to give it up!" He turned to Angela. "And she doesn't want to give up her home office."

"I use it whenever I don't feel like doing research at the lab." Olivia shrugged. "Something tells me I'll be using it more in the coming months."

"So what's wrong with moving upstairs?" Angela turned to Olivia, patting her on the knee. "I'm sure Gabriel is more than capable of talking Peter and Anthony into helping the two of you move. They all have super strength now, it wouldn't take many trips at all to carry a few boxes upstairs and I'm sure Gabriel could unpack everything by himself, if you're worried about over-exerting yourself. Besides, you'll be closer to me."

"We wouldn't be on your floor." Gabriel's eyes widened. "Noah and his family are on the twenty-first floor-"

"-And I'm on the twenty-second with NO one else living in the apartments around me. There are three other apartments on my floor that are vacant."

"And there are three on the floor with the Bennets as well." Gabriel shuffled his feet as Olivia raised an eyebrow at him. "Not to mention plenty of other floors above both of you for us to live on. We're not even close to being filled to capacity. I think Olivia and I would be fine on our own floor."

"Watch, he'll suggest knocking down walls to turn one floor into a huge penthouse." Olivia smirked.

"That's NOT a bad idea." Gabriel nodded.

"Why didn't I think of doing that with Nathan's place?" Angela mused. "Just split that whole floor between the lot of us. I could have one side and Nathan and his brood could have the other."

"See?" Gabriel nodded, smiling excitedly. "We SHOULDN'T live on your floor. You might decide to do some remodeling. You know," he sat on the arm of the couch "with my intuitive aptitude, TK and now super strength, I could probably remodel that whole floor for you if you wanted me to."

"Really?" Angela stared at him. "Remodel the whole thing?"

"Turn it into an awesome penthouse-type apartment, if that's what you wanted."

"Don't listen to him." Olivia shook her head. "He's just saying that to keep you from insisting we live across the hall from you."

"I know. It's working." Angela's eyes narrowed as she studied Gabriel. "How hard would the job be?"

"I don't know." Gabriel shrugged. "I'd have to read a few books on remodeling first and memorize how to do everything."

"But you think you could do that? You think you could remodel the twenty-second floor and turn it into one HUGE apartment, or two large ones that are split down the middle, yet connected?"

"Almost definitely."

"GOOD!" Angela stood up, clapping her hands. "Come with me, I'll show you what I want you to do then."

"And if I do it right, you'll work with me on convincing the little mama here to do the same to another floor for US?"

"You do it right and rebuild that floor the way I want it, I'll drag her to one of the upstairs apartments by her hair, kicking and screaming." Angela grinned at Olivia, who rolled her eyes.

"Gee, thanks Mother! Did EITHER of you think that maybe I LIKE living in this apartment?"

"Heavens why? It's so small!" Angela looked around the apartment, sniffing with disdain.

"No it's NOT! It's a perfectly adequate size for a married couple and a newborn child! Plus, my brother lives right across the hall and-"

"-And I'LL be one story down. It'll be so much fun having you living right above me. I can pop up quickly at any time just to visit with you and my very first granddaughter!"

"You pop in quickly anyway." Olivia muttered.

"Yes, but I'm eleven stories up. It takes longer to get down here than it would if you were directly above me. Face it Olivia, you're going to need your mother during your pregnancy and after little Faith is born. You're going to need me to be as close to you as I can to help you out."

"I think I can take care of myself and a newborn just fine." Olivia muttered.

"I'm sure, but I've raised two sons and I've helped raise two grandsons. What have you raised?"

"Hell, if you don't stop bugging me." Olivia lay back on the couch. "I'm tired."

"That's because you keep throwing up everything you eat. You have no energy. When you eat and you're feeling better enough to truly argue with me, we'll finish this discussion. Until then, get some sleep while your husband and I figure out how to turn a sow's ear apartment into a silk purse." Angela grabbed Gabriel's hand. "Come on, I want to show you what I want done!"

"You need anything, Honey?" Gabriel asked.

"Both of you out of my face." Olivia growled.

Angela tsked as she shook her head. "Someone's getting their cranky hormones." She looked at Gabriel sadly. "I pity you. I was a serious bitch when I was pregnant with Nathan."

"More than you are now?" Olivia smirked.

Angela raised an eyebrow. "Someone's DEFINITELY getting their cranky hormones. Don't be too hard on your husband during this phase, Dear. My husband moved home to his mother three times before Nathan was finally born."

"Can you both go NOW?"

"Fine." Angela sighed as she left the apartment, Gabriel in tow. They passed Peter on the way out. "You might want to watch yourself around your sister." Angela hissed. "Someone's hormonal and bitchy."

"Okay." Peter shrugged as he walked into the apartment, smiling at Olivia. She smiled back at him, exhausted. "Congratulations, Little Mother. How are you feeling this morning?"

"Well, I want to puke up everything I've ever eaten in my lifetime, I'm tired as hell, I feel like ass, our mother exhausts the living crap out of me and my husband thinks he's Bob the Builder. Other than that, I'm just ducky."

"Bob the Builder?" Peter frowned. "What in the hell is he planning?"

"He's planning on bribing our mother into goading me upstairs into a bigger apartment, that's what he's planning." She sighed. "He wants to move upstairs and Mom wanted us to move in across the hall from her."

"Ooooh!" Peter made a face. "That's not good. You two would never be alone again, especially after the baby arrives."

"Tell me about it. Gabriel knew that too, so he's come up with another suggestion."

"Which is?" Peter sat on the couch, placing Olivia's feet in his lap.

"He's going to turn the twenty-second floor into one HUGE apartment or two larger connecting apartments for Mother and Nathan's family. Then he wants to turn another floor into a huge apartment just for the two of us."

"Oh lovely." Peter shook his head. "You own this building, tell him no."

"I can't." Olivia closed her eyes. "When Linderman 'died', he made provisions in his will that Gabriel would inherit EVERYTHING with me, fifty-fifty. When we got married, it became official. Everything that's mine is his and everything that's his is mine."

"So he gets half of Linderman Corporation, Greene Technologies, this building, the casinos and more money than you can spend in a lifetime and you get half of a watch repair shop in Queens."

"Yep." Olivia shrugged. "The only thing that was still outright mine was the house in Tybee Island, and I transferred that into both of our names after the fiscal year ended in September."

"Why?" Peter asked.

"So he could raise Faith there, with or without me." Olivia touched her stomach as her face grew sad. "I have less than a year left, Pete."

"Maybe not." Peter frowned. "I'm still trying to figure out a loophole. I know I'll find one."

"I hope so." Olivia looked over at Peter, tears brimming in her eyes. "Yesterday, I was so excited when I realized that I was having a baby, but now today, I know that I'll only get to have three months with her before I'm killed. I was okay with the idea of dying so that Linderman would be destroyed, but now-"

"-Now you want to live to watch your daughter grow up." Peter reached out and took his sister's hand, squeezing it. "It's understandable. I want that for you too. I'm still thinking about the version of the battle I saw with Sanjog. I'm trying to figure out a way to keep you from dying. I'll figure it out, I promise."

"Don't promise me that." Olivia shook her head. "It's kind of hard to keep a promise that contradicts a prophecy, you know? Promise me this: if anything happens to me, promise me that you and Nathan and Mother will do everything you can to keep Gabriel from losing it. Stay on him, remind him that his daughter is going to need him to stay strong. Remind him that she's going to need him to stay on the side of good in order to raise her the way she deserves to be raised."

"She deserves to be raised with a mother AND a father." Peter nodded.

"If that can't happen, promise me that you all will always be there to keep him sane and keep him focused on Faith's well-being."

"I promise." Peter nodded. "I'll do everything I can to keep Gabriel together for Faith, and I'll see to it that Nathan and Mom do too."

"Thanks." Olivia sighed as she closed her eyes. "It's still morning and I'm exhausted as hell. I just got up a couple of hours ago."

"You need to sleep anyway. You're growing a person in there, it's got to take a toll on you, energy-wise."

"Tell me about it." Olivia slowly dozed off as Peter watched her. He stood up, gently lifting her legs and placing them back on the couch before covering her with an afghan. Peter brushed a handful of curls away from her face and shook his head, smiling as he walked out of the apartment and closed the door.

* * *

"Mr. Linderman?" Linderman looked up to see Rose Scott, his newest spy in Las Vegas enter his office. "I came as soon as I could." She smiled at him. "I have news."

"Is it good news?" Linderman leaned forward on his desk, tenting his fingers under his chin.

"It's very good news, Sir." Rose nodded. "Your daughter was seen exiting the offices of Dr. Bradley Hopkins yesterday afternoon. He is an obstetrician in Las Vegas. She's pregnant, Sir. She's due in August."

"WONDERFUL!" Linderman leaned back in his chair, smacking the desk with his hands. "It's about time that girl did something worthwhile!" He picked up the phone. "Gota Darling! Tell the cook downstairs to serve a huge meal tonight for everyone and include champagne, I'm going to be a grandfather!" He hung up the phone and turned to Rose, his eyes sparkling. "And now I have something I need you to do for me, if you don't mind."

"Sir?" Rose smiled at him.

Linderman leaned forward. "I need you to get as much dirt on this Dr. Hopkins as you can. I want that man in my pocket. When my daughter is further along, I want to get a sample of my grandchild's blood and I want HIM to collect it for me."

"Yes Sir!" Rose nodded as she left his office.

Linderman sat back in his chair, drumming his fingers on the desk. "I want that child's powers, and I want it before I strike out against those idiots in Las Vegas."


	68. Chapter 68

Chapter Sixty-Eight: Christmas Celebrations

Gabriel sighed with exhaustion as he sank into the bed beside Olivia. "Merry Christmas." He whispered.

Olivia turned to him, smiling. "And Merry Christmas to you, too." She stretched for a moment. "That was a good party downstairs tonight, wasn't it?"

"Very good. I'd have to say, Noah Bennet stole the show tonight." Gabriel murmured sleepily. "You like you present?"

Olivia smiled as she glanced down at the diamond bracelet on her wrist. "Oh, it's just terrible. I hate it with a blinding passion. I'm only wearing it to make you feel better, you know."

Gabriel laughed softly. "Then you won't mind if I just take it off of you and get my money back for it." As he reached for her wrist, Olivia slapped at his hand playfully. "Tease! So you like it?"

"No, I love it." Olivia kissed him passionately. "And I love you."

"Just think, a year ago tonight, we found out that we were going to have Faith one day."

"Yeah, and then you hauled ass like a damn girl!" Olivia laughed. "You left skid marks!"

"I did NOT!" Gabriel pouted.

"I swear to God there was a Gabriel-shaped hole in the wall!"

"I freaked out a little, okay?" Gabriel shrugged as he pulled his wife close to him. "I got hit with a lot of information that night. I came back."

"After you let me cry myself to sleep every night for a week."

"And I married you the day I returned." Gabriel kissed his wife. "Best damn decision I ever made in my life. You know I love you like crazy, right?"

"Good. It's good to know I'm not in the nuthouse alone."

"I'll always be right by your side, even if we're both in a padded room with straightjackets."

"So, did you get everything YOU wanted for Christmas?" Olivia snuggled up to her husband.

"I loved the clothes and the new coat." Gabriel smiled. "And the new clock, or should I say, the old run-down, broken clock. I'm going to have a lot of fun putting that back together, you know me so well."

"It's nineteenth century German. You're going to have a lot of fun finding the parts for it."

"It'll be up and running by the time Faith starts college, if I'm lucky, but you're right, I'm going to enjoy tracking down all of the parts for it."

"So did you REALLY get everything you wanted for Christmas?" Olivia raised an eyebrow.

Gabriel rolled over to face Olivia as she began to smile playfully at him. "Are you saying you want to-"

"-I'm feeling pretty good tonight and I've only barfed twice today."

"You know, as come-on lines go, that needs just a little work." Gabriel laughed at Olivia as he slowly ran his hand up and down her arm. "But considering that it's been a couple of weeks since you've been able to do anything but run to the bathroom with your hand over your mouth every few minutes, I'll take what I can get."

"Oh, you'll take alright, you bad boy." Olivia rolled over on top of Gabriel, kissing him passionately.

* * *

Peter and Sherry walked into their apartment, their arms around each other. "That was a fun party, who knew Bennet could be such a laugh riot?" Sherry giggled.

"Get enough spiked punch in him and he really loosens up!" Peter laughed. "I personally enjoyed his karaoke rendition of 'I'm Too Sexy'!"

"He was SO drunk!" Sherry glanced at her watch. "It's almost midnight, Christmas is almost over for another year." She shrugged. "I wonder if Sandra's been able to pry the mike out of Noah's hands yet-" her voice trailed off as she turned to see Peter kneeling in front of her. "What are you doing?"

"I forgot one Christmas present." Peter smiled up at her as he dug into his jacket pocket and pulled out a black velvet box. Sherry gasped as she began to cry. "Sheryl Maria Antonia Veronica Tiffany Bombano, will you marry me?" He opened the box as he finished the question and Sherry began to cry harder as she saw the ring inside.

"Oh my GOD!" Sherry began to laugh through her tears as she held out her shaking left hand. Peter stared at it for a moment until she shook it in his face. "Put it on me, you goof!"

"You've got to accept first." Peter winked at her. "So, will you?"

"No, I just want you to put the ring on me for shits and giggles! YES I'll marry you!" She giggled as Peter placed the ring on her finger and gasped as she stared down at it. "Damn! It's as big as Olivia's?"

"I know. It's a half-carat bigger, actually." Peter stood up. "You think I'm going to get bested by a serial killer?"

Sherry made a face at Peter. "You two, always competing."

"You don't think it's too big?" Peter smiled.

"It's perfect." Sherry pulled Peter into her arms as she kissed him. "I've GOT to call Pop!" She grabbed her cell phone and dialed it with one hand as she kept one arm wrapped around Peter. "Ma, it's Sheryl, put Pop on the phone. No Ma, put POP on the phone, I gotta talk to him!" Sherry made a face. "NO he hasn't dumped me, put my damn father on the phone you freakin' lunatic!"

Peter covered a laugh as he heard Madeline's voice ringing through the phone as she called for Johnny. "Sheryl's on the phone, she says she wants to talk to you, but she won't say what for. I bet that rich boy finally dumped her ass and she's too ashamed to tell me. You know I called it after Thanksgiving, that boy was too good for her!"

"HE DIDN'T DUMP ME DAMMIT!" Sherry ground her teeth as she turned to Peter. "Okay, why did I think calling was a good idea?"

"Because you love your daddy and want him to know what we just did."

"WHAT DID YOU JUST DO?" Madeline's voice rang through the phone. "You'd better not have eloped! I'm not missing out on some big high society wedding just because you two can't keep your hormones in check, Young Lad-"

They heard Madeline's voice squeaking in protest as the phone was taken from her. "-Sheryl? It's Pop. What's up?"

"First of all, Merry Christmas, even though I know it's past midnight there. Second of all," Sherry grinned at Peter "I'm ENGAGED!"

"Oh Sherry Baby, that's wonderful! When did he ask?"

"Just a few minutes ago." Sherry stared down at her hand. "I'm going to take a picture of my ring and send it to you, it's freakin' HUGE!"

"That's really great, Honey. I'm so happy for both of you."

"WHAT HAPPENED?" Peter and Sherry could hear Madeline yelling in the background. "IF SHE RAN OFF AND ELOPED WITH THAT BOY-"

"-PUT A CORK IN IT, YOU CRAZY BITCH! THEY'RE ENGAGED!"

"REALLY?" Peter and Sherry heard her parents cursing as they fought over the phone. Finally a panting Madeline began speaking into it. "You're gonna marry that boy?"

Sherry made a face. "Yeah Ma, I'm gonna marry him."

"WONDERFUL! Tell you what, Honey, Johnny and I are going to fly out there real soon to plan an engagement party for you both, how's that sound?"

Sherry's eyes widened in horror. "Don't you think having it in Newark would be better?"

"You know what would be EVEN better? You should have the party at his mother's house in Manhattan. I saw it featured in a spread in New York Style magazine a few years ago, it's beautiful! She lives there with the other brother and his family, you know, the Congressman."

"I know Nathan, Ma." Sherry sighed. "I'll have to run it by Angela."

"Well, if she doesn't agree to it, I'll be flying out to Vegas to throw it there. You can tell her that!"

"I will." Sherry closed her eyes. "Listen, I know it's really late there and Peter and I-"

"-You two want to 'celebrate' I'm sure." Madeline cackled into the phone. "It's about time ONE of my kids married someone legit and rich. I'll leave you two lovebirds to it. By Hon."

"By Ma." Sherry hung up the phone. "Shit, shit, SHIT!" She began to pace back and forth in the living room. "I just HAD to open my big fat mouth, didn't I? I couldn't call Pop at work tomorrow, could I? SHIT!"

"It's going to be okay." Peter steadied Sherry, holding her at arm's length. "Just breathe."

"BREATHE?" Sherry stared at Peter. "My MOTHER wants to come here to throw an engagement party, HERE!"

"Okay."

"She wants to throw it here, with all of us around, all of us special-powered people that she has NO idea about. Do you see where I'm going with this? The next day, this place will be swarming with reports and tabloid paparazzi, all wanting to get pictures of us flying or healing or bursting into flames-"

"-I'll talk to Mom and see if she's willing to have the party in Manhattan." Peter nodded. "It'll be fine."

"You think so?" Sherry sat on the arm of the couch. "Oh my God, our mothers in the same room, can you imagine?"

"Only if I put them in a steel cage and don't allow either of them out until they duke it out Thunderdome-style." Peter winked at her. "Two divas enter, only one leaves."

Sherry laughed softly. "I'd lay money on Angela. She's slimmer, angrier and sneakier. The only thing Ma could do is eat her or sit on her."

"Don't be so hard on her." Peter sighed as he hugged Sherry.

"You heard her. She doesn't think I'm good enough for you." Sherry rolled her eyes. "Maybe she's right."

"You're plenty good enough for me." Peter kissed her forehead. "You're my girl, Sherry. You're the only one I want."

"I hope so, because you're kinda stuck with me." Sherry pressed her forehead against Peter's. "So who else are we announcing this engagement to tonight?"

"Let's start across the hall and work our way up?"

* * *

Gabriel moaned as Olivia moved on top of him, grasping her hips as she leaned forward, crushing his mouth with hers. She lifted her head, frowning as the doorbell rang. "Oh, someone's about to fucking DIE!" Gabriel groaned. He touched Olivia's face. "Keep going, Baby. They'll leave."

Olivia nodded and started grinding on top of him again. She sighed as the doorbell rang once more. "Dammit!" She shook her head.

Gabriel sat up, grasping her by the shoulders. "Please don't stop. I'll get rid of them." He kissed Olivia and lay back, closing his eyes as he reached out with his mind. _Sherry, go AWAY!_

Sherry frowned at the front door, her finger paused over the doorbell. _What's going on in there?_

Gabriel ground his teeth for a moment. _I'm trying to get another Christmas gift, now GO AWAY! Whatever it is, it can wait until morning._

At the door, Sherry started giggling as Peter joined her, smiling. "What is it?"

Sherry took his hand and steered him from the door. "They're a little busy. We'll just go tell Nathan and the family now and the two sex monkeys later." _Sorry to interrupt, carry on!_

"Busy?" Peter stared at the door and brought up the super hearing for a moment. "OH GROSS!"

"Leave them alone!" Sherry laughed as she went towards the elevator, dragging Peter along behind her as he shuddered.

In their bedroom, Gabriel sighed. "They're gone." He opened his eyes and smiled up at Olivia, moaning softly. "God I've missed this."

"I have too." Olivia leaned down again as she moved on top of him, kissing him passionately as he quickly rolled them both over and began to thrust hard, both of them moaning louder.

* * *

Sandra walked into the apartment, supporting Noah as he leaned against her, laughing raucously. "Now THAT was a fun party!" He nodded.

"Apparently so." Sandra smiled. "You realize that everyone's going to call you Mr. 'I'm Too Sexy' for the rest of your life now, don't you?"

"Nah! They'll forget about it soon! Besides, if they do, who cares? I had FUN!"

"I could tell!" Sandra paused in the living room, noticing two pairs of legs poking out from under the Christmas tree. Mr. Muggles was parked between them, his tail wagging happily. She shook her head as she led Noah down the hallway. "Come on Mr. 'I'm Too Sexy', let's pour your drunken self into bed."

"I'm too sexy for my shirt-"

"-Then let's take it off, along with your pants and shoes and tie-"

"-Oh really?" Noah laughed as he stumbled down the hall. "Lay off lady, I'm a married man!"

"That's not funny, Noah!"

"I only have eyes for my gorgeous wife!" He turned to Sandra, kissing her. "You know, it's been a few days since you gave the Little General his marching orders-"

Sandra's eyes widened, her face flushing as she heard giggles from the living room. "-You're too drunk for the General to do anything but stay at ease." She whispered. "Now get to bed."

"Is that an order?"

Sandra smirked as the giggles erupted again. "Yes, that's an order."

"Only if you put me to bed." Noah wiggled his eyebrows at her. "What do you say?"

"Come on." Sandra sighed as she led Noah down the hall to their bedroom.

In the living room, Claire and Nikolai scooted out from under the tree, muffling their giggles in their hands. "Little General?" Nikolai whispered.

"I don't ever want to hear that again and I desperately want to visit Laurent and erase that from my brain." Claire smiled as she shook her head. "I've never seen Dad drunk before."

"It looks like he had a good time at the party." Nikolai smiled at her. "Seems like we left too early."

"If my dad was singing karaoke while drunk, I think we left with Molly and Lyle just in time." Claire shrugged as she smiled back at Nikolai. "Besides, I wanted to share one of my favorite Christmas traditions with you. Every year I lie under the tree and stare at the lights from underneath it."

"It's a very beautiful thing to look at. The second most beautiful thing I've ever seen." Nikolai smiled softly.

"Second? What came in first?" Claire asked. Nikolai blushed and shrugged, looking away. "Oh." Now it was Claire's turn to blush. "Merry Christmas."

"And Merry Christmas to you too." Nikolai held out a small bag for Claire. "I meant to give this to you earlier when you gave me my new watch, but everyone was around and-" He shrugged self-consciously.

"What is it?" Claire pulled out a box and opened it, lifting a small silver locket out. "Oh, it's so pretty and delicate." She smiled as she opened it. "And it's engraved." She narrowed her eyes as she read the tiny engraving. "'To Claire, Love Nikolai'." She closed the locket, smiling at him. "Love?"

"It's just something you say." Nikolai looked away, turning redder.

"Thank you. I love it." She leaned forward and kissed Nikolai on the cheek. "And I love you."

Nikolai turned to her, his eyes widening. "I-I-" he stared at the floor. "-thank you."

Claire giggled. "You're welcome." She turned her back to him and lifted her hair. "Put it on?"

"Okay." His hands shook as he placed the chain around her neck, missing the clasp a few times before it finally caught.

Claire turned to him, touching the pendant. "How does it look?"

"Beautiful." Nikolai nodded.

"Thank you again." Claire leaned forward and gently pressed her lips to his. The kiss slowly deepened for a moment before Nikolai finally pulled back.

"I should go home." He slowly stood up, jamming his hands in his pockets. "Dad's probably waiting up for me. He helped me pick the locket out. He probably wants to know if you liked it."

"Tell him I loved it. You both have great taste." Claire took his hand and walked with him to the door. "Goodnight."

"Goodnight." Nikolai kissed Claire again quickly before darting out the front door. After it closed, he leaned against it, closing his eyes with frustration. "She tells me she loves me and all I can say is 'thank you'? Nikolai Andreas Urovitch-Raines, you are truly an idiot for the ages." He sighed as he trudged towards the elevators.

As Claire leaned against the door on her side, she smiled softly as she touched the locket again. She looked up as Sandra walked down the hall and spotted her. "That was Nikolai?" Claire nodded dreamily. "You know what your father and I think about you having a boy up here without adult supervision, Young Lady. Mr. Muggles is NOT an appropriate chaperone and you know it."

"It's fine, Mom. He just came with me when I brought Molly and Lyle upstairs for bed." Claire looked down at her locket, letting it slide back and forth along the chain. "He's a perfect gentleman, really."

Sandra spied the necklace. "Was that from Nikolai?" She touched it, smiling. "It's pretty."

"It's beautiful." Claire leaned forward and kissed Sandra on the cheek. "Merry Christmas."

"Merry Christmas." Sandra's brow knitted as Claire slowly walked past her, humming. "Are you feeling okay?"

"I feel wonderful." Claire turned and winked at Sandra. "Go on back to bed Mom. I think the Little General needs some marching orders." She giggled as she turned and half-danced to her bedroom.

"CLAIRE HAYDEN BENNET!" Sandra gasped.

* * *

Gabriel woke up the next morning, smiling happily as he smelled coffee brewing in the kitchen. He slowly climbed out of bed, sighing with contentment as he walked into the kitchen. Olivia sat at the breakfast table, sipping out of a mug. Gabriel stared. "You're not supposed to be drinking coffee, you DO realize that, right?"

"Relax, I've got decaf breakfast tea with honey." Olivia sighed. "God I miss caffeine."

"So the coffee's for me?"

Olivia winked at him. "A thank you for the multiple screaming orgasms last night." She stretched and sighed. "You know, I should withhold sex from you for a couple of weeks more often."

"That's not funny." Gabriel smirked as he poured himself a cup and sat next to her. "So how are you feeling this morning?"

Olivia shrugged. "Well, I'm surprised I can walk after last night-"

"You know what I mean."

She winked again. "I'm still queasy as hell, but it's not so bad today."

"Maybe the mind-blowing sex took your mind off of it."

"I don't think so." Olivia shook her head. "The last time we did it, I started getting really nauseous. Not because of YOU, but let's just say the rocking motions started to get to me."

"Why didn't you tell me to stop, Baby?"

"Because the primal need to have you overrode the primal need to spew." Olivia laughed as she stood up. "Oh well, on the bright side, if you were THAT hot after two weeks of no nookie, I wonder what you'll be like after SIX weeks."

"Excuse me?" Gabriel set his cup down as Olivia rinsed hers out at the sink. "What's this 'six weeks' bullshit?"

Olivia turned to her husband. "You haven't read jack shit of that literature I got from the doctor's office OR any of those books I've got lying around, have you?" Gabriel slowly shook his head. "If I have a natural birth, I have to wait at least six weeks before continuing with any marital relations."

"WHAT? Why?"

"Because a baby the size of a bowling ball will be passing through an opening the size of a lemon. Things are going to stretch and tear-"

"-TEAR?"

"Yeah!" Olivia nodded. "It makes you respect your mom all the more, doesn't it? Anyway, I'll have to wait six weeks afterwards for everything to heal."

"Oh BULLSHIT!" Gabriel shook his head. "Don't give me that! You're a rapid healer! If the doctor tries to do a c-section, he'll have to race against your powers to get the baby out before the incision heals itself, don't give me any of that 'it takes six weeks to heal' crap!"

Olivia leaned against the counter, staring down at her husband. "Okay, how's this explanation then: I will have spent nine months of puking, aching, swollen ankles, and exhaustion that will be capped off with an undetermined amount of screaming, yelling and pushing to bring your daughter into this world. Afterwards, our lives will be filled with poopy diapers, three a.m. feedings and waking up to a screaming baby every few hours. Do you REALLY think I'm going to be in the mood for ANYTHING after that?"

"Suddenly, I'm wishing we hadn't gotten pregnant." Gabriel sulked.

"WE? I don't see you hurling at the mere sight of food, Mister!" Olivia sighed as she walked out of the kitchen. "Asshole." She muttered.

"Hormonal lunatic." Gabriel sipped his coffee. "Six weeks of nothing?" He looked up as Sherry knocked on the door and let herself in. "Hey." He muttered.

Sherry frowned. "After what I interrupted last night, I thought you'd be in a better mood this morning."

"I was, until the She-Witch in there got hormonal and scary." He stared at Sherry as Peter walked in behind her. "Have you ever heard that women aren't supposed to have sex for six weeks after a baby's born?"

"Uh yeah!" Sherry smirked. "I thought EVERYONE knew that!"

"SIX WEEKS?" Peter stared at his fiancée. "As in SIX, one two three four five SIX WEEKS!"

"Yeah!" Sherry laughed. "What, you think we just throw our legs back up in the air after squeezing out a screaming baby all 'ride me now big cowboy!'? Stuff has to heal and get back into shape."

"But she's a rapid healer." Gabriel whined.

"You are SO not getting me on your side with this one." Sherry laughed. "After she spends almost ten months carrying your ill begotten spawn, the least you can do is give her six weeks before you ride her like the Matterhorn again."

They turned as Nathan entered the apartment, grinning at Peter. "You tell Olivia yet?"

"She picked it out, but I haven't made the official big announcement yet." Peter looked around. "Where is Princess Hormones at?"

"In the bedroom." Gabriel turned his head. "LIV! Your brothers are here with Sherry!"

Sherry made a face. "I could have waited until she came back, you didn't have to yell down the hall at her like my parents do."

Olivia pulled on a sweater as she came down the hall. She beamed as she spotted Sherry. "Did it happen?"

"Did WHAT happen?" Gabriel stared at them, confused.

Sherry held out her hand, wiggling her ring finger as the diamond sparkled. "I SAID YES!" She and Olivia shrieked together and hugged. "Did you REALLY pick the ring out with Peter? You've got the best taste ever! And it's bigger than the one Gabriel gave you!"

"I know!" Olivia laughed. "I didn't pick it out, I just suggested a few rings and Peter made the final call."

"Wait," Gabriel stared at Peter "you finally asked her to marry you? And you gave her a ring bigger than Olivia's?" He turned to his wife. "And YOU picked it out?"

"Oh stop being so competitive!" Olivia looked at the ring. "It's beautiful. I'm so happy for you both!" She burst into tears as she hugged Sherry and then Peter.

"We were going to tell you last night, but you were both busy." Sherry laughed.

"Apparently I won't be busy like that after Faith's born." Gabriel pouted as he turned to Nathan. "Did Heidi have to wait six weeks after having Simon and Monty before you two could, you know?"

"Six weeks? That's all?" Nathan frowned. "She told ME six months! Why that little-" He turned and left the apartment as Sherry began to laugh.

"Someone's busted."

"Six weeks." Gabriel sighed. "Hell, two weeks nearly killed me. My boys were suffering."

Olivia glared at her husband. "You wanna go without until after Faith's born?"

Gabriel stared at the ground, his hands in his pockets. "No ma'am."

"I didn't think so, stop being such a baby." She turned back to Sherry, grinning. "So have you set a date?"

"We're thinking about a Christmas wedding next year."

"Oh, that sounds gorgeous." Olivia hugged her again. "I'm so happy for you both!"

Gabriel sighed and put out his hand. "Congratulations Peter. You have a great woman."

Peter smiled and shook his hand. "Don't I know it! I'm a lucky guy." He grinned. "You are too, though."

"Yeah, when she's not a schizy walking hormone." Gabriel muttered.

"What was THAT?" Olivia turned to him.

Gabriel looked away. "Nothing."


	69. Chapter 69

Chapter Sixty-Nine: New Year's Eve Anniversary

"Are you SURE you don't mind throwing the party at the house in Manhattan, Angela?" Sherry chewed on her gum nervously as she, Olivia, Heidi and Angela went over plans for her engagement party.

"I'm sure." Angela nodded. "It's like you said earlier, it simply couldn't be thrown here, if your mother is as you say she is. All it would take would be for one of us to fly, or teleport, or suddenly heal from an injury and she'd be running to a tabloid. We don't need that, yet, not until Nathan is a little more firmly entrenched in the government. Once he ascends a bit higher, we'll slowly be able to start coming out and demonstrating what we can do without causing too much of a fuss. He'll be able to attempt to protect us all from too much prejudice, hopefully. In Manhattan, we'll be able to control things better. It'll be a small, intimate gathering of your family, our family and a small handful of friends."

"I'll tell Ma not to invite all of Newark then." Sherry sighed. "And I'm going to apologize again in advance."

"You've already apologized over and over again." Angela pursed her lips together as she stared at Sherry. "I don't understand why you're so worried. Your family can't be THAT terrible."

"Really?" Sherry shook her head. "You HAVE heard Peter describe Thanksgiving, right?"

"Yes, but you and Anthony are both such lovely people." Angela's eyes widened as Olivia and Heidi snickered. "What? I DO occasionally say NICE things about people, you know."

"True, and Hell does occasionally freeze over as well." Olivia laughed softly. "Face it Mother, you may be diplomatic, but warm and fuzzy you're not."

Angela smirked at her daughter. "Keep it up, Dear. Just remember though that when you look at me, you're basically looking at yourself in thirty years." She nodded, her eyes sparkling triumphantly as Olivia's grin faded. "Enjoy the preview, Darling." She turned back to Sherry. "We'll have the 'official' party in Manhattan on Saturday March 15 and then on the 16th, we'll have the true party here, with your real friends, will that make you happy?"

Sherry nodded, sighing with relief. "That sounds wonderful. Too bad I couldn't find a way to just have Pop sneak off for that without Ma finding out."

"You are much closer to your father than your mother, aren't you?" Angela raised an eyebrow.

"Well, even more so now that I realize that he's had a power all along. It's where Anthony and I get it from."

"So, at this party in Manhattan for your family we'll have your parents, Anthony, Tulia, your brothers Salvatore and Luciano and their wives Ginger and Cadence."

"So far." Sherry shrugged. "Knowing Ma, she'll insist on inviting our neighbors and Pop's family and his friends so she can rub it in their noses that I'm marrying 'up', so to speak. I'll tell her to set a cap on the number of invites. How many should I tell her to stop at? Twenty?"

Angela shrugged. "That will be fine. For our side it will be you and Peter, Heidi, Nathan and the boys, Claire, Sandra, Lyle and Noah, Olivia and Gabriel," she turned to Olivia "you CAN keep your husband in check, yes?"

"Of course." Olivia gritted her teeth.

"I'll also invite Kaito, Hiro and Ando." She shrugged. "I could invite a few of Nathan's friends from New York and I'm sure that Peter has a few friends he'd like to invite. I'd also like for Dr. Suresh and Candice to come, if they can-"

"-Candice is due March 16th Mother, I don't know if she'll be up for traveling." Olivia raised an eyebrow.

"We'll be teleporting, it's not like she'll be on an airplane for hours on end." Angela rolled her eyes. "Anyone else that you can think of?"

Sherry nodded. "Laurent might ought to be there, just in case anyone slips up. We might need to mind-wipe a few people. Also, I'd like for Matt and Janice to attend, as well as Niki and D.L. and Hana and Claude."

"Good." Angela nodded. "Seems like a good number for a party." She smiled. "See, not so hard, yes?"

"So far." Sherry shook her head. "I just have a really bad feeling about this. Thank you again, Angela for throwing this for us. If Ma had had her way, it would be some Technicolor nightmare in her old dance club here in Vegas. She's already bitching about having it in Manhattan instead of here, even though she suggested it there in the first place. Apparently, she wanted some of her old showgirl friends to show up for it."

"In that case, Manhattan seems like a good place for the party." Angela raised her eyebrows slightly. "It's times like this I miss Charles and Simone Deveaux. They were such lovely people to have at parties." She smiled as she stared off into the distance, not noticing Sherry's suddenly uncomfortable look. "Simone was such a sweet, elegant thing and she knew how to work a room and Charles? He was such a fun man to be around. He knew how to make everyone around him at ease with just a simple kind smile and a well-timed joke."

"Mother-" Olivia nudged Angela and nodded quickly towards Sherry.

Angela laughed softly. "-Oh Sherry. Peter may have been crazy about Simone, but she was head over heels for that painter Isaac. She and Peter may have had a dalliance, but if Simone and Isaac had both lived, I have no doubt that she would have returned to him once he'd gotten off of the drugs for good. You and Peter would have been together regardless."

"Maybe." Sherry frowned. She shrugged. "It doesn't matter, really. We're together now, right?"

"Right." Angela winked. "AND you're getting married. Isn't it wonderful how life works out?"

Olivia stared at Angela. "Mother? Are you feeling alright? You've been really-"

"-NICE!" Heidi frowned. "It's kind of creepy, actually."

"I'm fine." Angela rolled her eyes as she quickly put away the schedule, lists and invitation samples she'd brought out for the party planning. "I don't know what either of you are talking about." She stood and walked out of the room, carrying her things with her.

"Okay, I'm a little scared right now." Olivia turned to Heidi and Sherry. "What the HELL?"

"I don't know!" Heidi laughed softly. "I've never seen her like this before."

"Hell, I like it!" Sherry nodded. "As long as she stays in this mood until the party, I'll be happier than a pig in shit. Whatever's doing this to her, I say let it continue."

"She's been like this all week." Olivia shook her head. "I wonder if it has anything to do with her and Gabriel planning on gutting this floor and turning it into 'Angela's Playhouse'."

"Excuse me?" Heidi stared at Olivia. "What the hell are you talking about?"

Olivia turned to Heidi. "She didn't tell you? Gabriel wants to turn one of the upper floors into a big apartment for us before the baby is born, even though we'll be in the damn thing for less than a year and it's totally and completely impractical, and Mother wants him to do the same on this floor. She wants it turned into two huge deluxe, attached apartments. One for herself and the other for you, Nathan and the boys."

"An apartment WITHOUT her in it?" Heidi smiled softly. "Granted, she'd still be next door and it'll be attached, but-"

"-Sounds nice, huh?" Sherry grinned.

"Sounds like HEAVEN!" Heidi nodded. "I say gut the hell out of this floor. In fact, let that wacky hubby of yours gut the entire building if he wants if it means Angela can have a place of her own!"

"How long HAVE you and Nathan lived with Angela?" Olivia cocked her head to the side. "Since you two married?"

"Practically." Heidi frowned. "Since Simon was born. Nathan was away with the military and after Simon was born, Angela wanted me to stay with her, Mr. Petrelli and Peter, so she could help me with the baby. I agreed, thinking that after Nathan returned, we'd move out. No such luck. Soon afterwards, I became pregnant with Monty, and then Nathan started working for the D.A.'s office and then there was the accident, and then Mr. Petrelli died and-" She sighed "-we've always talked about getting a place of our own, but we've never actually done it." She leaned forward close to Olivia and Sherry, a conspiratorial look on her face. "Just between the three of us, I don't think he ever wants to leave Angela. He knows that Peter's her favorite, so I think he tries to stay with her to-"

"-suck up?" Sherry asked.

"Sort of, yeah. Maybe prove that he's just as protective and useful, maybe." Heidi shrugged. "Most of the time it's fine. Last year after Kirby Plaza, Angela was almost never home. She stayed in a hotel, claiming that she wanted to give us 'space' after I'd recovered from my paralysis, but now I know she was avoiding Peter because he could read her mind. After Kirby Plaza, Peter and Nathan were so much closer and spent more time together, I know why now."

"And I know why Mother didn't want him reading her mind." Olivia nodded. "She was trying everything she could to get closer to me and steer Linderman's plans more to her liking. She wanted me to start backing Nathan politically, which I actually was all for, and she wanted me to drop the Project Athena plans and the plans to bring Gabriel into the fold. I'm glad that didn't work." Olivia smiled softly as she touched her stomach.

Heidi smiled. "How are you feeling?"

"Okay." Olivia shrugged. "Tired mostly. Gabriel's got some big plans tonight that he's not letting me in on for our first wedding anniversary-"

"-Oh that's right!" Heidi grinned. "New Year's Eve! You two have been married a year now!"

"Peter's got plans for us." Sherry smiled. "He wants to teleport to Times Square with a few other people and ring in the New Year there."

"Nathan thankfully wants to stay in tonight."

"That sucks." Sherry sighed.

"No, it doesn't." Heidi winked. "Trust me, we have plans too, just private ones." She turned to Olivia. "So what is the hubby planning for your momentous first anniversary?"

"I don't know." Olivia shook her head. "Nothing big I hope. I'm really just too tired to do anything but sleep and NOT think about food. I keep telling him that I just want to stay in, sleep and drink ginger ale, but he seems so excited about whatever he's got planned, I really don't have the heart to put my foot down. Besides, I've been kind of a bitch to him the last week."

"I know!" Heidi laughed. "He's been up here with Peter and Nathan, afraid to go downstairs until late at night. He said that you snap at him all the time. I seem to remember him saying something yesterday about you going all nuclear about the hamper? He said he couldn't even yell back because you started crying in the middle of yelling at him."

"How damn HARD is it when you take off your clothes to take a shower to turn around, bend over, pick up the fucking things and PUT THEM IN THE DAMN HAMPER?" Olivia glared. "I mean, I'm carrying his child, I sleep with him even when I really don't feel like it just to shut him the hell up and NOW he wants me to be his MAID? HELL NO!"

Heidi stared at her, her eyes widening. "Wow, you really are working the bitchy side of pregnancy, aren't you?"

"What's THAT supposed to mean?" Olivia turned to her, her eyes narrowing.

"Nothing Sybil, nothing at all." Heidi winked at her. "I went through the same thing, trust me. Only difference was when I was pregnant with Simon, Nathan wasn't around so I had to vent to others." She giggled. "I made Peter cry a few times."

"That's not hard." Sherry shook her head. "In case you guys haven't noticed, he's kind of emo."

"No shit." Olivia turned to Sherry. "I'm not THAT bitchy, am I?"

"Well," Sherry struggled for words "I just tell myself that: a. you're still not as bad as your mother most of the time and b. you'll be back to your chipper, Mary Sunshine, Pollyanna self as soon as the hormones stop raging."

"Don't worry." Heidi put an arm around Olivia. "Gabriel will forget all about the bitchy as soon as the horny kicks in."

"What do you mean?" Olivia stared at Heidi.

"I mean there will come a time VERY soon in this little pregnancy when Gabriel will be begging for you to get off of him, trust me." Heidi nodded. "Oh yeah. After the bitchy comes the horny. Luckily when I was pregnant with Simon, Nathan came home on leave during that portion of the pregnancy. He swears I wore him out and screwed him until he was raw. He was actually GLAD to get called back, poor guy and when I was pregnant with Monty? Nathan SWEARS I broke his dick, but I didn't. He just said that so I'd leave him alone for a week."

"REALLY?" Olivia started laughing. "So I'm going to get-"

"-So hot and bothered that neither Gabriel or a truckload of D batteries will satisfy you, trust me."

"I hope that kicks in VERY soon." Olivia sighed as she leaned back against the couch cushions. "I hate NOT wanting my husband. I MISS not wanting my husband. I hate feeling like I'm just going through the motions to keep him from whining."

"Don't worry. Soon, the only thing he'll be whining is 'damn Baby, get OFF of me!'." Heidi laughed with Sherry and Olivia.

* * *

"So after the bitchy comes the horny?" Gabriel walked around the room of the building they were in, pulling sheets off of furniture as Peter and Anthony opened windows to air out the room.

"Ooooh yeah!" Nathan nodded as he helped pull sheets off, staring around the room. "Nice place."

"Good, glad you like it." Gabriel grinned. "I hope Olivia does. So anyway, define this 'horny'. Even more than usual? I know you guys don't want to hear this about your sister-"

"-We don't." Nathan and Peter answered in unison.

"I do." Anthony grinned.

"-but before she got pregnant, Olivia and I went at it a LOT."

"I know." Peter glared at him. "By the way, have I thanked you lately for killing that woman with super hearing and then using it around me so I could pick it up? Really, thanks so MUCH for that."

"You're welcome." Gabriel stared out of the window of the room they were in, smiling at the ocean. "Beautiful place." He turned back to Nathan. "So just HOW horny are we talking about?"

"Let me put it to you this way, okay?" Nathan sighed. "When we first got married, Heidi and I probably out-screwed you and Olivia. We're talking booty-fest twenty-four seven. She got pregnant and I got called away. I come home a few months later and she's the only one greeting me at the airport. She later said that she lied to Mom about when I was coming home so she could greet me alone. Before I could even say two words to her, she'd dragged me into a supply closet-"

"-Hey, great way to welcome you home, I say." Anthony nodded.

"I know, right?" Nathan wiggled his eyebrows. "But then on the drive home, she pulls the car over behind a mall and tackles me AGAIN-TWICE! THEN we get home, it's the middle of the night and we couldn't even get upstairs before she was all over me again. For those two weeks I was home, I could barely catch up with Mom, Dad and Pete because she was ALWAYS shoving her hand down my pants!"

"DUDE!" Peter grimaced. "I do NOT want to know this, okay?"

"Actually, I'm seeing Heidi in a whole new light here." Anthony grinned. "Who knew that proper little priss was a horn-dog deep down?"

"I sure didn't." Gabriel shook his head.

"Well she is, and when she was pregnant with Simon she DEFINITELY was! Hell, I was actually GLAD to leave, and I was in a fucking war zone, alright?" Nathan shook his head. "Anyway, I figured she just missed me. I come home, she gets pregnant with Monty and soon afterwards, we were at it again, only this time, I didn't have a war to go to." Nathan leaned against a wall. "I swear to God, she broke my dick by the end of that hormone surge."

"She BROKE it?" Gabriel's eyes widened.

"No fuckin' way!" Anthony laughed.

"No she DIDN'T!" Peter shook his head.

"Hey, not your dick, you don't have a say!" Nathan shook his head. "It didn't work for a couple of months, that's all I'm saying. She broke it and wore it the hell out!"

"There's no way she broke it. If she had, you'd have had to have surgery." Peter crossed his arms in front of his chest, smirking at his brother.

"He's got a point." Anthony nodded.

"Wait a minute." Gabriel turned to Peter. "You can actually BREAK them? I've always heard jokes about it, but that's TRUE?"

"Hell yeah!" Peter nodded. "When I was in nursing school, I did an ER rotation. This guy comes in one night screaming with an ice pack on his groin. Apparently he and this girl got extra freaky and were switching positions in the middle, only they didn't communicate which way they were rolling or something. He went one way, she went the other and SNAP!"

"OUCH!" Gabriel winced and grabbed a cushion from the couch, placing it against his crotch protectively. "Just, OUCH!"

"Damn." Anthony's eyes widened.

"Yeah! You should have seen it man! It was swollen and bruised and bent to hell and back. He had to go to surgery to have it fixed. It probably still doesn't work right!" He laughed.

"Liar." Nathan frowned.

"Think about it! If you can break a bone, you can break a boner! That thing only bends so far, know what I'm saying? Look it up, I'm not lying." Peter nodded.

"Happened to a guy I went to boot camp with." Anthony laughed softly. "He actually had to have this like, CAST on it. He didn't finish boot camp, by the way."

"You're really not lying." Nathan's eyes widened. "Holy shit."

"See? Heidi didn't break it, she just scared the hell out of it!" Peter started laughing. Nathan glared as Gabriel and Anthony joined in.

"Laugh now, clowns but just remember." He pointed to Gabriel. "You'll find out what I mean in another month or two and you?" He pointed to Peter. "According to Anthony, she's having twins next year so that'll be double the hormones for you!"

"That's very true." Anthony smirked. "Suddenly, I'm wondering if I want to join the Daddy train with you guys. Maybe I should make Tulia double up on the birth control."

"It's not so bad." Nathan shook his head. "Sure, you've got nine months of bitchy, horny, swollen, temperamental wifey, but after the baby's born, she goes back to being the girl you loved and married and as a bonus, you have a kid too. It's a fair trade-off." He looked around the room. "So we're doing this upstairs too, right?"

"Right." Gabriel nodded. "And then I go and pick up the food I ordered. I hope seafood doesn't make Olivia barf."

"That would make quite the capper to the evening." Nathan smirked. He turned and left the room, heading upstairs with Gabriel, Peter and Anthony following behind him.

* * *

Sherry looked up from her dressing table as Peter appeared out of thin air behind her. "You guys get it set up?"

Peter grinned and nodded. "I think Olivia will like it."

"I hope so." Sherry sighed. "She was talking about his plans this afternoon while we were planning the engagement party and I had the HARDEST time not telling her what he had planned. I hope she likes it, or at least gives it a chance. He went to a lot of trouble to do this, but she's just been so tired lately."

"I know." Peter walked over to Sherry and kissed her cheek as she applied her makeup. "This pregnancy's taken a lot out of her lately."

"She'll be fine, once the puking, tired and bitchy goes away." Sherry stood up and twirled in front of Peter. "So, how do I look?"

Peter stared at her, his eyes slowly studying every inch of her lustily. She was dressed in dark, tight jeans, and a red sweater that clung to her curves. He stared at her cleavage as it peeked out from the low cut top of the sweater and smiled softly. "You look like you have no business in Times Square."

"What?" Sherry frowned. "Why?"

"Because I don't want to let you out of this house, let alone this bedroom for the rest of the night." He stepped towards her and started kissing her passionately.

Sherry giggled as she playfully swatted Peter. "Meanness! I thought you were about to insult me!"

"I would never, ever insult you." Peter dove at her again, pulling her into his arms as he nibbled on her neck. "Thank God you belong to me. If I saw you on the streets with someone else, I swear I'd beat his ass just to make you mine."

"That's sweet, in a Neanderthal way." Sherry sighed. "So, we're meeting Anthony, Tulia, Hiro, Leilani, Ando, Bridget, Mohinder, Candice, Claude, Hana, Nikolai, Claire, D.L., Niki, Janice and Matt to teleport to New York, right?"

"That's right. I asked Nathan if he wanted to come, but he said that he and Heidi had 'plans'. I just have to meet up with Gabriel and Olivia to whisk them away to the little romantic setting Gabriel has gotten set up for his little wifey-poo and I'm yours for the rest of the night."

"Damn right you are." Sherry winked at him. "So, go whisk away!"

* * *

Gabriel sighed as he entered the apartment to see Olivia asleep on the couch. Her hair and makeup were done, but she was dressed in sweats. "Honey?"

Olivia slowly opened her eyes. "Nothing fits."

"What?" Gabriel sat beside her, stroking her hair. "What are you talking about?"

"I wanted to wear something nice for you, but everything's too tight across the bust." Olivia frowned. "And my ass for some reason. This is the only thing that fits."

"Well, that's because you're pregnant."

"I'm barely two months pregnant!" Olivia sulked. "And you'd think that something, ANYTHING would fit, especially since I've been puking my guts out for the last three weeks! I don't get it."

"Your body is changing and-"

"-Oh, don't give me that!" Olivia rolled over and buried her face in a couch cushion. "I'm getting fat."

"You're having our baby!" Gabriel laughed softly. "You can go in sweats, Baby. We're not going anywhere in public."

"But I wanted to look nice for you and for our anniversary." Olivia sat up. "I tried on the dress you bought me last year, the one we got married in. I looked like a sausage!"

"Honey, that dress wouldn't have fit you even BEFORE you got pregnant. You've gained about fifteen pounds since last year, fifteen pounds that you really needed. You were pretty scrawny when we got married."

"I know." Olivia sighed. "Is it too late to back out of this evening? I'd really much rather stay at home and sleep. I know you wanted to spend our first anniversary doing something special, but I'm really very tired and-"

"-Just give it a chance, okay?" Gabriel kissed her cheek. "You look beautiful, you know."

"I do?" Olivia looked at Gabriel sadly. "I feel like ass."

"You look stunning." Gabriel took her hand. "Come on."

"Where?"

"It's a surprise. Peter's teleporting us there." He winked and walked with her across the hall to Peter's apartment. Peter greeted them at the door and smiled at his sister. "Well, that's a new look for you."

"It's called 'tired, pregnant, and don't give a shit chic'." Olivia sighed.

"The sweats become you." Peter laughed as he placed a hand on her shoulder, then Gabriel's, grinning as they all closed their eyes. "Let's go." They opened their eyes to find themselves standing in a living room. Olivia looked around, her eyes widening as Peter smiled. "I would stay, but I have a VERY hot date waiting for me. Have a good night. I'll pick you both up in the morning." He disappeared as Gabriel turned to Olivia.

"What do you think? Recognize where we are?"

Olivia nodded, her eyes filling with tears. "We're on Tybee Island."

"We're in your house on Tybee Island. Peter, Nathan and Anthony helped me clean up, remove the sheets from the furniture, and bring in the catered food." He smiled as Olivia walked to the French doors and opened them, shivering slightly as a cold breeze blew into the room.

Olivia inhaled, sighing. "I miss that smell. I miss the ocean."

"This place is even more beautiful than you described. I remembered it somewhat from that memory we shared with Oscar, but actually being in it-" He shook his head. "-I can't wait to move here and raise Faith."

"Me neither." Olivia breathed in the scent of the ocean, her eyes closed as she smiled. "This place really takes me back."

"Are you glad I made you come here now?" Gabriel smiled as Olivia nodded. "Good." He walked to her and wrapped his arms around her waist, burying his face in her hair. "Happy anniversary, Honey."

"I love you." Olivia leaned against him, her eyes closed.

"I love you too." Gabriel murmured.

* * *

"Were you HUNGRY?" Gabriel sat back on a pile of cushions in front of the fire, his eyes widening with amazement as another decimated shell from a crab leg joined the pile in front of his wife.

Olivia nodded as she grabbed another crab leg from the plate on the small table beside them. "I wasn't very hungry when we first got here, but there's something about the air here. I guess it's the ocean." She smiled as she began to crack the leg, pulling out the meat and eating it hungrily. She looked at her husband. "Come on and eat too, don't make me feel like a pig here!"

"Honey, I've already had two helpings." He turned back to the table, laughing. He'd ordered two pounds of crab legs, a pound of shrimp, biscuits and vegetables from a local restaurant a few days earlier and had picked it up earlier that day with Anthony. Most of the food was gone now. "I thought we'd have leftovers for a few days, but good Lord!"

"What?" Olivia frowned.

"Nothing." Gabriel leaned forward and kissed her on the cheek. "I'm glad you've got your appetite back, that's all."

"I am too!" Olivia grabbed a biscuit. "I miss food."

"I suppose I'll have to have Peter bring us here about once a week to help you until you get your appetite back, huh?"

"That'll be great!" Olivia finished her food and sat back, touching her stomach as she belched. "Oh hell, I'm sorry about that."

Gabriel laughed. "Don't be. Like I said, I'm just glad you've got your appetite back."

"It's the air here, I swear to God." Olivia turned, smiling as she stared at the flames flickering in the fireplace. "So did you see ALL of the house?"

"It's beautiful."

"Wanna see the bedroom again?" Olivia winked.

Gabriel smiled. "So the ocean air hasn't just awakened ONE appetite, I see."

"No, it hasn't." Olivia leaned forward and kissed her husband. "That, or I've entered the horny stage of pregnancy."

"You know about that too?" Gabriel laughed.

"Yeah, Heidi told me about it today."

"Nathan told us about it." Gabriel nodded.

"Really?" Olivia giggled. "He tell you about how Heidi supposedly broke his dick?"

"YEP!" Gabriel nodded. "We deduced that she didn't actually break it though. She just made it want to run and hide."

"That's funny!" Olivia winked. "I find funny so very sexy." She stood up and took his hand.

"How sexy?"

"Maybe I should show you instead of tell you." Olivia led him out of the living room and pulled him quickly up the stairs to the master bedroom, tackling him the moment they walked into the room.

* * *

Peter and Sherry laughed with Anthony, Tulia, Hiro, Leilani, Ando and his new girlfriend Bridget Banks as they wove their way through the crowds at Times Square. "Now THIS is how you celebrate New Year's Eve!" Bridget laughed, tossing her reddish-blond hair out of her eyes as she clung to Ando's hand.

"It is very fun!" He turned, smiling at her as they followed their friends through the crowds.

"There's Claire!" Peter called out to his friends as they made their way over to his niece. "I thought I'd lost you guys!"

"You didn't!" Claire laughed as she clung to Nikolai's hand. "He and Claude just wanted to get us some funny hats from a vendor." She nodded to Hana.

"Has anyone seen D.L. and Niki?" Sherry searched the crowds.

"They're over there with Matt and Janice and Mohinder and Candice." Hiro pointed towards them.

Sherry nodded. "Candice looks a little tired."

"She's huge, what do you expect!" Peter laughed as he noticed the couple. Candice was leaning against Mohinder, her eyes half-closed as he placed his arm around her and kissed her forehead.

"She's NOT huge!" Sherry shook her head. "She's just tiny, that's all! Hell, she's still got three months left."

"How bloody big is she going to get by then?" Claude laughed. "Hiro'll have to teleport into her uterus just to escort the little ankle-biter out of there."

Hiro stared at Claude and shook his head. "No thank you. Peter can do that."

Claude laughed with everyone else, putting an arm around Hana as they partied with the rest of the crowd.

* * *

Angela slipped out of the apartment, smirking as she slipped into an elevator and rode up to the top floor. She walked towards a vacant apartment and pulled out a key, gasping as the door opened before she could put it in the lock. She smiled at the man as she walked into the room. "Olivia and Gabriel are gone for the night. Nathan and Heidi are extremely occupied and the boys are downstairs with the Bennets celebrating the New Year with Lyle, Sanjog and Micah. Hiro and Peter are both gone to New York with Ando and their friends and girlfriends. Neither of us will be missed all night." She turned and unbuttoned her coat, opening it to reveal a slinky nightgown underneath it.

Kaito Nakamura nodded appreciatively as he smiled. "All night? Sounds perfect." He walked to Angela and kissed her. "I've missed you."

"I've missed you too." Angela sighed. "It's been so hard getting away from everyone with the holidays." She smiled at him. "Hard to believe-"

"-that we'd end up this way?" Kaito blushed. "I always cared for you, you know that. I'm just glad you finally realized that you cared for me as well."

"I am too." Angela kissed Kaito and hugged him. "I'm glad I finally came to my senses as far as you were concerned." She took his hand. "Come on, just because we have all night doesn't mean we have to spend it in here sharing sweet nothings."

"I totally agree." Kaito laughed as he followed Angela into the bedroom.


	70. Chapter 70

Chapter Seventy: Busted, Glimpses of the Future, Remodeling

"So you're going to be able to knock down most of these walls and turn this floor into TWO deluxe apartments?" Angela smiled as Gabriel nodded. "And when will you be doing this?"

"Whenever you're ready." Gabriel smirked as he leaned against a wall in the hallway. "I'm going to need help though. Maybe Peter and Hiro will be willing to help."

"Maybe." Angela shrugged. "How long do you think it will take to have everything finished?"

"Not long with the right amount of help." Gabriel giggled and looked away.

Angela stared at him. "And just WHAT are you sniggering at?"

"When are people around here going to figure out that I hear everything that goes on in this building?" He winked at Angela. "And I do mean EVERYTHING." He laughed as Angela's face went ashen. "Oh don't worry, I'm not going to blab to Olivia about what you and old man Nakamura are up to. Old people need to get their freak on too, right? No wonder you suddenly decided you wanted to have separate quarters from Nathan and the family."

"You want something in exchange for your silence, don't you?" Angela's eyes narrowed. "Name your price. You want me to stop being so bitchy with you, correct?"

"Nah." Gabriel shook his head. "I like our snippy rapport, you keep me on my toes. I just want a lot of help in knocking down these walls and remodeling not just this floor, but the floor above it too for myself and the little woman. You're much scarier than I am, you could get more 'volunteers' than I could."

"That's all you want? You just want me to scare a few people into assisting you in redoing these two floors?"

"Well, there's that," Gabriel smirked "and I know you were planning on staying with me and Olivia while your new digs were being built, but I think you'd be happier living with Peter and Sherry, don't you?"

"Fine." Angela frowned.

"And after Faith's born, we're going to need a lot of privacy to bond with our daughter without certain nosy grandmas popping in constantly."

"Don't push it." Angela glared at him. "I'll get you volunteers, I'll stay with Peter and Sherry but mark my words, my daughter is going to need me after Faith is born. And before you start smirking, you're going to need me too. Neither of you have ever been around babies before, you won't know what in the hell you're doing."

"Okay, you have a point, I suppose." Gabriel held out his hand, winking at Angela. "Deal?"

"Deal." Angela glared at her son-in-law as she shook his hand. "So when will all of this be finished?"

"With the right amount of help, say two weeks? You could move in by the end of January."

"Good." Angela turned on her heel and swept into her apartment as Gabriel snorted, laughing as he walked to the elevator.

Gabriel was still laughing as he entered his apartment downstairs. Olivia smiled at him and set down the book she was reading as he walked through the door. "What's so funny?"

"I wish I could tell you, I really do, but then I wouldn't have any leverage over your mother."

"You have dirt on Mother?" Olivia sat up, her eyes sparkling. "Oh, now you HAVE to tell me! Come on, I've been tired and miserable all week and puking up damn near everything I eat. You put me in this condition, you totally owe me."

"I seem to recall TWO of us involved in the baby-making process there, Toots. I'm not telling shit." Gabriel winked at her. "But I will THINK something very quickly if you think you can catch it."

Olivia concentrated, her eyes widening. "Oh hell NO! MOM AND KAI-"

"SSSSHHH!!" Gabriel shook his head as he leaned towards her, kissing her on the forehead. "Shut up, okay? Pete's across the hall and he can hear you."

"No fucking way!" Olivia stood up, giggling. "How did YOU find out?"

"Super hearing, of course." Gabriel grinned. "And now I'm using it to totally blackmail your mother."

"How long has it been going on?"

"A couple of months." He pressed his finger to his lips. "Odds are, Peter knows too. If I could hear them, he probably could too, unless he's finally figured out a way to turn the hearing on and off like I have. I found out by accident. I was doing a little sound sweep of the building one night, just to make sure that I couldn't overhear anyone plotting or pulling any double-agent crap when I heard THEM upstairs. It was interesting, to say the very least."

"So what are you making her promise to do in order to keep her dirty little secret?"

"Well, she has to round up volunteers to help me redo the floor she's on AND redo the floor WE'LL be moving to and while I'm remodeling, she won't be staying with us."

"She's not going to be living here while you do your little project?" Olivia kissed Gabriel as he shook his head. "Oh, I love you so much! I knew there was a reason I married you!"

"You mean besides the fact that I'm ridiculously good looking and know how to throw down in the bedroom?" Gabriel wiggled his eyebrows.

"Definitely besides that. I knew that one day, your devious little mind would come in quite handy and I was right!" She sat back on the couch, rubbing her stomach. "So we'll live in peace and quiet while you're remodeling. Thank GOD! The idea of her actually living here was horrifying. She's here enough as it is." She looked up at her husband, smiling hopefully. "Did you also get her to agree not to pop in constantly after Faith is born?"

Gabriel shook his head. "Don't think I didn't try, but she was a no-go with that one. I could only push her so far. Apparently, since we both grew up as only children, your mother seems to think that we don't know anything about babies and that we'll 'need' her constantly after Faith is born. I suppose she thinks we're going to diaper Faith's head while shoving a bottle in her ass or something."

"Not even WE'RE that clueless." Olivia rolled her eyes. "Fine, she can take the three a.m. feedings. I was planning on assigning those to you anyway, but she can do them instead."

"Why would I have to get up at three a.m. to feed her?"

"Because I'll be feeding her the rest of the time, jackass!"

Gabriel sighed. "There's one slight problem with me AND Angela feeding Faith at all. We won't be the ones naturally equipped to feed her."

"Meaning you and Mother won't be able to breast-feed her, right?" Olivia smirked. "I've already thought of that. There's a thing called a breast pump. I'll be using it."

"Damn." Gabriel sighed as he headed into his studio.

"I KNOW you didn't think you were getting off THAT easily!" Olivia called after him.

"I was hoping." Gabriel muttered as he walked into the art studio. "That settles it, Angela's definitely coming up at three a.m. to feed the baby." He looked around and sighed. "I need to do some painting." He grabbed a stool and took a deep breath as he stared at the blank canvas. After a few moments, his eyes turned white as he reached for his paints and a paintbrush.

* * *

An hour later, Olivia looked up as the doorbell rang before it opened. As Angela and Sherry walked into the room, Olivia tried to cover her giggles with coughs as she sat up on the couch. "Hey Mother, Sherry what brings you two here?"

"The engagement party." Angela held out her folder with the planning items inside. "We have a little over two months to get this in gear."

"Okay." Olivia concentrated on hiding her thoughts from Angela as they began to go over guest lists, invitation samples and food items. At the mention of different foods, Olivia began to take deep breaths, fighting nausea at the mere thought of some of the foods on the menu.

Angela looked at Olivia from over a sheet of invitation samples. "Don't tell me you're STILL having all-day morning sickness."

"Yeah." Olivia took deep breaths as she struggled to keep what was left of her breakfast down. "Two more weeks and I'll be out of this first trimester. Let's hope the second one is better."

"Definitely." Sherry shook her head sadly. "It's really doing a number on you, huh?"

"You can say that again." Olivia breathed and closed her eyes. "This has REALLY got to stop soon!"

"Here, let me try a trick that" Angela paused "a friend showed me." She quickly took one of Olivia's wrists and began to press on a spot just below her thumb. "It's an acupressure point. Supposedly it helps alleviate nausea."

"Interesting." Olivia covered a smirk. "So who showed you that?"

"Oh, Kaito suggested it." Angela tried to sound nonchalant as she pressed on Olivia's wrist. "He was asking me the other day about your pregnancy and how you were doing, because he hasn't seen you around much lately and I told him about how tired you were and about the severe morning sickness you had. He told me about this little acupressure point." She shrugged. "Did you know they make wrist straps that are designed to apply pressure to this point as well?"

"No, I didn't." Olivia grinned.

"They're mainly used for motion sickness, but I bet it would work with your morning sickness." Angela stared at her daughter. "Feeling better?"

"A little yeah." Olivia covered a giggle as Angela released her wrist. "Tell Kaito I said thank you. He's QUITE the miracle worker, isn't he?"

Angela's eyes snapped up to meet her daughter's, narrowing as Olivia slyly winked at her. "Smart ass." She muttered.

"Actually, you may see him before I do. YOU can thank him for me." Olivia's smile broadened as Angela began to blush.

Sherry stared at them both. "Am I missing something?"

Olivia shook her head. "No, nothing at all." She turned and smiled sweetly at her brother's fiancée. "Absolutely nothing. By the way, did Mother share the good news with you?"

"Olivia." Angela's voice had a warning tone to it as she glared at her daughter.

"What good news?" Sherry asked.

"Oh," Olivia looked innocently at her mother before turning to Sherry "while Gabriel remodels the apartment upstairs for Mother, she wants to stay with you and Peter."

"What?" Sherry's eyes widened as she feigned a smile. "But, but, but I thought she was staying with you and Gabriel."

"I wanted to give them some privacy and let Olivia have some rest." Angela hissed as she glowered at her daughter. And speaking of rest, you do look a little peaked, Dear."

"I do?" Olivia smirked.

"She does?" Sherry stared at her. "She looks flushed, actually."

"She looks tired." Angela turned to Sherry, handing her the folder. "Tell you what. Why don't you go to your apartment and I'll join you in a moment. We'll finish planning for the day there."

"And with Mother living with you and Peter for the next few weeks, you'll be able to plan that party round the clock, practically." Olivia grinned.

"Okay," Sherry took the folder, her eyes narrowing "something's going on here and I swear to God, I'm GOING to find out what it is."

"Nothing's going on, honest." Olivia batted her eyes innocently. "I'm just tired and I'm going to take a nap, that's all. This pregnancy is taking quite the toll."

"Like hell it is." Sherry nodded. "You're up to something, you both are. I'll figure it out, don't worry." She turned and left the apartment.

The moment the door closed, Angela ran to it and locked the door, whirling around on her daughter. "Okay, start teasing, I know you're dying to! That damned, blasted, nosy-ass, gossipy husband of yours blabbed, didn't he? Who else has he told?"

"He hasn't told ANYONE, including me, technically. He sent a stray thought my way sure, but he hasn't said a word to me at all about you and Kaito having a little special private time together."

"Who else has he sent stray thoughts to?"

"Nobody." Olivia sighed. "I don't understand why you're so embarrassed."

"I'm not embarrassed, I'm just not ready for us to 'come out' as a couple yet." Angela shrugged. "Neither is he, for that matter."

"So you've discussed it."

"Of course we have." Angela sighed. "It just happened all at once and neither of us was expecting it. We're friends, we have been for over thirty years."

"Okay, tell me the truth." Olivia put on a serious face. "When you and Linderman were together, were you seeing Kaito too?"

"NO!" Angela glared at her.

"Damn." Olivia shrugged. "I was hoping you were going to tell me that there was a big possibility that Kaito was my father instead of Linderman. I'd have liked him as a father."

"You're not half-Japanese, you're half mine and half psychopath." Angela crossed her arms in front of her chest. "So are you going to make light of this, or are we going to discuss it like adults now that your idiot blabbermouth of a husband has spilled the beans?"

"I'm not making light of anything. I'm serious. I'd much rather know that I was half Kaito's than half Linderman's."

"Well, you're not." Angela smirked. "As I said, Kaito and I have been friends for a very long time. He consoled me after my husband died and I consoled him when he and his wife Ishi divorced a few years ago. We didn't start to see each other as potentially more than friends until a few months ago. We were both lonely. Hiro was off with Leilani all the time as he is now, Peter and Sherry were together, you and Gabriel were off in your own little world and Nathan was in Washington. We started spending time together as friends and one thing led to another."

"Is it serious?" Olivia smiled softly.

Angela shrugged. "Sort of. We just don't know yet, it's still so new, this aspect of our relationship, so DON'T go blabbing to your brothers or to Sherry or to anyone else, and don't you DARE let any stray thoughts escape that bubble brain of yours."

"I won't." Olivia giggled. "You two gonna get married? I won't have my mommy living in sin."

"Smart ass." Angela rolled her eyes. "I'm going to leave you to rest. Tell that gossip monger you married to keep his mouth and his mind shut from now on! And tell him as well that I've KEPT my side of our bargain upstairs, even though I should welsh on it now. Peter, Hiro, Ando, Mohinder, Noah, Geoffrey, Trevor, Oscar, Claude, Nikolai, Anthony AND Matt have all been bullied into helping him tear down walls and build up two new apartments on the twenty-second and twenty-third floors and I'm going to move my things to Peter's spare bedroom until my new apartment is finished, so he'd better get on it soon!"

"Yes Ma'am!" Olivia winked. "I'll make sure he's gets right on building your little lair o'love as soon as possible. Tell me, do you want him to install any special equipment in the master bedroom?"

"Excuse me?" Angela's eyes narrowed at her daughter.

"You know, a bondage closet or a tantric swing, something like that."

Angela took a deep breath and let it out. "That mouth is going to get you into a great deal of trouble one day." She turned and walked out of the apartment, slamming the door behind her.

Olivia giggled as she stood up and went into Gabriel's studio. "I know you just overheard all of that. Sorry I let it slip, but I HAD to say something to her. No way was she going to think she was pulling the wool over my eyes forever!" She stopped as she stared at the canvas. Gabriel was painting, completely ignorant of his surroundings as his paintbrush glided over the canvas. Olivia smiled softly as she walked over to him. "Wow." She whispered. She turned and grabbed a stool, pulling up it to sit beside her husband as he moved in a trance, finishing one painting before gently taking it off of the easel and placing another blank canvas in its place. She watched as he painted the rest of the morning and into the early afternoon, a small smile playing on her lips.

When Gabriel finally came out of his trance, he turned to see Olivia watching him. He blinked as he looked around. "How long have I been in here?"

"About four hours." Olivia smiled. "I watched you for most of it."

"What was it like?"

"Kind of eerie. You didn't know I was here. The whole world could have come crashing down on you and you never would have guessed." Olivia nodded to the canvases on the floor around them. "When you get into the groove, you're rather prolific."

"Thanks." He stared at the canvas in front of him, frowning. A pregnant woman with long, dark, curly hair was pointing a gun at someone off to the side, while a red glow emanated from her. "That's you, isn't it?"

Olivia nodded. "I think so." She stared at two feet in the corner of the canvas. "What's that?"

"It looks like someone is lying on the ground near her."

"You?" Olivia frowned. "Do you think that you're the person lying there? All I can see is feet, the rest of the body is cut off from the canvas."

"If I had a larger canvas, I guess we'd know." Gabriel shook his head. "I don't remember painting that."

"Or these?" Olivia turned and picked up a canvas. On it, a dark hair man cradled an infant, smiling down at her. "That's obviously you."

"And I'm holding Faith. Look at the baby's hair and how red it is." He turned and flipped through other canvases, stopping at another one. "Oh no."

Olivia looked at it over his shoulder. "You must have painted that before I came in here."

"Yeah." Gabriel turned to Olivia, his eyes wide. "You are TOTALLY switching doctors, now!"

Olivia raised an eyebrow. In the painting a woman, obviously her was strapped to a table while a woman dressed in scrubs loomed over her, a huge needle in his hands. "My doctor's a man. This person's a woman."

"Does it look like this is taking place in his office?"

Olivia nodded slowly. "I recognize the color of the walls and that picture in the corner." She pointed out a picture in the painting of nursery blocks. "This is definitely Dr. Hopkins' office."

"Well, you have a choice then, either switch doctors or don't EVER go to another appointment alone."

"You've been talking about going with me and I've been asking you to." Olivia nodded. "I think that, from now on, I'm not setting foot in that office without you."

"Good idea." Gabriel flipped through other canvases, shrugging at scenes that were obviously from Peter and Sherry's engagement party and then froze as he came across a final one in the stack. "Shit."

Olivia gasped. "Holy freakin' shit! Is that supposed to be ME?" The painting showed a dark-haired woman dressed all in black, standing on a rock in the mouth of a valley late at night. Her arms were outstretched with two small mushroom clouds emanating from them. A man's body lay at her feet, his white-hair covered head lying near it. People cowered in the valley below her. "I don't have that power."

"That's the power that Peter and I both took from Ted, radioactive manipulation." Gabriel looked sternly at Olivia. "Not only do you not have that power now, I'll be DAMNED if you're going to get it any time soon."

"I don't fucking want it." Olivia shuddered. "I guess we know now why you and Peter have to kill me."

"But it looks like Linderman's already dead. Why would we kill you to destroy him when he's already dead?" Gabriel shook his head. "This is just too fucked up."

"I know." Olivia backed away from the paintings. "I don't like the looks of these, okay? I'd like it if you'd put them away now."

"I'd like that too." Gabriel turned the canvases away until the paintings faced a wall and walked out of the room with Olivia, his arm around her shoulders.

* * *

Two weeks later, Gabriel threw his hammer down and stood back, a self-satisfied look on his face. "Okay guys, what do you think?"

Peter and Nathan leaned against the wall by the elevators and nodded with the rest of the guys. "Looks good." Peter nodded. "Looks DAMN good!" What had once been a long hall flanked by two doors on each side was now a wall with two doors, one each leading to an apartment.

"I have to say, we thought you were daft when you first showed us the plans to redo this floor, but I have to say, you've done a bang-up job, Mate!" Claude nodded with Nikolai. "That intuitive aptitude trick of yours could have been put to much better use than serial killing if you'd thought about it. Hell, you could have been an architect or a bloody contractor!"

"I know. The path not taken, huh?" Gabriel smiled proudly as Kaito walked to one of the doors and opened it, peering inside. "Both apartments are finished, now it's just up to Heidi and Nathan to redecorate their apartment the way THEY want it and for Angela to do the same in hers."

Nathan frowned. "I know I've always bitched about wanting to live someplace else than with Mom, but I'm going to kind of miss NOT living with her, you know?"

"Oh shut up, you big Mama's boy." Peter laughed. "Mom's still next door to you and her apartment connects to yours. She's still practically living with you, you will all just have more privacy now."

"What the hell does SHE need privacy for?" Nathan pouted.

Gabriel started laughing as Kaito turned, giving him a warning look. "Oh come ON Nathan! Maybe she thought that you and HEIDI were the ones that needed privacy."

"She never thought that before." Nathan grumbled.

"Well then, maybe she decided it was time to cut the apron strings somewhat. Peter's right, you ARE a big Mama's boy!"

"Kiss my ass." Nathan glared at Gabriel as everyone else started laughing. "It just seems kind of sudden, that's all. Suddenly she wants to NOT live with us? What gives?"

"Maybe Angela has decided it's time to finally get a life of her own." Gabriel crossed his arms in front of his chest. "She's still an attractive woman, it's not beyond the realm of possibility that she might actually decide to start seeing someone."

"Yeah, right. We're her family and WE can barely stand to tolerate her. What kind of chance is she going to have with some guy? The first time she gets overbearing, he's going to haul ass!" No one noticed how Gabriel gently twitched his fingers, stopping Kaito in his tracks as he started towards Nathan. "I mean let's be serious here. MOM? DATING? When hell freezes over."

"You don't know her as well as you think you do, you know." Gabriel smirked.

Nathan turned to him. "Oh, and you do? Guess what Gabe, I'M her son, I know her a DAMN sight better than you do."

Gabriel laughed softly. "Yeah, you're right, sonny-boy knows best when it comes to Mommy." He turned as the elevator doors opened and Angela breezed through them, followed by Olivia, Sherry, Heidi and Candice. "Well, it's all set up for you, Mom!"

"How many times have I got to tell you to stop calling me that!" Angela smiled as she stared at the doors. "Which one's mine?"

"Whichever one you want, they're both the same." Gabriel nodded.

"Fine." Angela walked through the door Kaito had opened a few moments earlier and strolled through the huge apartment, smiling to herself. Gabriel followed behind her as she walked through, inspecting everything.

"Well?" He asked. "What do you think?"

"I think that, for once, I'm quite glad my daughter married you." Angela winked at him. "You did a wonderful job."

"Good. There's a surprise for you in the master bedroom."

"Oh?" Angela turned to him, her eyes narrowing. "What kind of surprise?"

"A bondage closet, Olivia told me that you wanted one." He started laughing as Angela's eyes narrowed further. "Oh for crying out loud! I'm kidding! The master bedroom is part of one of the living rooms from the apartments. I kept the balcony that was there, took out the sliding glass door and installed French ones instead, God! Take a joke every now and then, for crying out loud!"

"Oh. Thank you." Angela smirked. "That sounds very nice."

"You're welcome." He and Angela walked back out into the hallway where Mohinder was speaking with Candice, his hands rubbing her protruding belly. "So how's my godchild doing today?"

Mohinder frowned. "I've already told you, PETER will be this child's godfather, thank you. Isn't it enough that we've agreed to name this child after you?"

"I suppose." Gabriel grinned. "So tell me, have you two found out what you're having yet? Is it Quinton or Quinn?"

"You mean Chandra or Shanti." Mohinder smirked. "Just because we're giving the child your middle name doesn't mean we're CALLING it that."

"It means I will though." Gabriel laughed. "So? What are you having?"

"A girl." Mohinder sighed. "Shanti Quinn Wilmer-Suresh. Happy now?"

"Very happy. I can't wait to meet little Quinn." Gabriel laughed as Mohinder snorted with derision.

Angela turned to all of the men as they milled around in the hallway, packing up tools. "I've already thanked my son-in-law for the work he's done and now I'd like to thank all of you. The apartments are lovely."

Gabriel nodded. "I agree with her. You guys were awesome and I thank you all again for your help. I'll be seeing you all next week to help me get the next floor ready for me and the little woman, right?"

Noah rolled his eyes. "Sure, fine. We'll help you gut the upstairs on one condition."

"Shoot!" Gabriel nodded.

"If only." Noah sighed. "I want to move into the apartment next to you and Olivia."

Gabriel frowned. "Excuse me?"

Noah grinned as he leaned against the wall. "Our apartment's pretty big, but it's kind of cramped with three kids and all. Lyle and I will help you get the next floor ready, if you do the same set-up there that you did here AND you let me and the family live next door to you. Sandra's always wanted one of those huge tubs you put in those apartments. I think she'd like to have one for the next few months." He held out a hand towards Gabriel. "Deal?"

Gabriel sighed and shook Noah's hand. "Deal." He turned to Olivia. "So much for turning it into one huge apartment for us." He muttered.

"Oh shut up." Olivia rolled her eyes. "These apartments are huge enough, if you turned that floor into one big one for us, it would just be way too big. Besides, I love Sandra to pieces and I'd love to have her living next door to me, not to mention Claire. I'd rather Sandra pop in offering motherly advice with Faith than my own Mother, wouldn't you?"

"I guess." Gabriel sighed. "Don't have much of a choice, do I?"

"Nope. If Noah walks, you know the other men will follow. He's the leader." Olivia laughed as she entered the elevator. "I'm heading downstairs with Candice and Sherry."

"Still planning the engagement party?"

"Nope! That's done. Now we're planning a baby shower for Candice. Sherry, Tulia and I are throwing it for her next week." Olivia kissed Gabriel on the cheek. "You did a great job up here Baby, I'm proud of you."

Gabriel took a deep breath, his chest puffing out with pride. "I really did do a good job with this, didn't I? Maybe I've found something I should do after this battle is done."

"Maybe." Olivia winked. "I'll see you downstairs in a while, my awesome contractor guy. You know, I find tool belts very sexy."

"Someone's feeling better." Gabriel grinned.

"Today? Yeah, I'm feeling better. I actually ate a meal without bringing it back up again." Olivia leaned forward. "Come downstairs later, bring the tool belt."

"Honey, trust me when I tell you this: that tool belt is probably the only thing you'll see me wearing when I get you into our bedroom." He kissed her goodbye, smiling as the elevator doors closed. He turned back to the apartment doors again, nodding. "Damn, we guys did a good job."


	71. Chapter 71

Chapter Seventy-One: Deciphering Prophecies, Linderman's New Game

Gabriel, Peter and Olivia sat in Gabriel's studio, staring at the paintings, as they had done constantly since they'd been created three weeks earlier. The two paintings they stared at the most were the ones where Olivia was being attacked in Dr. Hopkins' office and the painting of Olivia standing at the mouth of the valley during the battle, displaying the acquisition of nuclear manipulation while the two armies cowered beneath her.

Peter sat back on his heels, studying the latter painting. "Okay, so what do we know?"

"I don't have that power." Olivia nodded.

"And Hell will freeze over before I let you get it." Gabriel sighed.

"I don't want it."

"I know." Peter shook his head. "I don't get it. Linderman's obviously already dead, he's lying at your feet, so he's already destroyed and yet you're still alive. So how is it that we kill YOU to destroy him if he's already dead?"

Olivia gasped and closed her eyes. "Oh shit."

"What?" Gabriel turned to her.

"He has Mother's power."

Peter's eyes widened. "That's not really YOU standing there. That's you're body but-"

"-it's not ME." Olivia opened her eyes and turned to her brother and husband, her expression sad. "He switches us and then either he kills me or you do, thinking that I'm Linderman."

"So we have to kill your actual body in order to kill Linderman." Gabriel sat back and rubbed his mouth with his hand.

"Wait." Peter frowned. "But the prophecy from Mama Alice states that only when YOU feel Gabriel's sword at your neck and mine in your heart will you know that Linderman is really destroyed. How do YOU feel us killing your body if you're in Linderman and already dead?"

"Because we wouldn't have the heart to destroy Linderman's body if we know he's made the switch. We'd actually be killing her instead."

"No." Olivia shook her head. "I won't spend my life in that body, I refuse to." She looked up at Peter and Gabriel, her expression filling with steel. "If he switches us and you're forced to kill my body to kill HIM, you have to kill me afterwards too. I won't live in THAT body!"

"Olivia-" Gabriel turned to her.

"-NO!" Olivia stood up. "I won't do that and you can't make me!"

"Okay, okay guys, calm down!" Peter stood up and placed his hands on Olivia's shoulders. "Just calm down. We've figured out that he switches the two of you and we've figured out that in order to kill him we have to decapitate your body, but there are two things we're forgetting here."

"What's that?" Gabriel sniffled as he looked up at Peter.

"The first thing we're forgetting is that this painting shows Olivia about to go nuclear. We know she doesn't have that power and we've always assumed that powers don't jump from person to person in a switch, meaning-"

"-That if Linderman has the nuclear capabilities, they stay in his body. The only power that jumps when you jump is that one power, the power TO jump from body to body." Gabriel nodded.

"Exactly. Body-switching is the only power that transfers when Olivia jumps, right?" Peter turned to Gabriel. "When you jumped into Olivia's body, when she switched you two that time, did you still bring intuitive aptitude and telekinesis with you?"

"I don't think so."

Peter shrugged. "Let's test that theory now."

"What?" Gabriel frowned.

"Switch. Now." Peter nodded.

"Oh hell NO!" Gabriel shook his head. "The last switch was bad enough when she had PMS, I'm not going to let my pregnant wife swap out with-" He jerked as Olivia closed her eyes.

Olivia's eyes opened and her face contorted as she turned to stare at Gabriel's body. "That wasn't funny the last time and it's not funny now, Olivia!"

'Gabriel' turned to 'Olivia'. "Oh shut up! Test Peter's theory, okay?" 'He' sighed as 'she' glared at 'him', crossing 'her' arms in front of 'her' chest. "The sooner we do this, the sooner I'll switch us back, Honey. Just be glad I didn't do this during my morning sickness phase." 'Gabriel' rolled 'his' eyes. "Okay, here's the deal, either test the damn theory now, or I'm switching us when I'm in labor, and I'm not talking about the little, teeny, 'that sort of hurt' contractions either, I'm talking about switching us during the 'God shoot me now to put me out of my fucking misery' contractions!"

'Olivia' sighed. "What do I do to test this stupid-ass theory out?"

Peter laughed. "Okay, try telekinesis."

'Olivia' raised 'her' hand and pointed to a canvas. 'She' struggled as 'she' concentrated, trying to lift it. Finally, 'she' lowered 'her' hand. "I can't do it."

Peter turned to 'Gabriel'. "Okay, we know that telekinesis didn't cross when you two switched. Now you try one of Gabriel's powers in his body."

"Really?" 'Gabriel's' face lit up into a smile. "Oh, I know which one I want to try, it's always seemed so cool to me, literally." 'Gabriel' lifted 'his' hands and began to laugh as ice formed on them. "Now THAT is fucking awesome!"

"Okay, we've tested the theory and proved that the only power that crosses in a body switch is that one power. Can we PLEASE switch back now?" 'Olivia' whined.

"Oh, what's the matter?" 'Gabriel' smirked. "Can't handle being preggers for a few minutes? I'm switching us one more time when I'm hugely pregnant and she's kicking me in the lungs and see how long you can deal with that!" 'He' closed his eyes.

A moment later, Gabriel opened his eyes and touched his face. "Oh thank FUCKING God!" He turned back to his laughing wife. "Stop DOING that!"

Olivia shook her head and turned back to Peter. "So we know that even IF Linderman switches us, the nuclear power stays put. So HOW am I getting ready to make everyone down there glow in the dark if that's possible?"

"He's going to find some way to imbue you before the battle, I bet." Peter frowned. "Did Candice or Laurent ever mention anyone with power transference abilities? Someone who could pass powers from one person to another somehow?"

"I don't think so." Olivia shook her head. "Maybe that's what's happening in this painting." She pointed to the one where she was strapped to a table in her doctor's office while a woman loomed over her with a needle. "Maybe she's injecting me with the serum."

"I don't think so." Gabriel's eyes narrowed. "The serum could potentially kill you and Faith. Linderman wouldn't risk harming his little heir, just to give himself an advantage in the battle by imbuing the body he might inhabit with one of his secret weapons. I think Peter's onto something with the idea of someone who can transfer powers. We'll need to talk to Candice and Laurent about that." Gabriel turned to the painting again. "Look at the size of that needle." Gabriel pointed to the needle in the painting, and then pointed to the red glow emanating from Olivia's exposed stomach. "And look at that glow from your stomach. That's a force field."

"That's FAITH'S force field." Peter nodded, smiling. "Little Nipper's manifesting in utero, that's got to be a rarity."

"Faith is the one really being attacked in this painting, not you." Gabriel turned to Olivia. "I slipped up in the hotel room the night Tatiana died. Linderman read my mind and he knows what she'll be able to do. I think, in this painting, Linderman's sent someone to collect Faith's blood-"

"-Through amniocentesis-" Olivia nodded.

"-Yep, through that, so HE can have her power too. He'd be unbeatable with a force field." Gabriel looked at Olivia. "Feel like switching doctors yet?"

"He's got a point." Peter nodded.

"Fine." Olivia sighed. "But who's to say that Linderman won't try to infiltrate the NEXT doctor's office as well, huh?"

"We don't know that he won't try, but according to this painting, he's DEFINITELY going after you in Dr. Hopkins' office." Peter shrugged. "It's worth a shot, switching doctors."

"Okay." Olivia nodded. She turned to Peter. "You said that there were two things we were forgetting here. What's the second one?"

Peter grinned. "Mama Alice told you to accept your parents' gifts."

"Which I've done." Olivia nodded.

"Linderman can switch bodies, but so can you!" He nodded as Olivia's eyes widened. "See where I'm going?"

"If he switches us during the battle and you guys KNOW it, you can attack us BOTH and then kill Linderman, the REAL Linderman right as I switch us back! If I do it fast enough, he won't have time to react before Gabriel cuts off his head."

"Oh my God." Gabriel nodded. "So I'll go after Linderman's body, regardless of WHO is in there-"

"-And I'll swap out at the very last second." Olivia laughed. "That's what Mama Alice meant when she said I feel your sword on my neck! I swap back out as you're cutting Linderman's head off! He'll reenter his body as he's being killed, he won't have time to do anything but die, permanently."

"And I'll be stabbing your body to incapacitate Linderman for a moment to distract him while you do the swapping, so when you jump back into your body, my sword-"

"-Will be in my heart, which will KILL me as Mama Alice predicted, but since I have Claire's power, my death will be temporary." Olivia's eyes filled with tears as she looked at her husband and brother. "If we're correct in this, you do realize what this means, right?"

"You're going to live after the battle." Gabriel whispered.

"I'm going to survive the battle." Olivia nodded. She began to laugh as Gabriel whooped and grabbed her, spinning her around as he cheered happily. She hugged her husband, and then turned to hug Peter after Gabriel set her down. "I'm going to get to watch Faith grow up!"

"Yes, you are!" Peter started laughing with his sister, and turned to Gabriel, his smile fading as he saw the look on Gabriel's face suddenly turn dark. "What's wrong?"

"She won't be able to switch in time." Gabriel sighed. "This is great in theory and I'd love to see it work but Honey," he looked at Olivia "you always have to concentrate for a moment before switching back and forth, it's not something you can do quickly, which you'll HAVE to be able to do in order to switch when I'm in the process of swinging a sword at your neck. ANGELA can't even switch without concentrating and it's her main power!"

Peter frowned. "Actually, with practice Olivia could theoretically switch in the blink of an eye." He sighed. "Mohinder and I have been debating on whether or not to tell you about this, but you have to know it. Sit down."

He took a deep breath as Olivia and Gabriel grabbed stools and sat across from him. He began to tell them about Mohinder's theory a few moments later, Gabriel's eyes widened with shock. "So Claire can now fly faster than Nathan because-"

"-Because she and Nathan share genes. The powers are genetic too, so when the power of flight was imbued to Claire, her genes expressed it more powerfully in her than in the original carrier. Theoretically, the same theory will work with Olivia. With practice, she'll be able to swap bodies back and forth very rapidly."

"Wow." Gabriel leaned back on his stool. "What about Linderman's power? How would it be amplified in her?"

"Well, and this is just a theory that Mohinder's still trying to completely prove. If Linderman can heal a living person on the brink of death with the touch of his hand, Olivia-"

"-Could raise the dead." Olivia whispered. "Which opens up a huge can of ethical and spiritual worms."

"You could raise the dead?" Gabriel turned to Olivia, smiling softly.

Olivia looked at her husband sadly and shook her head. "I'm not resurrecting Tatiana, Baby."

Gabriel looked away, his eyes filling with tears. "How did you know-"

"-I know YOU and I know how much you still miss her." Olivia took her husband's hand. "You still have nightmares about that night. I've heard you cry her name out at night sometimes."

"You could bring her back though." Gabriel sniffled. "She could live again."

"Maybe." Olivia shrugged. "I might be able to resurrect her body, but her soul-"

"-I know." Gabriel stared at the floor. "She wouldn't really be Tatiana. She wouldn't be that little girl that skipped and played and laughed and-" He stood up and left the room as Olivia turned to Peter.

"I was correct in that, right? I COULD possibly bring her back but-"

"-You wouldn't know what exactly was coming back. You were right." Peter stared at the door that Gabriel had exited through, nodding sadly. "We all miss that kid."

"I wish I could really and truly bring her back." Olivia's lips quivered as she fought her own tears. "If I knew that I could bring HER back, not just her body but all of her, I'd do it in a minute. I'd do it for Gabriel and Claude and Nikolai and-" She shook her head "-but I'm afraid of what I could bring back."

"I know." Peter sighed as he stood up. "That's why Mohinder and I have been debating even telling the two of you about this. We knew the first thing Gabriel would want to so was resurrect that little girl and we knew that you'd be heartbroken at the idea of not being able to do it for him." He looked at the door again. "I'll head out for a while and leave the two of you alone to talk about it. If that theory about you being able to swap back and forth in a blink is correct, you need to start practicing. If Gabriel won't do it, I'll help you with it." He smiled softly. "It would be cool to feel my niece kicking me, even if it's just for a second or two." He reached out and touched the slight bump in Olivia's midsection. "Has she started kicking yet?"

"I just entered my second trimester, so no. I'm expecting it any day now though." Olivia smiled through the veil of tears. "Go on, spend some time with your girl while I take care of my guy."

"Okay." Peter kissed his sister on her cheek. "I'm glad we may have found a way to let you live. I want you to be able to watch Faith grow up."

"I want that too." Olivia nodded as Peter left. She turned and walked into their bedroom, her mouth twisting sadly as she spotted Gabriel on the bed, his shoulders shaking with sobs. She fought tears of her own as she climbed onto the bed with him and spooned against him, wrapping her arms around his body as she buried her face in his back.

* * *

Linderman looked up from his desk as Rose Scott entered with Gota and another person, a small, young teenaged girl. He smiled softly as she cowered behind Rose. "Hello Mina. How are you doing tonight?"

Mina Cuthbert nodded nervously, peeking out at him from behind a veil of blond hair that hung mostly in her face. "Fine." Her voice quavered nervously as she glanced at him, then looked at the floor.

"What are you so afraid of, my dear?" Linderman smiled kindly as he walked over to her, taking her small hands in his. "I'm not so scary, am I?"

Mina shrugged. "I've just heard things in the few weeks since I was brought here, that's all."

"Someone's made me out to be the boogeyman, have they?" Linderman's eyes twinkled merrily as Mina nodded. "Well, now that you've met me, do I look like the boogeyman to you?"

"Not up close." Mina whispered.

"Good." Linderman nodded. "Gota tells me that you have a very interesting power. I'd like to learn more about it, if you'd like to talk about it."

"Yes Sir." Mina took a deep breath and began to describe her power, as Linderman listened, his expression thrilled as he listened to her.

* * *

"So you understand why I can't do it." Olivia whispered.

Gabriel lay on his back on the bed, tears streaming down his cheeks as Olivia stroked his arm. He closed his eyes. "I know, Baby. I know why it can't be done. Sometimes the dead should stay dead, I just can't help thinking about how unfair it is that she had to die at all. She was only nine years old. She was a kid who had barely had a chance to live. It wasn't right for her to die that way. Also, I blame myself."

"For what?" Olivia studied her husband's face as he struggled to speak.

"If I'd let you get Linderman's powers when Mama Alice told you to, Tatiana would have lived that night. With the touch of your hand, she would have survived, even if she'd died as you'd walked into the room. It's not my fault that she was shot, but it is my fault that she died."

"No." Olivia shook her head as she kissed his cheek. "Baby, no."

"Yes." Gabriel took a shuddering breath. "I was so worried about protecting you, I couldn't see that Tatiana needed our protection as well. It's my fault she's lying in that grave. I have to deal with that. I have to accept that she's gone and that she's never going to come back and I will. It's just-"

"-It's hard." Olivia sighed. "I know."

"There are so many deaths that I'm responsible for, but hers is the one that weighs on me the most." Gabriel nodded. "I have to learn to live with it. I have to learn to accept it." He rolled over, burying his face in Olivia's stomach. "I'm going to do everything I can, going above and beyond, to make sure that nothing ever happens to our little girl. I'm going to protect you both with everything I can to my dying breath."

"I know that." Olivia murmured as she stroked his hair, feeling his breath on her stomach as he kissed it and rested his cheek against it. "Listening to Faith's heartbeat?"

Gabriel nodded. "I like listening to it."

"I can tell."

* * *

A week later, Gabriel straightened up as he and the other guys finally stepped back, admiring their handiwork. "Finally!" He leaned against the wall, staring at the two apartment doors in front of him. He grinned at Noah. "Homes sweet homes."

"Sandra's been pestering me for the last two weeks about this." Noah laughed. "Heidi brought her upstairs to see their apartment and Sandra freaked when she found out that we were moving into one as well. She's had everything packed up and ready to go since the day after I told her."

"Well, it's ready to move into now, you just have to drag the furniture we stored upstairs back down here." Gabriel nodded. "And now Olivia and I have a bigger place for ourselves and Faith." He grinned. "And I don't have to give up my studio."

Noah glanced over at him. "Peter told me about the paintings and what you three have figured out."

"Yeah." Gabriel nodded, frowning.

"You think it'll work. Do you think if everything goes off the way you're planning, that we'll win?" Noah asked.

Gabriel shrugged. "Not only do I think we'll win, I think Olivia will live to see the end of it." He smiled at Noah. "That's the icing on the cake for me."

"I'm sure it is." Noah turned to the other guys. "From myself, my kids and my wife I think every one of you for this!" He walked to them and shook their hands, clapping each of them on the shoulder. "Sandra's already wanting me to throw a party for you guys to thank you for it."

"Will there be alcohol and karaoke?" Matt asked, his eyes twinkling mischievously.

"No." Noah laughed softly as he blushed.

"Oh what's the matter?" D.L. chuckled. "You too sexy for karaoke now?"

Noah nodded and smiled good-naturedly as everyone started laughing. "Laugh now, but I heard I ROCKED that karaoke box!"

"Yeah you did!" Claude nodded. "You were crowned drunken karaoke king that night! I say we need a rematch soon!"

"Do it without me." Noah shook his head. "I'm going to avoid alcohol for quite a while. I had a headache for two days afterwards.

"Come on, now!" Ando grinned. "You too sexy for a headache now too?"

Noah turned away and walked into his apartment, laughing as he pulled out his cell phone to call his wife.

Gabriel followed suit, walking into his own apartment as he looked around. It was much bigger than the apartment they were living in now, twice as big to be exact. He nodded as he walked through the living room and dining room, passing the guest rooms before he entered the master bedroom. He smiled as he turned to one door and opened it, walking into the connecting nursery. He leaned against a wall, imagining the way it would look once he and Olivia had decorated it for their daughter.

"You gonna call Olivia and tell her that your new place is ready or what?" Gabriel turned to see Peter standing beside him. "This was a pretty cool alteration you did in here, putting a connecting door between this guest room and the master bedroom. It's going to be the nursery, right?"

Gabriel smiled. "That way, Faith will be right next door if she needs us. We can just leave the door open and hear her if she squeaks or cries in the middle of the night. Actually, I'd be able to hear her regardless, but it's nice knowing that she'll know we're close by."

"So?" Peter nodded to the cell phone bulge in Gabriel's pocket. "Call her! Tell her to get ready to move!"

"Later." Gabriel nodded. "She's out shopping for maternity clothes with some of the girls. I'll bring her up here when she gets home." He turned as he heard an excited cry from next door. "Sounds like Sandra's spotted her huge bathtub!"

He turned and walked out of his apartment with Peter and entered the Bennet's as Sandra ran into the living room, grinning from ear to ear. The moment she spotted Gabriel, she grabbed him and hugged him. "Oh, I just LOVE you!"

"I felt I owed you after attacking you that time." Gabriel shrugged. "Did you see Molly's room?"

"The swing in the middle of the room that was hanging from the ceiling? She'll LOVE it!" Sandra nodded. "Oh, I can't wait to move up here!"

"Why wait?" Gabriel laughed and leaned towards her. "I bet if you promise to find a karaoke machine and spike Noah's drink at your housewarming party, those guys out there would have you moved in before you could say 'boo'."

Sandra smiled. "You're EVIL! I love it!" She rushed past him to collar the men in the hallway as Peter laughed.

"She's right, you ARE evil, but in a good way for once." Peter shook his head. "I'm soooo going to that housewarming party now."

* * *

Olivia and Candice walked around the maternity section of a department store, studying different outfits as a woman and teenaged girl watched them from afar. The woman turned, scanning the store, spotting Sherry, Tulia and Leilani in another section of the store. She turned to the teenaged girl. "Come along Mina." She whispered.

"Yes Gota." The girl studied her companion as they neared Sherry and her friends. Gota was almost unrecognizable in a blond wig and glasses. "Which one shall I do?" She whispered.

Gota stared at Leilani. "Her. We don't have her power anywhere that I know of." She walked behind Mina as they stood behind Sherry and Leilani, their backs to the two of them.

Mina took Gota's hand in one of hers and turned, reaching out with her other hand for the same pink sweater that Leilani reached for. As their hands brushed, Mina smiled at Leilani apologetically. "Oh, I'm sorry."

"That's okay." Leilani handed her the sweater. "With your coloring, the pink will be prettier on you instead, right?" She winked sweetly at Mina as she turned and walked away.

Mina dropped the sweater as she felt Gota's hand tighten in hers. "Let's go, quickly." Gota hissed as she quickly herded the teenager out of the store. Once they got into a car, Gota sighed. "Did you catch what her power was when you touched her?"

The girl nodded. "Something to do with water, I think. Did it work?"

Gota took a bottle of water from the backseat and opened it, concentrating on the liquid inside. She smiled as the water began to shoot out from the top of the bottle in a fountain, spraying in any direction that Gota manipulated. "It worked." She laughed.

They arrived at the airport thirty minutes later and climbed into a helicopter. A few hours later they arrived at Linderman's compound. He stood in the lobby waiting for them as they burst through the doors. "Well?"

Gota smiled proudly at Mina. "It worked."

"Good." Linderman nodded. "Very good." He turned and walked down the hall, heading towards the stairs as Gota quickly followed him.

"What are your plans for the child, my Love?" Gota asked.

"She's my contingency plan." Linderman winked at his lover. "I have a feeling that my daughter and her friends have an idea of what I've got planned when we finally decide to eliminate them." He smiled. "With Mina's power and the others I've acquired, they won't stand a chance in hell of succeeding."

* * *

"Honey, I'm home!" Olivia frowned as she entered their apartment that evening, her arms weighed down with shopping bags. "Gabriel?" She looked around, noticing how empty and bare their apartment appeared. The furniture was there, but all of their things were missing from the living room. "GABRIEL!" She quickly marched down the hall to their bedroom, noticing that the office and studio were equally empty. She stopped as she entered the bedroom, noticing an envelope on the stripped-down bed. She opened the envelope, frowning at the key that fell into the palm of her hand. "Gee, thanks for moving without me!" She sighed wearily as she grabbed her bags and slowly trudged out of the apartment, looking back at it sadly. "So much for spending one last night in the place where we conceived our daughter." She frowned as she left and walked to the elevator.

Gabriel sat on a couch in the new living room, grinning up at Olivia as she walked into the room and threw down the shopping bags, glaring down at him. "You're pissed that I moved so quickly, I know." He nodded. "I figured you might be so-"

"-You figured I 'might' be?" Olivia shook her head. "I said I'd THINK about moving up here, THINK about it! Who do you think you are just moving us up here like this without my say?"

Gabriel frowned. "I'm the guy who busted his ass for the last two weeks to get this place finished for us, that's who I think I am!" He stood up, shaking his head. "And you told me just the other day that you were actually getting EXCITED at the idea of moving here after you saw what I did with Angela's place as well as Nathan and Heidi's! What's your problem? I knew you might be a little miffed, but I never thought you'd flip out like this! I moved our stuff up here without you so you wouldn't have to worry about it, I even unpacked all of our things, and I did ALL of that with very little help and in a very small amount of time because I didn't want you to have to bother! And THEN I ordered a gourmet meal for us AND drew you a comfortable, HOT bath in your brand new, huge-ass tub and THIS is the thanks I get for ALL of it?" He shook his head as Olivia began to start crying. "Oh no, do NOT start bawling, you do that every time I even attempt to raise my voice lately and I cave but I won't do it this time!" He sighed as Olivia began to sob. "WHAT?"

"You really did all of that for me?" Olivia sniffled.

"Yeah, I did. I even modified one of the guest rooms into a nursery that has a connecting door to our room so we wouldn't be stumbling down a hall in the middle of the night to check on her, she's practically IN our bedroom."

"That's so sweet." Olivia shrugged. "I'm sorry I got mad. I walked into our home downstairs and saw that everything was gone and I just flipped out, I'm sorry. I know you hated it, but I loved that apartment. We spent the first year that we were married down there and we conceived Faith there and when I saw that you'd just abandoned it-"

"-Oh." Gabriel walked to his wife and hugged her. "I see now. It's just a place Honey. I know you were attached to it, but you'll like this place too, I already do. I BUILT this place for us. I designed it and built it just for us."

"I know." Olivia sniffled. "And I appreciate it, but I'm going to miss our place downstairs. Peter was right across the hall-"

"-Nathan's one floor down when he visits and so is your mother. Claire is right next door and Peter's just a few floors away. It's not like we moved across the country from them." Gabriel kissed her cheek. "Give it a chance?"

"Okay." Olivia nodded. "Will you show me around?"

"Sure." Gabriel sighed. "You want to take that bath I drew too?"

"Will you take it with me?"

"I will." Gabriel put an arm around his wife. "So tell me, when DOES the bitchy end and the horny begin?" He laughed as Olivia playfully poked him in the ribs while they walked down the hallway together.


	72. Chapter 72

Chapter Seventy-Two: Engagement Party from Hell-Part One

"Honey? Ready to go?" Gabriel paced in the living room of their apartment, tugging at the collar of his new suit. "Come on Sweetie, Peter and Sherry are waiting for us to teleport to Manhattan!"

Olivia strolled out of the master bedroom, fanning herself. "Is it hot in here? I'm burning up!"

"You've GOT to be kidding me!" Gabriel laughed. "Baby, it's sixty-five degrees in here. I'm about to freeze." He smiled as he looked at her curve-skimming dark blue dress. "God, you look beautiful."

"Really?" Olivia shrugged. "I feel like hell." She sighed as she walked towards him. "You really think I look beautiful?"

"You're just fishing for compliments now, aren't you?" He wrapped his arms around her, kissing her passionately. "You are going to be the most beautiful, the hottest, the sexiest woman at that engagement party. You're going to outshine even the bride-to-be!"

"I believe you when you say hottest." Olivia smiled as she disentangled herself from her husband. "I'm burning up."

"Let me help with that." Gabriel followed Olivia out of the apartment and met Noah, Claire, Sandra, Lyle and Molly at the elevators. While they waited, he placed his hands on his wife's shoulders and concentrated on his cryokinesis power, cooling her off with his hands. "That better?"

"Now I'm freezing." Olivia shivered. "I'm going to need a wrap, I had one, I know." She turned to Gabriel. "It's on the arm of the couch, get it for me?"

"Okay." Gabriel sighed as he walked back into the apartment and grabbed a blue shawl from the couch. He placed it on Olivia's shoulders as they entered the elevator and kissed her cheek. "There you go, Baby."

"I don't need it now." Olivia shrugged it off as she took deep breaths. "God it's HOT in here!"

Gabriel stared at her, a helpless expression on his face as Noah looked away, snickering. Sandra smiled at Olivia. "So tell me Honey, you're at the halfway mark, just four and a half more months to go almost. Have you felt the baby kick yet?"

"A little." Olivia nodded and smiled. "So far though it just feels like little gas bubbles, or like I've got butterflies in my stomach."

"I remember that with Lyle." Sandra turned and smiled at her son. "Those delicate little kicks. You start to get used to them and then one day? WHAM! They kick your kidneys and you have to make a mad dash for the bathroom. There were many times with Lyle that I almost didn't make it."

"Geez, Mom!" Lyle ducked his head down, embarrassed as Claire giggled.

"What? It's a natural thing, Son. You'll know what I mean one day, hopefully MANY years from now when you marry and have a wife with a baby of your own on the way." She smiled at Olivia again. "Pregnancy was such a roller coaster for me. My hormones and moods were all over the map. Poor Noah could barely take it. I was hot, then cold, then hot again and I was freaking out about gaining weight and I was so afraid that Noah wouldn't find me attractive-"

"-Not that that could have ever been possible." Noah winked at his wife.

"And when I wasn't yelling at poor Noah I was crying at the drop of a hat." Sandra sighed. "But in the end, we had our son and I forgot how hard my pregnancy was, or how much of a roller coaster it was."

"It is hard." Olivia sighed as she touched her swollen stomach. "But I know in the end, when I hold Faith in my arms, it will all be worth it." She smiled at Gabriel and took his hand.

They got off of the elevator on the tenth floor and smiled at the group of friends that waited for them. Angela looked over at them. "FINALLY!" She turned to the group. "Okay, we're teleporting in small groups, with Peter and Hiro. If anyone asks, we chartered one of Olivia's planes through Greene Technology to fly us to Manhattan, understand?"

"Those poor planes." Olivia mused. "They've just been sitting in a hangar since we got here, haven't they?"

"Think of it like this, we're saving gas and helping the environment for the next generation." Gabriel rubbed Olivia's stomach.

Peter smiled at Olivia. "Love the dress."

"Thanks. Gabriel likes it too."

"No I don't LIKE it, I LOVE it." Gabriel kissed her neck. "I especially love the way it clings." He whispered. "Have I told you lately just how incredibly sexy you are? Ever since you got pregnant, you've had this glow and your breasts, don't even get me started on those."

Olivia frowned. "What was wrong with them before?"

"What?" Gabriel stared at her, confused.

"What was wrong with my breasts before? You certainly didn't seem to mind them BEFORE I got pregnant, but NOW you're all over them?"

"Honey, I mean, what I was trying to say-" He trailed off and glanced over at Peter. "-There's no good way to answer this is there?" Peter shook his head. "I'm really screwed, aren't I?" Peter nodded his head and turned away, his shoulders shaking with laughter. Gabriel turned back to Olivia. "Baby, I love you."

Olivia rolled her eyes as she turned away, then quickly smiled as Matt and Janice exited their apartment. "Sorry we're late. The sitter from downstairs-"

"-How is little Matthew?" Olivia hugged them. "Oh, I miss seeing him every morning. I miss living next door to the two of you. I love our apartment upstairs, but I miss you guys so much!"

"Oh shit." Gabriel whispered. "Oh shitty, shit, shit, shit."

"He's good!" Janice laughed. "He's sitting up and rocking back and forth. Matt SWEARS he'll be crawling soon. We miss having you next door too, it's just too quiet with you two upstairs. You should swing by one morning when you're not at the lab, little Matthew just misses you like crazy."

"I'd really like that." Olivia nodded as she turned back to Gabriel. "See what we're missing?" She hissed.

Gabriel raised his hand. "I'll volunteer to teleport first! Please let me teleport first!"

Everyone laughed as Angela nodded. "You, Peter, Sherry, Anthony and Tulia go first." She sighed as Peter took their hands and quickly winked out of view before she turned to Olivia. "What in the HELL is with you?"

As they materialized in the foyer of the house in Manhattan, Nathan smiled and walked towards them. "Glad to see you guys have made it-" He yelped as Gabriel grabbed him by the lapels of his suit.

"YOU!" Gabriel's eyes were wild. "You said that after the bitchy comes the horny! There is NO HORNY! She's just bitchy, bitchy, bitchy, twenty-four seven! I can't do a fucking thing right with her! Do you know what I have to listen to every day? 'I'm hot! I'm cold! Get off me! Stop touching me! Why are you mad at me! You don't love me anymore! Why don't you ever want to kiss me anymore?' And then she starts crying! She screams at me and then starts crying! I can't win with her, I can't argue with her, what the FUCK do I do, man? WHAT DO I DO? When does it end?"

"When the cold hand of death grabs you by the throat, okay?" Nathan shrugged off Gabriel, stepping away. "Hell, I don't know!"

"She's a psycho! My sweet, loving, nympho wife has been replaced by a hateful, sniping, bitching lunatic who HATES sex!" Gabriel shook his head. "And I can't fight with her because she starts crying." He turned to Peter. "I used to say that if we survived the battle, we'd have more children after Faith. Now? That kid's gonna be an only child. I am NEVER going through THIS again with her!"

They turned as Hiro appeared with Kaito, Angela and a weeping Olivia. She glared at her mother. "Why are you so MEAN to me?" She wailed as she turned and ran into the living room.

"Oh for God's sakes!" Angela turned to Gabriel. "Has she been put on some sort of medication or something?"

"No." Gabriel muttered.

"Well, she SHOULD be!" Angela huffed into the kitchen as Peter and Hiro disappeared to get more partygoers.

Gabriel sighed as he headed towards the living room. "Thanks a lot for helping Angie, really."

"What are you going to do?" Nathan asked.

"Try and pull my wife out of her friggin' tree again." Gabriel walked into the living room and closed the doors. Olivia sat on the couch, tears streaming down her face. "Oh Honey." He crooned as he sat beside her. Olivia wailed and fell into his arms, her body shaking with sobs. "It's okay, Baby." He whispered as he stroked her hair.

"No it's not." Olivia's voice was thick with tears. "She's right. I'm just mean and hateful."

"No you're not." Gabriel kissed her forehead.

"Yes I AM!" Olivia sniffled. "I hear what I'm saying. I know I'm being a bitch!" She looked up at him, her face red and swollen. "How do you put UP with me?"

"I love you, that's how I put up with you."

"Oh, I love you too." Olivia kissed him softly. "I love being pregnant for the most part, but my temper wasn't so great even on a good day and now, it just seems like I'm all bitchy, all the time and I hate it. I find myself saying things to you and to Peter and Mother that I wouldn't even say to Linderman for crying out loud! What's WRONG with me?"

"Nothing." Gabriel kissed her. "You're just hormonal, that's all. Everything's going to be fine. I can put up with the bitchiness." He cuddled her as she wrapped her arms tighter around her. "It's like you said earlier, once Faith gets here, all of this will be worth it."

"And you'll have your sweet wife back." Olivia sighed. "I'd like that."

"Me too." Gabriel gasped. "Oh shit, my saying that isn't going to start another fight, is it?"

"No." Olivia shook her head. She smiled at him softly and leaned forward, kissing him passionately. She pulled away for a moment, grinning. "Remember how we were both told that after the bitchy comes the horny?"

"Yeah?" Gabriel raised an eyebrow as Olivia leered at him. "Oh, you've GOT to be kidding me!"

"What?" Olivia began to nibble on his earlobe. "You've been trying and trying for the past three months to get it any way you could. Now, I'm in the mood in a big way."

"At PETER'S engagement party?" Gabriel moaned as Olivia's hands slid under his shirt. "Oh Baby, we really shouldn't be doing this here."

"Why not?" Olivia murmured. "I bet it would put us both in a better mood."

"Yeah, but we're in the living room. Anyone could walk in on us and-"

"-That's half the fun and excitement, wondering if we'll get caught." Olivia's lips traveled down her husband's neck.

Gabriel leaned back and sighed with pleasure for a moment, then with frustration. "Honey, we just can't." He gently pushed her away and kissed her forehead. "After the party, when we get home, I'll tear you up in every way I can think of. Hell, we'll even make up a few ways, but right now-"

"-I'm too fat now, aren't I?"

"What?" Gabriel groaned. "Are you shitting me?"

"That's why you don't want to do anything!" Olivia jumped up from the couch, rubbing her belly. "I'm not fat, I'm pregnant, with YOUR daughter! Before I got pregnant, you would have tackled me anytime, anywhere, regardless of what was going on but now? NOOOO! You're just using this party as an excuse. Well, FUCK YOU!" She turned and stomped out of the room, slamming the door behind her.

Gabriel slowly sat back down on the couch, burying his face in his hands. "God, someone shoot me." He moaned. After a few minutes, he slowly stood up and walked out of the living room. All of their friends had finally arrived and were milling around the rooms of the mansion, talking to one another as waiters began to circle with trays of food and drinks. Gabriel took a handful of shrimp from one tray and a glass of champagne from another as he searched the rooms for his wife. He finally found her near the front door, talking and laughing with Candice, Heidi and Sherry. Before he could duck away, Olivia caught his eye and waved him over, laughingly.

"Oh Honey, don't hide from me!" Olivia winked at him. "I was just telling the girls how much of a bear I've been with you and how sweet you've been, putting up with me."

Gabriel smiled tentatively. "Oh, it's not me being sweet, I love you, that's all."

Candice shrugged. "I can't really talk for Mohinder, but I haven't been too bad during this whole pregnancy, I don't think."

Gabriel caught the horrified look Mohinder threw over his shoulder as he overheard Candice's remark and covered a laugh as Mohinder quickly turned back to Peter and Nathan, shaking his head. "Olivia hasn't been bad either. She's been an absolute angel, actually. She's certainly handling the whole 'growing another human being' better than I would have, that's for sure."

Olivia nodded. "He couldn't take even being pregnant for a few seconds when I swapped us out a few weeks ago, poor baby."

Angela walked over to them, clapping her hands. "Okay, some cars have pulled up outside, I'm assuming that's Sherry's family." She looked around the room at everyone. "Okay you guys remember, we're civilians tonight, so you KNOW what that means."

"No phasing." D.L. nodded.

"No picking up the couch with my pinkie." Niki grinned.

"And no telling people what they're thinking." Matt laughed.

"And you," Angela glared at her daughter "try and keep a civil tongue in your head. I know that will be quite tough for you right now in your 'delicate' condition, but I swear if you cause a scene, I will make the doctors withhold drugs and an epidural when you give birth, two things you will be begging for, I assure you."

"Why in the HELL do you always have to pick on ME?" Olivia rolled her eyes.

"Because you're a hormonal bitch, Dear." Angela sighed. "Now, I want Sherry and Peter front and center with me here in the foyer to greet the Bombanos and I want Nathan, Heidi, Simon, Monty, Olivia, Gabriel, Claire, Noah, Sandra, Lyle and Molly lined up as well. You're all family and you should be the first to greet the newest members. Everyone else, just mill around and meet and greet."

"What about Kaito, Mother?" Olivia smirked.

"What do you mean by that?" Angela's eyes narrowed as Gabriel stared at the ceiling innocently.

"Oh, I just mean that the two of you have been friends for so long, he's practically family. Don't you think so?"

Angela stared her daughter down for a moment. "Kaito will be greeting them as well after they enter the party." She rolled her eyes as she walked away from her daughter.

"And you guys keep comparing ME to Schwarzkopf." Noah muttered as he lined up with his family.

"Oh hush, it's an honor to be considered family, you old coot." Sandra grinned.

As the Bombano family entered, Angela smiled and greeted everyone warmly with Peter and Sherry, introducing them to the family. Madeline frowned as she met Olivia. "I read a lot of tabloids and stories about the Petrellis. I don't remember there being no daughter."

Angela frowned as she glanced down at her son's future mother-in-law. "Olivia recently returned to the family fold. My husband and I were separated for a while between Nathan and Peter. Olivia is my child from a relationship I had during that time."

"Oh, so she's your bastard." Madeline smirked as Olivia blanched and looked away. "The little love child from an affair or something."

"Basically." Angela muttered through gritted teeth. "I gave her up for adoption to family friends. After they passed away and her godfather passed away, she came to me."

"Hmmmph." Madeline turned to Angela. "My Johnny has a few bastards himself from some of his stupider comares. One of them even tried dating Sherry in high school. Johnny ran him off, claiming the boy wasn't good enough for her, but I knew the real reason. He didn't want no stupid Flowers in the Attic grandchildren!"

Sherry's eyes widened as she turned to her reddening father. "Pop? What's Ma talking about?"

Johnny looked away. "Nothing. She talks outta her ass, you know that."

He quickly walked away as Sherry gasped and turned to Peter. "Holy jumping Jesus, I really hope Ma's not referring to Frank Cantore."

"Why?" Peter asked.

"Cause we kept seeing each other in secret." Sherry shuddered. "Where's Laurent?"

The party continued, with friends of Peter's from nursing school and law school arriving, as well as a few of Nathan's friends and some of the Bombano's family 'connections'. Gabriel avoided his wife as she circled the room with her mother and Sherry, smiling and laughing. He listened as Madeline proclaimed constantly and loudly how Olivia was the 'Petrelli family bastard', cringing every time he heard that voice booming over the din of music, glasses clinking and voices talking and laughing. When she wasn't talking about Olivia, she constantly cornered various people, chirping loudly about having a 'terrorist' daughter-in-law in Tulia and how glad she was to see her daughter was marrying 'up'.

"I never thought that Sheryl of all of 'em would end up married to someone important! She was a lazy kid, you know? Not an ambitious bone in her body, that one! I thought our family had hit the jackpot when Lucky married that snooty little Cap Cod wasp Cady, but she's nothin' compared to a Petrelli. Oh well, at least two of my kids are married to quality people, you know? Anthony's married to that Middle Eastern girl who I just KNOW is going to blow us all to Kingdom come before it's all over with and then Sal's married to that damned stripper!" Madeline rolled her eyes as Niki glared at her. "So what do you do?"

"I'm a consultant for Greene Technologies." Niki nodded. "My husband and I both are."

"Who's your husband?" Madeline asked.

Niki pointed to D.L. as he laughed with Anthony and Mohinder. "Him."

Madeline's eyes widened. "That black guy?" She turned to Niki, horrified. "What the fuck?"

"And by the way, before I stared working with Greene Technologies, I used to be a stripper myself." Niki smirked as she walked away.

Madeline gasped. "Uppity." She muttered before she turned to find someone else to talk to. She spotted Matt and Janice and walked over to them. "So, do the two of YOU work for Greene as well?"

Matt nodded. "Yes, we do."

"How many damn Greene people are here?"

"A lot of them." Matt nodded to Olivia. "She owns the company."

"The bastard? I'll be damned. So she fell into quite the honey pot when she got adopted, didn't she?" Madeline glanced over at Mohinder again. "So he Middle Eastern like Anthony's terrorist wife?"

Matt sighed. "No, he's from India. He's a geneticist."

"A what?" Madeline sighed. "Indian huh? You know they're taking all of our damn jobs!"

"Really?" Janice cocked her head to the side. "What do you do for a living?"

"I'm a housewife." Madeline nodded.

"I see." Janice smiled sweetly. "Well, you don't have to worry about being outsourced there." She took Matt's arm and nodded. "It was a pleasure to meet you, excuse us, please."

Matt passed by Gabriel. "And I thought YOU had the mother-in-law from hell."

Gabriel laughed as he turned, almost bumping into Sal and Lucky. "Sorry."

Sal smiled. "Not a problem. So you're going to be Sherry's brother-in-law, huh?"

"One of them, yes." Gabriel nodded.

"And you're the one with the hot wife? The one with the rocking ass?" Lucky winked.

"Well, she's very beautiful, but I wouldn't say she has a 'rocking ass'." Gabriel shrugged. "She's got a great figure, but that's the one thing she's missing."

"She's the bastard right? The knocked-up hottie with the blue dress, big knockers and dark curly hair?" Sal nodded towards Olivia. "Her? She's got a HOT ass!"

Gabriel frowned as he turned, spotting Olivia as she talked with Janice, holding a plate of food. "Yeah, that's her but-" His eyes widened as Olivia turned to the side for a moment "-when did she get THAT?" He stared at her figure from the side. "She never had that before."

"Go get it." Lucky winked. "If I had a wife like that, I wouldn't leave her alone too long. I'd be scared of guys trying to steal her away, knocked-up or not."

"Oh, I'm definitely going to get it." Gabriel smiled at the brothers. "Nice meeting you both." He turned and walked to Olivia, wrapping an arm around her waist. "How's the party."

"Great, if you like being called a bastard." Olivia laughed. "How about you?"

"Damn good." Gabriel glanced over her shoulder at the back of her figure again. "Tell me something?" He whispered.

"What?" Olivia frowned.

"When did you get that fine ass?" Gabriel nibbled on her neck.

"When I got pregnant." Olivia grinned. "Like what you see?"

"Very much so." Gabriel nodded as he took a shrimp from Olivia's plate. As he popped it into her mouth, she glared at him. "What?"

Olivia snatched her plate away from him, her eyes blazing. "What the FUCK? You KEEP taking MY food! I swear to GOD if I were eating a bag of SHIT you'd want some of it too, DAMN!" She spun around and stalked away from him as the people around them got quiet, staring at Gabriel as he looked around at everyone, shrugging.

"She's really possessive of her food." He turned and walked away quickly as Lucky and Sal whooped.

"Don't let her talk to you like that, Bub!" Lucky followed behind him.

"Damn straight! You need to show that girl who wears the pants in the family!"

Gabriel glared at them. "I might wear the pants, but I know who wears the panties and I know how to behave if I want to take them off of her."

"That's bullshit!" Sal shook his head. "My Ginger knows better than to deny me shit! I wear the pants and I take off those panties when I'm in the mood, whether she wants me to or not. You'd better start taking the same stand with your wife there unless you want to be whipped."

Gabriel stared at him. "Yes, because that's what every boy wants when he grows up, the chance to rape his own wife."

"What the FUCK is that supposed to mean?" Sal took a menacing step towards him as he rolled up his sleeve.

"Whoa!" Nathan jumped between them as Gabriel began to step towards him, equally angry. "Ignore my brother-in-law, guys. He's been through the wringer lately with my sister. She's been pretty emotional, this being her first pregnancy and all. What do you two boys say to getting a few drinks, huh?" He glanced over at Gabriel. "Olivia's crying in my office, apparently Mom yelled at her for causing a scene with you. Can you go check on her?"

"Crying again?" Gabriel sighed and turned away.

"Yeah, you better fucking leave!" Sal yelled.

Gabriel turned around again, only to be stopped by Nathan's hand. "Your wife." Nathan raised his eyebrows. _Don't start any trouble tonight. You know they're assholes, I know they're assholes, but we've got to be good, for Peter and Sherry's sake._

Gabriel sighed. "I'll check on Liv." _Just let me get one good punch in. I'll even try not to use Niki's super strength when I do it._

"She's in my office." Nathan glared for a moment. _They're civilians and so are we tonight. Let's try and be civil while we're at it._

Gabriel nodded and walked into Nathan's office. He glanced over his shoulder and saw Sal stuff a crab cake into his mouth as Nathan led them towards the bar. Twitching his fingers as he reached the office door, he smiled to himself as Sal began to choke on it. While Nathan performed the Heimlich maneuver, Gabriel entered his office, frowning at his wife as she sat at her brother's desk, her face in her hands. "So what's wrong NOW?" He growled as he closed the door behind him.

Olivia looked away. "Mother's yelling at me again. Why does she keep PICKING on me?"

Gabriel crossed his arms in front of his chest. "Maybe because you deserve it?" As Olivia opened her mouth to speak, glaring at him, Gabriel shook his head. "Uh-uh, it's MY turn to unload here, Honey, and don't start yelling back and DON'T start crying on me, you've had this coming for a while. I know you're miserable, I know you're hormonal but dammit, I don't deserve to get yelled at. I didn't deserve the screeching fit I got out there a moment ago. I haven't deserved ANY of the fits that have been slung in my direction these last few months. I have been sucking it up, smiling and eating shit for you and it stops NOW, do you hear me? I don't care HOW emotional you are and how much your hormones are raging, you will NOT direct your tantrums at me or anyone else, do you understand? You're pregnant, I get it. You don't feel good, I get it. Trust me, EVERYONE gets it, Babe. I know this is going to be difficult for you, but you have got to stop acting like such a hateful BITCH!"

"Hateful bitch?" Olivia stood up, glaring at him. "How dare you-"

"-I'm not finished, did I SAY I was finished?" Gabriel slowly walked over to her, his eyes blazing angrily. "This pregnancy wasn't an accident. We planned it, WE did together. Now, I have been taking your verbal abuse over and over again, while telling myself that you can't help it, but dammit, you're just going to HAVE to help it! It's not like I got you pregnant accidentally or on purpose without your knowledge, so this is NOT my fault! We planned Faith and I'm not going to take your yelling and screaming anymore! I'm not going to take your insults, or your tantrums or your-" He stared at Olivia as her eyes widened and darkened. "-What? You gonna cry now? I'm immune to that too right now. I'm too pissed at you to give a damn if you start crying, do you here me?" He frowned as Olivia slowly walked over to him. "Let me guess, you're going to try and hit me instead? I'll restrain you, I know how without hurting you or the baby, Missy!"

"I'm not going to yell, I'm not going to cry and I'm not going to hit." Olivia nodded. "You're right. I've been a hateful, terrible, needy, temperamental bitch. I need to chill out, I need to watch my mouth, and I need to behave and I will." She smiled. "I'll behave very, very soon." She walked past him and locked the door, turning to wink at him as she leaned against it. "But right now, I feel like MISbehaving. Come here."

Gabriel's eyes widened. "Come on Liv, there's a party going on out there."

"True, but it's boring as hell. I want a much livelier party in here, don't you?" She slowly began to walk to him. "I think we both need to get into better moods, don't you?" She began to play with his tie, looking up at him through her lashes while she coyly lowered her head. "I've been a serious bitch lately, now I want to be YOUR bitch."

Gabriel glanced at the door again, his heart pounding. "You locked the door?" Olivia nodded, grinning up at him. "Baby, I don't know-"

"-shhhh." Olivia placed her finger against his lips. "What could be more fun than you and I in here having our own private party?" She untied his tie, wrapping it playfully around her wrists. She held her arms up. "You can even tie me up if you want."

"Olivia-" Gabriel sighed as she kissed him passionately, her hands, still wrapped in his tie, massaging his chest. He groaned as she unbuttoned his shirt and began to kiss his neck, her lips traveling down his chest. "You'd have to enter the horny stage now, wouldn't you?"

Olivia giggled. "Baby, I'd be doing this with you in here, horny pregnant or not." She took his arms and steered him towards Nathan's desk. She leaned against it, winking at him lasciviously. "You know you want to do this. I saw you checking me out earlier. It got me hot."

"Well, I noticed for the first time that you've sort of grown in a few places since you got pregnant." His eyes raked over the cleavage of her dress. "Really grown."

"And you like it." Olivia raised an eyebrow as she kicked off a shoe and let her foot glide slowly up his leg. Gabriel grabbed her foot and slid his hand up her leg, breathing hard as he approached his wife. "Come here, Big Boy." She whispered.

"Oh God help me." Gabriel unbuttoned his pants as he reached his wife. He began to kiss her as she wrapped her legs around his waist. "I've missed this so much." He moaned as he entered her and began to thrust hard. Olivia whimpered with pleasure as she clung to his shoulders, her heels digging into his back to urge him on. Gabriel muffled a loud moan in Olivia's neck. "I've missed YOU."

"I've missed this and you too." Olivia gasped, her breathing hard and ragged. "Oh GOD how I've missed this!" As Gabriel dug his fingers into her hair, pulling her head back to kiss her collarbone, Olivia began to scream with pleasure.

Outside of the office, Claire and Nikolai stopped, their eyes widening as Olivia's scream pierced the room. People stopped and stared at each other before turning to look towards Nathan's office.

"Is he killing her in there?" Noah frowned.

Peter smirked. "No, he's definitely not."

Angela stared at her son for a moment as Claire blushed and began to giggle stepping away from the office door with Nikolai on her heels. "You don't mean that they're both in there-" Angela gasped. "-Oh how DARE they? During this party?"

"Trust me, if it puts them both in a better mood, I'm all for it." Peter sighed. "I can't believe I just admitted that I condone those two getting it on."

"Hear, hear!" Sherry nodded. "Both of them have made everyone else walk on eggshells all night."

"I don't care!" Angela started to head towards the office, only to be stopped by Peter.

"Leave them alone." Peter turned to the musicians. "Just play a little louder, guys."

Angela huffed. "They are both SO inappropriate."

"Well?" Madeline turned to them. "Whaddaya expect from a bastard?"

Angela glared. "I swear to God, if you call MY daughter that one more god-damned time."

"What?" Madeline glared back. "What the fuck YOU gonna do about it?"

"She'll kick your ass and I'll let her." Johnny glared at his wife. "You've been an even bigger pain in the ass than her daughter has been."

Madeline glared at her husband, her face turning red before she stomped away. Johnny winked at Angela before turning and heading in another direction as well.

In the office, Gabriel clamped his hand over his wife's mouth as he thrust harder against her. "Everyone just heard you out there, Baby." He whispered.

Olivia shook her head as she dug her nails into her husband's back. "I don't care." She moaned, her voice muffled by her husband's hand. "Just don't stop."

Gabriel took his hand away from her mouth and gripped the desk. "I don't plan on it." His mouth met hers hungrily as they moved together, clinging to each other as Olivia balanced on the edge of the desk.


	73. Chapter 73

Chapter Seventy-Three: The Engagement Party from Hell-Part 2

"I know you're not going back out there after doing this just once." Gabriel glanced over his shoulder at Olivia as he buttoned up his shirt. Olivia sat perched on the edge of Nathan's desk, her legs crossed demurely as she smiled at him. "I'm already ready for round two."

"We need to get back out there." Gabriel winked at his wife. "Peter kept Angela from coming over to the door and beating on it earlier, but I don't think he'll be able to hold her back forever."

Olivia sighed. "Oh come on. One more time?" She slid her foot up the back of his leg, leering at him. "You know you want to."

"I want to more than you'll ever know." Gabriel turned to his wife. "But we're just going to have to wait a while. The party should be winding down soon." He leaned forward and kissed her. "Hell of a way to end a fight though, huh?"

"Definitely." Olivia shrugged and climbed off of the desk as she adjusted her dress. "I guess we do have to go back out there and face them some time." She stepped towards her husband, batting her lashes at him. "But do we have to do it right now?"

"Yes, we do." Gabriel sighed as Olivia began to nibble on his neck, her hands sliding down his body. "We really, really do." He reached around her waist and began to caress her buttocks. "I really love these right now, you do realize that."

Olivia giggled as Gabriel's hands squeezed at her. "I never would have had you pegged for an ass man."

"Baby, I'm an 'Olivia man' but I do like this rear-end. It's just so-"

"-Big." Olivia smirked.

"I believe Sherry's pig scum brothers called it 'rocking'."

"Really?" Olivia glanced over her shoulder, staring at her butt. "Rocking, huh?"

"Definitely." Gabriel sighed. "Too bad it's going away after Faith gets here."

"That's almost an endorsement for me to pretty much stay pregnant all the time. Could you see us having a family full of stair-steps?"

"Nope!" Gabriel laughed. "After the way you've treated me during THIS pregnancy, Faith's going to be an only child, I mean it!"

"You don't want a set of Irish twins?" Olivia teased.

"No. One kid, that's good enough for me. I'll just enjoy this rocking ass until then."

"Fine." Olivia shrugged and took her husband's hand. "Is my dress wrinkled?"

Gabriel nodded. "Yes and my clothes are wrinkled and we have JBF hair and goofy grins on our faces. Even if we were completely put-together, everyone would know what we were doing anyway, thanks to that little Xena battle yell you let out in the middle of it."

"I did NOT give out a Xena battle yell!" Olivia smirked. "I squeaked."

"You screamed like I was killing you!" Gabriel laughed as they headed towards the door. "I'm surprised no one tried to beat the door down to make sure I hadn't finally snapped and was tearing you apart."

"You weren't tearing me apart, just tearing me up." Olivia winked. "And I can't wait to do it again and again and again."

"We've got the rest of our lives for that." Gabriel sighed. "Come on. Let's get back out there and face your mother's wrath for screwing loudly during precious Peter's engagement party."

As they stepped out of Nathan's office, Claude walked over to them, laughing. "Why'd the two of you hide in there to shag? God knows we could have done with a bloody floor show around here!" He clapped Gabriel on the back as he walked away with a snickering Hana.

Olivia blushed and glanced over at her husband. "Okay, you're right. I was too loud."

"Damn right you were." Nathan covered a smirk. "Just tell me what you do did it on so I can have it burned, okay?"

"The desk." Olivia and Gabriel mumbled in unison.

"I'm on it." Nathan sighed.

"So were they." Heidi smirked as Gabriel and Olivia burst out laughing.

"This isn't funny!" Angela snapped as she marched over to the couple. "The two of you were SO inappropriate! All you have done tonight is cause trouble with your fighting and bickering and yelling and-"

"-Now Mama Petrelli-" Gabriel smiled.

"-Don't CALL me that-

"-We were just trying to end our fight so we'd be able to project the image of what we truly are-"

"-two oversexed nymphomaniacs who can't control themselves?-"

"-a happy couple in love." Gabriel kissed his wife's cheek as he placed an arm around her shoulder. "And that's what we are. Everyone should be as happy as we are, hell Peter and Sherry should aspire to it. We're just giving them something to look forward to."

"Embarrassing their families in public?"

"No, blissful happiness." Gabriel sighed as he started to walk away with Olivia. He glanced over at Peter and Sherry. "Sorry if we were too loud."

"Hell, it was the highlight of my night!" Sherry giggled.

"Anything that keeps you two from tearing each others throats out is fine, just try to keep it down next time." Peter nodded. He looked around, making a face. "I can't believe I'm actually condoning the two of them having sex." He muttered

"Well, I still don't condone it and I DEMAND an apology, not only to me, but to everyone in this room who had to hear your shenanigans." Angela snapped.

"Now YOU'RE the one causing a scene, Mother." Olivia raised an eyebrow. "And speaking of being embarrassed about things-"

"-Don't you DARE!" Angela warned through gritted teeth.

"What?" Nathan looked at his mother and sister, confused.

"Oh, Mom's just worried that Olivia's going to spill the beans about her seeing Kaito." Peter rolled his eyes.

Angela and Nathan gasped as Hiro stared at his father in shock. "You KNOW?" She asked.

"You and Mrs. Petrelli?" Hiro gaped.

"Yes I know!" Peter sighed. "You and Kaito aren't quite as sneaky as either of you think for one thing, and for another" he leaned towards her, whispering "you sort of let your thoughts wander when you were staying with us."

"Oh." Angela blushed. "So why didn't you say anything?"

"I knew that when you were ready to come out in the open with it, when you knew things were serious, you'd say something to me." Peter smiled. "But judging by some of the thoughts you had, things are already pretty serious. You're pretty crazy about him."

"She is?" Kaito smiled as Angela's blush deepened.

"What in the HELL is wrong with all of you?" Everyone stopped and turned as Madeline glared at everyone. "Jesus H. Christ on a fucking Ritz cracker, you people are INSANE!" She pointed to Nathan. "You were in bed with the mob taking kickbacks and campaign funds before that rat bastard Linderman died, AND you've got this illegitimate daughter over there" she pointed to Peter "you're a law school dropout who became a nurse," she pointed to Olivia and Gabriel "you two can't stop either fucking or fighting" she turned to Angela "and you had a bastard daughter while you were married and now you're involved in an interracial relationship?"

"What's WRONG with that?" Niki stepped forward, glaring at Madeline.

"Yeah!" Candice took Mohinder's hand. "God, come into the Twenty-first century already, you loud-mouthed bigot!"

"Hey! Don't you talk to my mother like that, you little-" Sal began to cough and choke. "-Oh Jesus what now! I ain't even eating nothing!" He gagged for a moment until Olivia pinched Gabriel.

Madeline glared at Candice and Niki. "It's people like you who give the rest of us bad names! People like you and my skirt-chasing husband with that half-black son of his that kept sniffing around his own damn sister!"

Sherry gasped. "Kevin Randall, oh thank GOD! We never did anything." She glanced at her father. "It wasn't Frank?" He frowned and shook his head as she breathed a sigh of relief.

Angela stepped forward haughtily as she took Kaito's hand. "We may be many things, but at least we're honest about it and at least we're not prejudiced or hateful."

"Not to outsiders, anyway." Gabriel smirked before Olivia could elbow him. "Oh come on, let me have a little fun here, Sweetness."

"Well I never-" Madeline's mouth widened as she began to speak.

"Madeline, shut your hole right now or I swear to God, I'll drag your fat ass to your doctor, tell him that gastric bypass ain't taking and make him wire your damn jaw shut!" Johnny stepped forward. "I would like to apologize now for my bigoted wife and my rude sons. As you can see, the two best members of my family are already aligned with you." He lifted his glass. "And if we can all stop bickering for a moment, we should remember the true reason we're all here." He looked around the room as everyone smiled and nodded, taking glasses of champagne and sparkling cider. "To our children Sheryl and Peter. May the two of you always settle fights in style like these two here" he winked at Olivia and Gabriel "may you always love each other, not only as partners and lovers but also as friends like you two" he nodded to Kaito and Angela as Hiro continued to gape wordlessly at his father "and may you always stick by each other through the good times and bad." He nodded to Nathan and Heidi. "And may you ALWAYS be true to yourselves and your talents, just like many of the people in this room tonight. May you always stand up and fight for the greater good. To Peter and Sheryl!" He lifted his glass higher before he smiled and drained his glass, everyone else following suit.

Soon after, the party began to wind down, with many of Peter, Johnny, and Nathan's friends leaving. After a while, the only ones left were the Vegas group, the Petrellis and the Bombanos. Kaito wandered outside onto the terrace, spotting Hiro as he sat perched on a table with Leilani and Ando. "May I have a word?" Kaito asked.

Ando nodded and led Leilani away as Hiro stared at his father. "Why didn't you tell me about you and Mrs. Petrelli?"

Kaito sighed. "I didn't know how serious it was. I knew how serious I wanted it to be, but I didn't know how she felt until tonight. I also didn't know how you'd take it. You were quite close to your mother-"

"-Mother left." Hiro nodded. "She was unhappy and she left, then you became unhappy. You have been happier lately, happier than I've seen in quite a while. This is Mrs. Petrelli's doing, yes?" Hiro watched as Kaito nodded. "Why would I be upset that my respected father was happy? Leaving was Mother's decision, not yours. Mrs. Petrelli is a good woman. She is a scary woman, but a good one at heart. Why wouldn't I approve of you being with someone who is good and makes you happy? You have never judged Leilani, why did you think I would judge you?"

"That is true." Kaito smiled softly. "Leilani is a good girl and I like the person you are with her. I should have been honest with you about Angela and let you pay the same courtesy to me that I've shown the two of you."

"Yes, you should have." Hiro stood and bowed in front of his father. "Will you two marry?"

Kaito's eyes widened. "We haven't discussed that, Son."

"It would be nice to have Peter and Nathan as brothers. They feel like brothers already. I already have a sister in Kimiko, but Olivia would be quite the welcome addition as well. Gabriel-" Hiro shrugged "-there must be one in every family, yes?"

Kaito laughed. "Yes, there must be one." He sighed. "It is time for me to tell you something, something about my power. You see, I-" his voice trailed off as Angela walked onto the terrace. "-Quite the evening, yes?"

Angela smiled. "It really has been." She took Kaito's hand and turned to Hiro. "So you know."

"Yes, and I am happy for you." Hiro bowed to her then stepped forward, kissing her cheek. "You make Father happy, therefore I am happy too." He turned to Kaito. "I will leave you alone now. We can discuss more later."

"Okay." Kaito watched as Hiro walked away, then turned to Angela. "So it's out in the open."

"It is." Angela nodded.

"Are you okay with this?"

"I am, actually." Angela beamed at him. "I was getting tired of sneaking around, not that it did any good, apparently." She leaned forward, pressing her forehead to his as they stood in silence, holding hands.

* * *

Sherry looked up to see her father walking over to her as she sat on the stairs. "Hey Pop, thanks for coming and thanks for playing peacemaker tonight."

"Ah, no problem." Johnny sat beside her with a groan. "Getting old. My baby girl's getting married."

"You're not getting old. Ma, on the other hand-" She giggled as Johnny laughed heartily then stared at him, her expression turning serious. "Pop, I know this is a very inappropriate thing to ask, since you're my father and she's my mother, but why in the hell do you stay and put up with her? You obviously loathe her."

"She's not so bad when it's just the two of us." Johnny shrugged. "She just gets mouthy around people. When it's just her and me piddling around that house, she's actually okay. Besides, I'm too damn old to leave and I don't feel like paying a bunch of alimony for her to eat away." He looked at his daughter. "I'm real proud of you, Sherry Baby. I want you to know that."

"Thanks." Sherry nodded, her eyes filling with tears.

"Don't listen to your ma when she starts in on you, got it? You done real good for yourself, like I always knew you would. I knew you were meant for greater things even when you were a little kid, and here you are doing those greater things. You've got these great friends that are like your family and you're all banding together to fight that Linderman piece of shit. You've got a good boy who loves you to pieces, you've got it made, Princess. I hope you know that."

"I know." Sherry smiled.

"And his family well, they're just as fucked up and crazy as we are apparently, so you obviously fit right in." He laughed with his daughter. "That sister of his and her husband, they like that all the time?"

"Pretty much, yeah."

"Madonn'!" He shook his head. "At least they're passionate about each other, holy Hell! That's the way it should be. You should be passionate about the person you're with."

"They're passion defined, that's for sure."

"It's nice."

"So." Sherry raised an eyebrow. "Kevin Randall's my brother? The football player that went all-state and kept trying to grab my ass when he was a senior?"

"Your ma needs to have her mouth stapled shut! Yeah, he's your brother. His ma was a cocktail waitress I banged before you and Anthony were born. Maddie likes to bring him up a lot whenever we fight."

"So Frank Cantore isn't my brother?"

"Why you keep asking that?" Johnny's eyes narrowed. "You and Frank do something you weren't supposed to?"

"Am I going to get in trouble years after the fact if I say yes?"

"Nah, I guess not." Johnny shrugged. "But I should lie and say he was your brother just to freak your ass out. No, he wasn't your brother."

"Oh thank GOD!" Sherry sighed with relief again as Johnny smirked at her. "What?"

"You got away with a lot under my nose, didn't you?"

"Yeah, I really did!" Sherry laughed as she stood up and held out her hand, helping her father stand. "Come on, let's get back to the guests."

"Actually, it's getting late and I need to get the family out of here before someone slips up. You guys have behaved pretty well tonight, but it's just a matter of time, right?"

"Probably." Sherry nodded.

"So everyone here right now has powers pretty much, right?"

"Of my friends?" Sherry nodded. "Everyone except Janice, Lyle, Noah, Sandra and Mohinder."

"I'll be damned." Johnny took his daughter's hand as they descended the staircase and ran into an excited looking Madeline. "What is it?"

Madeline glanced over her shoulder, then turned back to Johnny. "I think Nathan's daughter is an alien."

Sherry groaned and closed her eyes as Peter approached them. Johnny stared at her. "What the blue fuck you talking about? You've been hitting the wine too hard."

"No I haven't!" Madeline glanced over her shoulder again. "I was talking to her and when she turned to leave, she ran into a table and dropped her glass. When she bent down to pick up the pieces, she cut her hand and I swear to GOD that cut healed itself! The blood actually ran back into her fucking hand, John!"

Peter nodded. "That's an interesting story Madeline and I totally believe you."

"Peter-" Sherry turned to her fiancé.

Peter grinned and took Madeline's arm. "-Come with me. I have a friend you should tell that story to. He's Haitian."

"Really? What's that got to do with anything?" Madeline asked.

"Everything, trust me." Peter led Madeline away.

Johnny frowned. "What's that Haitian guy gonna do?"

"Make Ma forget what she saw." Sherry grinned.

"Really? Can he erase most of my memories of her while he's at it?" Johnny sighed. "I'd like to remember you and John and Anthony, but the rest I'd love to forget."

"Oh Pop." Sherry shook her head.

"I'm serious here!" He chuckled as Sherry led him back into the party and rounded up his sons and daughters-in-law, stopping to shake Nathan's hand and kiss Heidi and Angela on the cheek. He turned as Peter returned with a smiling Madeline. "How are you feeling?"

Madeline nodded. "It's been such a lovely party, hasn't it?"

"Very lovely." Johnny winked at Peter. "Ready to go?"

"We just got here, didn't we?" Madeline looked around, confused.

"No, we've been here for about five hours." Johnny sighed. "You hit the wine too hard, I told you." He smirked as he shook Peter's hand. "Son, welcome to the family."

"Thanks." Peter grinned.

Johnny turned to Anthony. "Take care of your wife and sister out there in Sin City, got it?"

"Will do, Pop." Anthony hugged his mother. "Take care, Ma."

"Oh, I will." Madeline responded dreamily as she headed towards the door. "What a lovely party." She mused.

"Damn Ma's really drunk!" Sal muttered as they left the house.

As soon as the door closed, Sherry leaned against a table. "Oh thank God that's over!"

"And we survived!" Peter nodded to Claire. "Your secret's still safe, Kiddo!"

"Thank God!" Claire closed her eyes. "I never thought I'd be the one to slip up, I just KNEW it would be Gabriel."

"Why me?" Gabriel looked around confused. "Hey, I know how to use my powers very discreetly, thank you. Sal never figured out I was the one choking him, did he?"

"You were incorrigible!" Angela snapped. "You and Olivia!"

"Oh for God's sakes Mother, just drop it! I don't hear anyone else complaining about what Gabriel and I were doing." Olivia rolled her eyes.

"I have a complaint." Nathan muttered. "I need a new desk now. That one's ruined for me and it was a priceless antique."

"Oh put a sock in it Nathan!" Heidi smirked. "They haven't done anything on that desk that WE haven't done a number of times."

"Really?" Gabriel wiggled his eyebrows at Nathan. "A little late-night dictation session with the wife?"

"Go fist yourself." Nathan sighed as he walked away with Heidi. "You just had to bring that up, didn't you?" He teased.

"We'll clean it off and re-christen it, no harm no foul." Heidi winked.

As everyone helped clean up and dismiss the wait staff and musicians, Mohinder glanced over at Candice. "Are you feeling okay?" He asked.

Candice nodded sleepily. "I'm just tired, that's all."

"We should get you home and in bed." He smiled at her.

"Sleep would be good after the excitement tonight." Candice yawned and stood up. "So how do we get home?"

"I will take you." Hiro walked over to them and placed a hand on each of their shoulders before closing his eyes. They opened their eyes to see themselves standing in the lobby of the apartment building.

"Front door service!" Candice hugged Hiro. "Thanks." She took a few steps towards the elevators, then stopped, her eyes widening. "Oh hell."

"What?" Mohinder turned to stare at her, his eyes widening at the puddle of fluid pooling at her feet. "Is that-?"

"-Yeah." Candice turned around, her eyes widening. "My water just broke."

"Oh my God!" Mohinder looked around excitedly. "We're, you're-"

"-Did I do that?" Hiro looked at them, horrified.

Candice laughed. "No, you didn't do that, I swear." She turned to Mohinder. "Run upstairs and get the car keys and the bag I packed the other day. It's just inside the door of our bedroom."

"I'll be right back." Mohinder kissed her as he ran past towards the elevators.

Candice leaned against a wall, smiling at Hiro. "It's rare for a woman to actually give birth on her due date, but it looks like I'm a rarity. Go back and tell the others?"

"Yes. I will." Hiro waited for Mohinder to return, then teleported back to the Petrelli mansion. The moment he appeared, his eyes wide he clapped his hands happily. "Announcement! Candice went into labor when we arrived at the apartment. Her water broke!"

"That's great!" Sherry giggled. "How's Mohinder taking it?"

"He's very, very excited!" Hiro nodded happily. "They are on their way to a hospital now. Candice wanted me to tell everyone."

Olivia smiled as she touched her stomach. "I guess I'm next."

"Not yet though." Gabriel kissed her cheek. "Let's let her grow in there a little longer, okay?"

"I plan on it." Olivia winked at him. "You know, this place is almost pretty much clean."

"I know. We've all gotten everything picked up pretty well." He leaned towards her. "You thinking what I'm thinking?"

"You and me sneaking back to Nathan's office for an encore?"

"Repeated encores." Gabriel took her hand and turned, running into Nathan. "Hey Nate, what's up?"

Nathan shook his head. "You're not going back into my office. Keep it in your pants until you get home, got it?"

"Oh come ON!" Olivia looked at her brother innocently. "Now what would make you think-"

"-I know you too damn well." Nathan smirked at her.

"I'm tired, I was just going in there to lie down."

"With your husband on top of you, I'm sure." Nathan shook his head again. "You two aren't leaving my sight until it's time for you to teleport your asses back to Vegas. No more nookie in my house, dammit!"

"Maybe Heidi should give YOU some nookie." Gabriel muttered as he turned to walk away with Olivia. "And while she's at it she can call an exterminator to kill that bug up your ass." He smiled at his wife as she giggled. "What?"

"We can wait until Peter or Hiro teleports us home." She turned to him, wrapping her arms around his neck. "I'd rather be in the comfort of our own bed anyway."

"Now you're talking!" Gabriel leaned down to kiss her and frowned as Angela stepped towards them, clearing her throat. "What now?"

"You two are going to stay a few feet from each other until you're in the privacy of your own home. The children have returned from upstairs where, thankfully, they didn't hear your little liaison earlier. I'd rather not have their impressionable minds warped, thank you."

"Correction, you don't want them warped more than they already are, being exposed to you, you mean." Gabriel sighed as he let his wife go. "Fine, we'll play nice for a few minutes. When do we go anyway?"

"Right now." Peter walked over to them with Sherry. "I'll send you three back so Sherry can go to the hospital to check on Candice and I'll return back here to transport everyone else back with Hiro, how does that sound?"

Gabriel beamed. "Have I ever told you that you're my favorite brother-in-law?" He took Olivia's hand as Peter placed a hand on his shoulder and Sherry's. "Let's roll, my bed is calling me."

"But not to sleep, right?" Sherry laughed as they teleported back to the apartment building.

* * *

"Holy shit." Gabriel lay back in the bed, breathing hard as Olivia snuggled up beside him. "I swear to God, I think we've definitely made up for time lost to the first trimester."

"We haven't even gotten close yet." Olivia nibbled on his earlobe.

"Oh, you've got to be kidding me." Gabriel stared at her. "We've been at it all night and most of the morning."

"I know." Olivia shrugged. "But we haven't done this in so long-"

"-You've worn me out." Gabriel kissed her gently. "Come on, we need to get some sleep before we go to the hospital to check on Candice." He grinned as Olivia groaned in frustration. "You're going to kill me before this baby's born, I just know it."

"What makes you say that?" Olivia lay next to him, rubbing his chest.

"You spent the first half of this pregnancy making me want to kill myself with your bitching and moaning, and now you're going to screw me to death." Gabriel shrugged. "Not that I'm going to complain that much, I'd rather die with a smile on my face than being nagged to death but still I need a LITTLE down time here, Babe."

"Fine." Olivia sighed as she stretched in the bed. "You have two hours, use them to rest wisely."

"I will." Gabriel yawned. He glared at the phone as it began to ring. "Can you get that?"

"I'm on it." She reached across him and grabbed the phone. "House 'O Love, what's your order?" She winked at Gabriel. "It's my brother."

"The good one or the cockblocking, desk-coveting asshole?"

"The good one." Olivia listened for a moment then grinned. "Candice had a baby girl about twenty minutes ago. Her name is, of course, Shanti Quinn Wilmer-Suresh, she was seven pounds, three ounces and is nineteen inches long. Mohinder's over the moon and she's apparently absolutely gorgeous!"

"That's great!" Gabriel murmured sleepily. "Tell Peter that we'll come by and see the little nipper as soon as I get some sleep and you let me up for air."

"We'll be up there to see Candice this evening." Olivia smiled as she hung up the phone and curled up beside her husband again. "Baby Girl Suresh is in the hizzy!"

"I'm very happy for them both." Gabriel yawned. "Can I sleep now?"

"Sure." Olivia lay next to him. "Pretty cool that she had the baby on her due date, huh?"

Gabriel's eyes opened as he turned to Olivia. "It's March 16th, isn't it?"

Olivia nodded, her expression serious as Gabriel's eyes filled with tears. "I shouldn't have said anything. I shouldn't have reminded you-"

"-I know." Gabriel rolled over, staring at the ceiling. "It's okay. I would have eventually remembered what today was eventually." His chin quivered for a moment as he fought tears. "Tatiana."

"A year ago today." Olivia kissed his forehead before resting her head on his chest. "It happened a year ago today. I'm so sorry, Baby."

"I'm okay." He closed his eyes as tears seeped out of them. "I'm okay, I promise. A year ago today, Tatiana died. Today, Candice and Mohinder's daughter is born. It's fitting. And now we have a baby on the way too."

"A baby that's kicking the hell out of me." Olivia muttered.

"What?" Gabriel opened his eyes. "Kicking hard?"

Olivia smiled softly. "I can't tell from the outside, but on the inside, she's a little soccer player."

"Let me feel." Gabriel rolled over and touched her stomach. Suddenly, he smiled sadly. "Oh, I can feel her. She's tough."

"You're telling me." Olivia ran her fingers through her husband's hair. "Our little girl."

He nodded. "Our little girl." He pulled his wife into his arms and hugged her as he fought to keep his tears in check.


	74. Chapter 74

Chapter Seventy-Four: Shanti Quinn, Over the Centuries

"Mohinder, your daughter is absolutely beautiful." Gabriel sat in a chair in Candice's hospital room as he cradled the newborn baby girl. She slept in his arms, long, thick, dark eyelashes framing her cheeks as she sighed softly. "And good God at the hair on her head." Gabriel stared down at her, touching the thick black curls on the top of her head.

"Candice says she looks just like me." Mohinder sat on the edge of the bed, holding his girlfriend's hand. "I don't know, I think she looks like her mother."

"No she doesn't, thank God!" Candice smirked. "She doesn't look a thing like me, what I really look like. She's her father through and through."

Olivia leaned over her husband's shoulder, smiling down at the baby. "Well, I don't know what you really look like Candice, but you're right, she's Mohinder made over."

"She's just gorgeous." Gabriel touched one of her hands, beaming as the tiny fingers closed around his index finger. "And she's got a strong little grip."

"You should feel her when she's nursing, talk about a grip." Candice shook her head. "Takes after her father that way too."

"Candice!" Mohinder blushed as Peter, Sherry, Olivia and Gabriel started laughing.

"Busted!" Peter snickered. He walked over to Gabriel, holding out his hands. "May I?"

Gabriel looked up at Peter, then stared down at the baby again. He sighed and handed her over. "I guess her REAL godfather should be allowed to hold her, even though I saved her life before she was born." He stood up beside Peter, cooing over the baby. "Yes I did. I saved your little life when you were smaller than my thumb. A big, bad, stupid man working for a bigger, badder, stupider man tried to poison your mommy and make her lose you and I stopped him, yes I did."

Mohinder shook his head at the sight of Gabriel cooing over the baby. "Can this possibly be the same man who pinned me to a ceiling a year and a half ago?"

"One and the same." Gabriel laughed. "I pinned your daddy to a ceiling once, after he drugged me, performed a spinal tap on me and tried to shoot me, but he's okay now, isn't he?"

"I still have bloody nightmares about that, thank you very much." Mohinder glared at Gabriel.

"Oh hush and stop being such a baby. I got over being drugged and experimented on, didn't I? Get over it!" Gabriel tickled Shanti's foot. "Daddy's a big grudge-holder, isn't he? He's so silly!" He grinned as Shanti smiled in her sleep, pulling her foot away. "She smiled!"

"It was gas." Mohinder rolled his eyes.

"Nope, she smiled at me." Gabriel nodded.

"I think she really did." Peter agreed with Gabriel.

"She's five hours old, she doesn't know how to smile yet." Mohinder shrugged.

"She's advanced." Gabriel smiled down at her. "You gonna be a little baby genius? You are, aren't you?"

"She's going to be the prettiest baby genius that ever was." Peter cooed.

Olivia and Sherry laughed as they leaned against the wall. Olivia glanced over at Sherry. "Big tough guys, aren't they?"

Sherry shook her head. "Yeah, until you hand them a baby and they turn into baby-talking piles of mush."

"So what about your other engagement party, the one you and Peter wanted to hold in the apartment building tonight?"

Sherry laughed. "We're putting it on hold until Candice and Shanti are released tomorrow morning. We're going to have an engagement party, slash coming home party for the baby."

"Sounds like fun." Olivia nodded.

* * *

Hiro walked down to the basement training room. He frowned as he saw Kaito hunched over a table, his hands working feverishly over metal. "Father?"

Kaito turned to him. "Son."

Hiro walked over to the table, staring at the piles of metal in front of Kaito. "What are you doing?"

"Making swords." Kaito turned to Hiro and nodded. "It is time for everyone to have their own true swords, don't you think?"

"You know how to make swords?" Hiro watched as Kaito began to pound on the metal, studying the way he bent it into blades.

"Of course, who do you think made the sword you carry on your back?" Kaito nodded to the Kensei sword Hiro had slung across his shoulders.

"Kensei made this." Hiro's eyes widened as Kaito nodded. "Father?"

Kaito put down his tools and turned to Hiro. "You've wondered for a while now about my power, yes? This is it. I have been alive for over a thousand years, and yet I appear to have aged for only seventy years. When I first saw you, it wasn't in the hospital when you were born, it was four hundred years ago, in Feudal Japan. You helped me be Kensei, win a princess and unite Japan. I knew it was my destiny to be your father one day. Over the centuries, I have buried many wives, many daughters, and many sons, all named Hiro. The first one was a drunken lout, the second one was a barbarian, and so on until the day you were handed to me in the hospital. At first, I wasn't sure if you were THAT Hiro, until you and Ando went on your mission and I found you in Las Vegas. I knew then, that you were the son I've waited many centuries for. Ever seventy years, I would fake my death and return as another Kaito Nakamura, doctoring papers to continue to appear 'normal'."

"You are immortal?" Hiro stared at him, gobsmacked.

Kaito smiled. "No, not immortal. I can die and I will one day, I just age at a much slower rate than anyone else." His smile faded. "I have watched many wives that I loved dearly age and die before me, some cursing the fact that I still appeared youthful in their aged eyes. I have watched many generations of sons and daughters grow old and die as failures in my eyes. It wasn't until you and your sister were born that I discovered that what I had long hoped for had finally come to pass. I had two gifted children who would help me change the world."

"Kimiko?" Hiro frowned. "What does she have to do with this?"

Kaito picked up the metal pieces on the worktable and smiled at his son. "You will soon see. Let's go to the laboratory. She is waiting there for us."

"Kimiko is here?" Hiro shook his head as he placed a hand on his father's shoulder and closed his eyes. When he opened them, they were standing in the laboratory in the desert. "Where is she?"

Kaito turned and nodded as Kimiko stepped out of a room, regarding her brother with an amused expression. Hiro smiled as he walked to her and bowed before hugging her. "It is good to see you!"

"It is good to see you as well." Kimiko smiled. "Father has kept me moved around and hidden for the better part of a year."

"To keep Linderman away from you." Kaito nodded. "I didn't want to bring you into this if I didn't have to."

"And now you feel you have to." Kimiko pulled her shoulders back proudly. "It's high time I felt useful. I've hated being moved from place to place, not keeping an eye on the business-"

"-Nakamura Industries is doing fine." Kaito sighed. "And you can return to it as soon as we've defeated Linderman, if that is what you want."

"You have a power too?" Hiro frowned. "I did not know."

"I didn't either until her name appeared on Mohinder's original list." Kaito raised an eyebrow. "She kept it hidden quite well, even from me. I asked him to remove it while I hid her away. I didn't want her involved in this originally."

"Not until he needed me." Kimiko grinned. "So, what do you need me to do?"

"I want to make swords for everyone. It can be done quickly and cheaply with your help." Kaito nodded to a pile of scrap wood that had been placed in a corner. "You know what to do."

Kimiko sighed as she walked over to the wood and began to pick up pieces of it. "You want steel?" She glanced over at her father as he nodded. "Strong steel it is." Hiro's eyes widened as the wood in her hands turned into steel. She tossed it to the ground with a clang as she picked up piece after piece of it. Soon, a huge pile of steel stood beside her. "And what now?"

Hiro clapped excitedly. "You can make metal!"

Kimiko nodded as she smiled ruefully. "Just like King Midas, only instead of gold, it's other types of metals, usually steel or tin. It's not useful, usually."

"You should have told me of this sooner." Kaito smirked as he began to gather the metal onto a gurney. "We could have saved a lot of overhead with you making metal from trash."

"Yeah, yeah." Kimiko sighed as she and Hiro followed Kaito outside. A huge fire burned behind the building, flames shooting up into the sky. "So what now?"

"Now I do what I have been training for these last four hundred years, at least." Kaito smiled as he took the metal into his hands. "Now, I make swords, as I was taught many hundreds of years ago, strong samurai swords for everyone to defeat Linderman and his people." He turned to his children, smiling. "And you will help. Hiro, stop time for everyone but us. We're going to have a long night ahead of us."

Hiro smiled as he concentrated. Time stopped everywhere but at the laboratory as Kaito knelt in front of the metal, pulling out pieces and hammering them into swords as Hiro and Kimiko watched in amazement.

Kimiko turned to Hiro. "I understand you are dating a girl here?"

Hiro nodded. "Her name is Leilani. She is from Hawaii. I love her."

"She sounds lovely. I can't wait to meet her." Kimiko glanced at her brother. "And Ando, how is he?"

Hiro shrugged. "He is good. He is dating a girl named Bridget. She is from Alabama. She can make plants grow with a wave of her hand."

Kimiko looked away, frowning. "Is she pretty?"

"Oh yes, very much so. Blond hair, very nice girl."

"I see." Kimiko muttered. "Blond and nice."

* * *

"Okay, that's it, I give! Uncle! Uncle!" Gabriel lay back on the bed as Olivia rolled off of him and cuddled up beside him. Breathing hard, he smiled at her. "Baby, I love you and I know I've spent the last three months complaining about the lack of sex, but you're killing me here."

"What?" Olivia nibbled on his neck. "I thought you couldn't get enough of me."

"I thought so too, apparently even I have a point where I can have had too much sex." He closed his eyes, smiling. "I'm dying for something to drink. I swear, I'm so dehydrated now."

Olivia giggled. "You should have spent those last three months resting. You knew full well that I'd hit this stage sooner or later."

"I just didn't realize HOW hard you'd hit this stage." Gabriel sat up and climbed out of bed, groaning. "I'm so tired, I can barely walk."

"Now you know how I usually feel after we've had sex. I can barely walk either." Olivia winked at him from the bed as he turned, smirking at her. "Hey, take it as a compliment Big Boy, I certainly am."

"Yeah, yeah." Gabriel sighed as he walked into the kitchen and pulled a bottle of water out of the refrigerator. He gulped the entire bottle down quickly, sighing as he refilled it and placed it back into the fridge before pulling out another bottle. "She's going to drain me dry by the time this hormonal surge is over, if she doesn't rub me raw first." He closed his eyes as he leaned against the kitchen counter. "Be careful what you wish for, it could easily come true. I should have remembered that when I was begging for sex." He shook his head and drained his second bottle as Olivia walked into the kitchen, naked except for his shirt. Gabriel groaned. "Baby, not again, PLEASE!"

Olivia rolled her eyes. "Oh for crying out loud! It's not always about sex, sometimes it's about food, ice cream to be exact." She opened the freezer and pulled out a pint of chocolate ice cream. "You're not the only one who needed some sort of nourishment after the sexathon. I was lying in bed and I suddenly realized I was dying for an ice cream sundae."

"As long as that's the only thing you're craving right now. You're making little Gabriel want to run and hide."

Olivia laughed as she scooped ice cream into a bowl before putting the pint back into the freezer. "Oh tell little Gabriel not to worry, I'll try and let him rest for a while." She turned and bent down in front of the refrigerator, digging through jars and bottles. "Where are the cherries?"

"In the back." Gabriel raised an eyebrow. "Are you SURE that's the only thing you wanted? Ice cream?"

"Uh, yeah!" Olivia turned back to him, her arms loaded with cherries, chocolate syrup and whipped cream. "Why?"

"Nothing really, it's just that you KNOW how much I love it when you walk around wearing just my shirt, and then you bent over in front of the refrigerator, knowing how much I love your ass-"

Olivia frowned as she poured chocolate syrup over the ice cream, slowly licking the excess off of her fingers. "I'm sorry, I'll just squat next time instead of bending over, since you can't seem to control yourself. I would have asked YOU to get me the cherries and syrup, but I didn't want to wear you out more." She smirked as she turned back to her ice cream, pouring more syrup over her fingers and licking it off as Gabriel stared at her hungrily. She turned back to him. "What?"

Gabriel looked away, chugging his water. "Nothing."

He turned back to watch as she fished cherries out of the jar and placed them on her sundae, eating a few as she moaned happily. "God, these are so good!" As she reached for the whipped cream, Gabriel reached out and stopped her hand. Olivia turned to him. "What?"

"You're rotten, completely, totally and incurably rotten." He pulled her into his arms and began to kiss her passionately.

"What?" Olivia started giggling as he lifted her up and began to carry her back to the bedroom. "Wait! My sundae!"

Gabriel turned back to the counters. With a wave of his hand, the freezer opened and the bowl of ice cream flew into the freezer. The canister of whipped cream flew across the room into his waiting hand. He winked at Olivia. "We're gonna need this."

"But my ICE CREAM!" Olivia groaned as he carried her back into the bedroom.

"You can have ice cream when you stop being a rotten little temptress. You won't let me rest without tempting me, I won't let you have ice cream until you stop it!" He tossed her gently onto the bed and tackled her as Olivia began to laugh.

"I KNEW IT WOULD WORK!" She shrieked happily as Gabriel pulled his shirt off of her.

* * *

Kaito stepped back as Hiro started time again. By his watch it was past eight in the morning, but the skies showed that it was still eleven p.m. on the previous night. He smiled proudly at his children as they studied the swords the three of them had worked together to make. The weapons gleamed in the light of the dying fire, all of them finely crafted. "We've made a quarter of what we'll need." Kaito nodded. "We'll meet up here again for the next three nights to finish them for everyone." He knelt down and started gathering the swords, his children following suit, before turning and walking back into the laboratory. Hiro whistled to the Dobermans as they entered the building, laughing as the dogs followed them inside, their tails wagging happily. Kaito sighed. "Fine lot of good those guard dogs make. They're too friendly now."

"They are good dogs." Hiro nodded. "They like all of us now for saving them from starvation." He turned to Kimiko. "When Olivia moved us all here, she found out that the workers here had abandoned the place. The dogs were starving and wild. She fed them and took time with them, as did the rest of us. Now, they would lay down their lives for us if we needed them to."

Kimiko nodded. "Grateful animals."

Hiro smiled. "I have seen them go from licking our hands to growling and thrashing at the fence at people they didn't recognize. When we first got guards here, we had to come in shifts to help the guards get to know the dogs and vice versa. Now the dogs love the guards as well. We are safe here, and our secrets here are safe as well."

"That is good." Kimiko helped Hiro and Kaito put the swords away. She turned to her father. "So will I continue to stay here, or can I finally stay at the apartments you have been staying at?"

Hiro stared at his father. "She has been here?"

"For the last month, yes." Kaito nodded. "I've had her hidden away in one of the holding cells."

"It's been extremely trying." Kimiko sighed.

"Yes, you may come back with us." Kaito bowed to his daughter. "There is an apartment that has been open on our floor for a few weeks now, it belonged to Angela's daughter and husband. They moved upstairs."

"Sounds good." Kimiko smiled sleepily. "And we are going there when?"

"Right now!" Hiro placed a hand on his sister's shoulder, then his father's. Moments later they were standing in the hallway of the tenth floor. "And we're home!" He pointed to apartment 1001. "That is your apartment, where Olivia and Gabriel lived."

Kimiko sighed. "Good." She turned to her father and brother, bowing to them. "Good evening."

"Sleep well, Kimiko." Kaito watched as she walked into her new apartment and then turned to Hiro. "Watch over her. If she needs anything, take care of it." He turned and headed for the elevator.

"Where are you going?" Hiro asked.

Kaito winked. "I moved my things upstairs this morning. Angela and I are taking a step forward."

Hiro beamed and gave his father a thumbs up as he stepped into the elevator. "Have a wonderful night!"

He turned and walked into his apartment, yawning as he went to his bedroom. Leilani sat up in bed as he entered. "Where were you?" She asked sleepily. "You left about an hour ago to talk to your father, but-" She frowned "-you've been gone longer than that, haven't you?"

Hiro nodded as he pulled off his clothes and climbed into bed beside her. "Yes, I have been gone MUCH longer. I was helping father with an important mission."

Leilani rolled over, draping an arm across his chest as he pulled her close. "You and your missions. You're so adorable with them. It's one of the things I love the most about you, my Big Kahuna." She whispered as she dozed off.

Hiro smiled to himself as he fell asleep beside her. "I love you too."

* * *

The next morning, Hiro looked up and smiled as Kimiko entered his apartment. "Good morning to you."

Kimiko nodded. "Good morning to you as well." She watched as Hiro placed frozen waffles in the toaster. "I thought I'd come over for breakfast. The apartment doesn't have food yet."

"We will take you shopping today." Hiro nodded. "Until then, enjoy breakfast. What would you like?"

"He's an excellent cook!" Kimiko turned and frowned as a strawberry blond strolled into the kitchen, wearing nothing but an oversized man's shirt. "He's always making breakfast for everyone. He's so cool that way." The blond poured two glasses of orange juice before turning to Kimiko. "I'm Bridget by the way."

"Ando's girlfriend." Kimiko mused. "I see. I'm Hiro's sister, Kimiko."

"It's great to meet you. I've heard so much about you."

"Really?" Kimiko frowned.

"Oh yeah!" Bridget nodded. "Ando talks about you all the time. He really thinks the world of you."

"He's a good person." Kimiko watched as Bridget walked back down the hall, carrying the glasses with her. She turned to Hiro. "She seems nice."

"She is very nice." He beamed as Leilani walked into the room, dressed for the day in sweats. "Leilani!" He took her hand in one of his, then took Kimiko's hand. "This is my sister Kimiko. Kimiko, this is Leilani."

"It's a pleasure to meet you." Leilani bowed to Kimiko. "Hiro and Ando both have told me so much about you, I feel as if I already know you."

"Father has told me a great deal about you as well." Kimiko smiled kindly at her brother's girlfriend. "You are as lovely as he described."

"Thank you." She turned to Hiro. "And when did your sister arrive?"

"Last night."

"And you didn't tell me THEN?" Leilani frowned. "Hiro."

"We were tired. We stopped time and stayed for hours helping Father. I knew that you two would meet better in the morning." He turned to Kimiko. "I knew you'd want to go right to bed when you arrived here."

Kimiko laughed. "He's right, really. I was exhausted last night. I would not have made very good company."

"See?" Hiro turned to Leilani, who nodded.

"Okay." She laughed softly as she kissed his cheek. "I guess you weren't trying to hide us away to keep from meeting each other."

"Oh not at all." Hiro shook his head. He turned around as his waffles popped out of the toaster. "Breakfast!"

Kimiko and Leilani laughed as Hiro exuberantly began to pour syrup over his waffles. Leilani turned to Kimiko. "So what brings you to Las Vegas finally?"

"Father. He decided that he needed me and my power after all. He'd had me hidden away after it was revealed that Linderman was still alive and recruiting an army. He didn't want his 'delicate flower' of a daughter involved in a war. I told him over and over again that if he and Hiro were involved, I would be as well. I understand many of you are being imbued with extra powers?"

"Most of us, yes." Leilani turned to Hiro. "Kaito hasn't allowed any for himself and Hiro only asked for telepathy from Olivia Gray. Neither of them have accepted anything else, even rapid healing."

Hiro turned to them. "I don't want them. A true hero relies on his natural strengths."

"And the rest of us aren't true heroes?" Leilani crossed her arms in front of her chest.

"That's not what I'm saying." Hiro sighed, obviously having had this discussion many times over. "In times of war, it is good to have as many powers as possible, but I simply do not want them. I am happy with what I have. Besides, it isn't fair to the rest of you for me to take powers when I refuse to offer my own."

"But you've explained WHY you won't give your DNA to the database and we all understand. Teleportation can be very dangerous in the wrong hands. We all know that." Leilani nodded. "If we all had that power, God knows how we could screw up the future, going back and forth to fix every little thing that we thought went wrong. That shouldn't stop you from allowing yourself super strength, or phasing, or rapid healing. In fact, those powers combined with the one you already have could actually HELP you in some of your missions, right?"

Hiro sighed. "I am happy with my singular power. It is a good one."

"Okay. " Leilani leaned over him to kiss him. "But when we go into battle, you're sticking close to me. Ain't nobody touching MY guy without a fight."

Hiro blushed as he looked over at his sister. "I'm her guy."

"I can see." Kimiko laughed as she began to make breakfast with Leilani. They all turned as they heard Ando's voice booming from his bedroom.

"KIMIKO? HERE?" A few moments later, Ando ran into the kitchen with a confused Bridget following behind him. He stared at Kimiko in shock. "You ARE here!"

"Yes, I am." Kimiko turned back to the counter as she whisked a bowl of eggs.

"When? When did you arrive?"

"Last night." Kimiko said, her voice cool.

Ando rushed over to her and quickly hugged her. "It is so good to see you!"

Bridget stared at them a moment, then shrugged. "I told you it was her, Ando." She sighed as she went to the freezer and pulled out a package of waffles.

"I know." Ando blushed as he stepped away from Kimiko. "I just couldn't believe it. It's been so long."

"It has." Kimiko turned to study him. "And how have you been?"

"Very good." Ando nodded.

"He's been great!" Bridget kissed him before turning to the toaster.

Leilani laughed. "He's become quite the ladies man of the building, actually. First he dated my former roommate Rosario, then Katharina for a while-"

"-And Jayne on the first floor-" Hiro interjected.

"-And now me, and I'm not letting him go." Bridget kissed him again as Kimiko watched them, her eyes narrowing.

"I see." She said, her voice soft.

* * *

Gabriel stumbled into the kitchen and stopped short to see Olivia sitting on the counter, finally eating her sundae. "Now that's a healthy breakfast."

"It wouldn't have been breakfast if someone had let me have it last night." Olivia laughed as she ate another heaping spoonful.

"I would have let you eat it last night if you hadn't played dirty pool, seducing me with your chocolate syrup and cherries while wearing my shirt." Gabriel pulled cereal from a cabinet before pouring himself a cup of coffee.

"Can I help it if you're easily aroused?" Olivia smirked.

"No. But I wouldn't try tackling me or trying to arouse me today, okay?" Gabriel grimaced. "I think I'm raw."

"Don't worry, I'm pretty raw myself." Olivia sighed. "We'll just have to lay off for the day and actually leave the apartment. There's this thing called work that I need to do, I've been slacking off for the last few months."

"I wonder why." Gabriel shook his head.

"Well, first I could barely leave the house because I was puking so much, then Peter and Mohinder asked me to stay home and research from here because I was being a major bitch and now I've been too horny to do anything but jump your bones for the last day." Olivia nodded. "But now that I've got my appetite back, have gotten an attitude adjustment and have finally worn us both out sexually, I suppose it's time to reenter the real world and go to the lab for a while, especially since Mohinder's going to be taking some daddy time off."

Gabriel glanced over at her. "Any experiments planned for today?"

Olivia shook her head. "I don't think so. Everyone's been imbued with whatever they wanted, Mohinder's in charge of the whole genetic link to super-serum thing, so that's not for me to mess with," she sighed "I guess I'll be spending the day playing solitaire or something."

Gabriel laughed. "Sounds like fun." He nodded down the hall. "If you don't feel like doing lab time, there is still a nursery that needs decorating."

Olivia turned to him. "You're right!" She climbed down from the counter, rubbing her belly. "The only thing we've done in there is hang up all of the clothes you've been buying for her." She turned to her husband. "That settles it. WE are decorating her room today, just the two of us."

"US?" Gabriel shrugged. "I was thinking that could be something for you and Angela to do."

"Nope, you're doing it too. I'm going to need someone to put together all of the furniture while I paint the walls. We're going to need a crib, a changing table, a bassinette-" She continued talking as she walked down the hallway towards their bedroom.

Gabriel followed her. "-I suggested YOU decorating the nursery because that would give us some time apart with no temptations today."

Olivia turned to him, frowning. "This is OUR daughter and WE are decorating her nursery. Now, I don't know about you, but I'm so sore there is no WAY I'm going to be in the mood for anything today. We'll spend the day shopping and when we get home, I'll paint while you put her furniture together. We'll be so tired by the end of the day, the only thing we'll want to do in bed is sleep, right?"

Gabriel nodded. "I see your point." He sighed. "Okay, let's get dressed and go shopping for baby furniture and paint."

"GOOD!" Olivia kissed his cheek before turning to go into the bathroom. "And don't forget, Sherry and Peter's 'real' engagement party is tonight too, as well as little Shanti's coming home thing."

"It's going to be a busy, busy day, isn't it?"

"Busy enough to wear us out!" Olivia called out.

Gabriel sighed as he sat on the bed. "But I'm already worn out." He muttered.


	75. Chapter 75

Chapter Seventy-Five: Love, Business, Decorating and Parties

"Intuitive aptitude strikes again!" Gabriel sat back on his heels as he stared at the crib in front of him. "Now THAT'S a friggin' crib!"

Olivia turned around for a moment, nodding at it before turning back to the walls, a paint roller in her hand. "Looks good. Now put together the swing."

"Yes Fuhrer." Gabriel sighed as he watched Olivia paint the walls of the nursery. She was halfway done with the first coat of paint, a cheery daffodil yellow. "That looks good too."

"You think so?" Olivia stepped back for a moment. "You don't think it's too bright?"

"It'll look good when you do that other thing you were talking about doing. That color wash?" Gabriel shrugged. "Better you doing this than me."

"Oh, you'll be helping with the color wash, trust me." Olivia turned back to the wall as she resumed painting. "That's why I want you to finish that swing. I'll be finished with this soon and after the first coat dries, we're BOTH going over it with the peach."

"Lovely." Gabriel muttered as he began to put together the swing. "You know, I know we said that we were going to spend the day putting together the nursery in order to take our minds off of sex, but quite frankly, I'm starting to realize something."

"What's that?" Olivia asked as she painted the walls.

"I think I'd rather be having sex."

Olivia chuckled as she started on another wall. "Well, if it helps, I'm not feeling so raw anymore. I guess regeneration is working on that."

"Ditto." Gabriel shook his head. "But I'm still not in the mood."

"Pity, I am." Olivia turned and winked at her husband. "But I guess I'll just throw all of the energy I'd use at tackling you and using you like a Kleenex into decorating our daughter's room."

"Yeah, you do that." Gabriel nodded.

* * *

Ando looked up from the couch, his eyes widening for a moment as Kimiko entered his and Hiro's apartment. "You've returned."

Kimiko nodded coolly. "Hiro and Leilani said they wanted to take me shopping for groceries." She looked around the room. "Where's Bridget?"

Ando turned his attention back to the television. "In her apartment. She prefers to have us live separately for now."

"Is that so?" Kimiko smiled softly. "I would have thought it was you who wanted to live separately, being a 'ladies man' and all. Isn't that what they called you this morning?" She raised an eyebrow as Ando began to blush. "It wasn't so long ago you weren't much of a ladies man though. You always struck me more as a one-woman man, myself."

Ando glanced over at her again. "Where did you go, Kimiko? I went to your apartment and you were gone."

Kimiko nodded. "It was the night Hiro returned and the night that Father discovered that Linderman was still alive. He found out what Linderman was up to and wanted me protected. He arrived an hour before you were due and told me to pack quickly and leave quietly. He knew Linderman was starting a war and he knew that he would try and recruit me along with the others. He didn't want me fighting on Linderman's side, but he didn't want me fighting alongside himself and Hiro as well, so he hid me away. I wasn't allowed to speak to anyone, even you-"

"-Did he know about us?" Ando turned back to her, his expression sad.

Kimiko looked away, tears brimming in her eyes. "I never told him, but I think he suspected that I had become involved with someone. I wouldn't be surprised if he knew that you and I were together."

"Why didn't you try to call me, send me a letter, something?"

"My father wanted my whereabouts kept completely secret. He had a security team surrounding me at all times. I was moved from location to location all over the world every other day. I wanted desperately to call you, let you know that I hadn't forgotten about you and that I didn't leave of my free will, but I had to honor my father. Besides, what could you have done, Ando?"

Ando scowled at her. "I could have joined you, traveled with you, helped to protect you. I could have been with YOU!"

"And leave Hiro behind?"

"He would have understood. What can I do here? I don't have special powers."

"But you ARE special, Ando and you HAVE been needed here. You helped my father and brother travel Asia to recruit others. You've been training to help protect the people of this building and help protect their children when the time comes to fight."

Ando stared at the floor. "I wasn't much help this time last year when a child died. This building was attacked from within. Linderman's people brainwashed one of our own to make them a sleeper agent. She attacked her friends, her lover, and a child that lived next door to her, a child that was beloved by everyone in the building. Some of the people survived, but a few did not, including that child. The only thing I could do was help move the bodies."

"This building was filled with people that possessed powers, and yet even THEY couldn't save the child or the others." Kimiko walked to the couch and sat beside Ando, gently taking his hand in hers. "Having a power, or having many powers doesn't make someone more or less heroic than someone who does. I have a power, yet I've been kept in hiding for over a year. You possess nothing but bravery of the heart, yet you have been training and preparing to fight others for the same amount of time. I doubt that anyone in this building considers you to be less heroic than they are. Look at Hiro. He has not allowed himself to be imbued with anything. Do you consider him to be less heroic than the others who now possess a menu of strengths?"

"No." Ando shook his head softly. "I do not."

"You shouldn't consider yourself so either then." Kimiko nodded. "I never did and I'm sure he's never thought of himself or you as less either."

Ando stared at their entwined hands before looking into Kimiko's eyes. "I never thought in a million years that you or I would have ended up together. I dreamed of it, but never imagined it would come true. When I went to your apartment that night to see you and found you gone, your apartment empty of your clothes and personal belongings, I didn't know what had happened to you. All your father would tell me was that you had been transferred."

"In a way, I had been, but I never forgot you. I never forgot us."

"I tried to." Ando nodded. "I wanted to forget you."

"Is that why you dated so many girls?"

"Yes. That is why." Ando sighed. "No one compared to you." As Kimiko smiled and leaned towards him, Ando stopped her. "Until I met Bridget, no one even came close to comparing to you.' He looked away as Kimiko sat up, her eyes widening. "I am with Bridget now. She cares for me and I care for her. It would be cruel to her to simply drop her because you've returned."

"You told me in Tokyo that you loved me."

"I did. I fell deeply in love with you."

"Do you love Bridget?" Kimiko asked as she struggled not to cry.

"I don't know." Ando shook his head. "But I know she loves me. There is something there with her, something I'd like to pursue." He let go of Kimiko's hand and stood up. "I'm glad you are here, for Hiro's sake, but you and I cannot go back to where we were."

"Why NOT?" Kimiko stared up at him as tears began to trickle down her cheeks.

"Too much has happened, too much time has passed." Ando turned to her. "I am with Bridget now. I don't want to be the kind of man who simply dumps a woman just because another has returned. It wouldn't be fair to her." He turned and walked out of the living room as Kimiko leaned back against the cushions of the couch and cried softly.

* * *

"Okay, now THIS is tedious as hell." Gabriel wiped sweat from his forehead with his forearm as he sponged peach paint onto the yellow walls with one hand and smeared it with a damp sponge in his other hand, creating a cloud-like effect. "And we're doing it to ALL of the walls in this room?"

"Yes." Olivia sighed as she sponged and smeared on an opposite wall.

"Why not just do ONE wall like that? What do they call that on those silly home improvement shows you watch? An accent wall, right?"

"We're doing all of the walls in the nursery this way." Olivia set her sponges down for a moment as she stretched, her hands massaging her lower back. "I can't believe I still have four and a half months left. My back is already killing me and I'm barely showing. Just how much is it going to hurt by the time I'm full-term?"

"I don't know, Sweetie." Gabriel turned and smiled sympathetically at her. He turned back to the project at hand. "You know, if your back hurts so much from doing all of this-"

"-I'm not repainting this wall yellow. We're color washing all of the walls, Buster! We're not just going to have an 'accent wall' just because you're too lazy to help me do all of them."

"You know, I thought the bitchy was supposed to end by now."

"It's not pregnant bitchy" they turned to see Angela standing in the doorway to the nursery, smirking "that's just good old Olivia-bitchy." She surveyed the room, nodding appreciatively. "Thank God you two finally decided to actually do something in here. I was wondering when you'd climb off of each other long enough to realize that your daughter needed to have a room of her own and a bed to sleep in. I was starting to think you two were just going to shove her in a drawer somewhere."

"Nah, with all of Olivia's clothes, there wouldn't be room for a baby in the drawers." Gabriel nodded towards a couple of sponges near the paint. "Grab a couple and help us out, will you?"

Angela ignored Gabriel as she circled the room, smiling. "Yellow and peach together, I never would have imagined." As Gabriel and Olivia gave each other baleful glances, Angela nodded again. "But it works. It's going to be a dreamy-looking sort of room, isn't it? Very soothing, yet very feminine. I like it."

"Excuse me?" Gabriel's eyes widened. "Did I hear you correctly? Did you REALLY just give us a compliment?"

"It happens occasionally." Angela smiled. "It's the kind of nursery I would have had for Olivia if that idiot husband of mine had allowed me to keep her."

"You thought about my nursery?" Olivia frowned as she turned and began to color wash the walls again."

"Yes, I did." Angela grabbed two sponges and began to work on another wall. "It would have been pink, of course and very frilly. I was pleased when I visited Jack and Sally to check on you to see that they followed through with that idea. Your room was quite pink there as well."

"Yeah, it looked like a fairy-tale princess puked in it." Olivia laughed softly. "I decided not to go with pink for Faith. It's too obvious."

"I wanted yellow." Gabriel said quietly.

Olivia glanced at him over her shoulder, her expression sad. "I know, Honey." She and Angela exchanged looks for a moment before Olivia returned to her wall. "I think this color wash over it will be pretty though. It'll still have yellow in it, it just won't be so bright."

"I like the idea." Gabriel whispered. "Yellow for part of her namesake and peach for where her Mom was raised and where she will be raised half of the time."

Olivia smiled softly at him. "Exactly."

* * *

Kaito's eyes widened slightly as he opened his door to see Kimiko standing in front of him. "Kimiko. What brings you here?"

Kimiko walked into the apartment and turned to her father. "I was seeing Ando last year before you made me go into hiding. Did you know this?"

Kaito sighed as he led Kimiko to the couch and sat beside her. "I knew about the two of you, yes."

"And yet you still forced me to leave without telling him, without telling ANYONE?"

"It was for your own safety. I knew that if Ando truly cared for you, the time you spent apart would only strengthen that love and he would accept you back into his life when you returned to him."

"It hasn't happened." Kimiko glared at her father. "He's dating someone else now, Bridget."

"I am aware of that." Kaito nodded slowly. "I am also aware that he has dated many women since he arrived here, women who have complained afterwards that he would never let them in, and that he was distant." Kimiko frowned as Kaito looked sternly at her. "Was he that way with you?"

"Not at all. He was never distant. I was the one who was distant in the beginning. I looked down on him and did not treat him as an equal at first. It took him a while to win me over, but when he did, he owned my heart and I thought I owned his."

"I think you still do. Why else would he be so distant with others?" As Kimiko looked away, Kaito touched her chin, turning her face back to his. "Your leaving hurt him and I did not do either of you any favors when I chose not to tell him what had really become of you. I needed him here to help me and Hiro. I knew that if he was aware of what was happening to you, that I had you in hiding and seclusion, he would move heaven and earth to find you. It was selfish of me, I know. I told myself that it was a test of his heart and yours. I see now that you have both passed that test."

"But he's with BRIDGET!" Kimiko shook her head. "We talked today, just a few minutes ago. He is planning to stay with her."

Kaito raised an eyebrow. "He will push her away, as he has pushed away other women who have dated him or tried to catch his eye. You have owned his heart from the moment he first saw you many years ago, and you continue to own it to this day."

"What good is owning his heart if I can't be with him?"

"What GOOD is it?" Kaito frowned at her. "Are you, or are you not the daughter of Kaito Nakamura?"

"I am." Kimiko nodded.

"And what have I always taught you in business? What have I always told you to do with companies that we want to acquire but are reluctant to sell to us?"

"You have told me always to be ruthless, never give up and never give in until the company is in our hands."

"Apply the same to Ando." Kaito smiled. "Be ruthless. You know he loves you, you know he cares, don't let him get away. If he is truly the one you want to be with, do not give in until he is in your hands. Fight for him."

"Fight? How?" Kimiko stared at her father, confused.

"You'll figure out how." Kaito stood up, staring down at her imperiously. "I did not raise either you or Hiro to give up in a fight, or to give in. I did not raise either of you to simply lay down and let the world pass you by. You will know what to do when the time comes. You will know to listen to and follow your heart."

"Okay." Kimiko sighed as she stood up. "But-"

"-Don't give up." Kaito's eyes narrowed. "And if you need my hand to help you, I will. It is the least I can do for my selfish behavior this last year. I tried so hard to keep you out of this life, out of this battle, and it was all for nothing."

"Yes, it was." Kimiko nodded, her expression finally becoming determined. "You had no right to keep us apart and you had no right to keep me from fighting alongside you and my brother."

Kaito glared further. "Fight alongside us? Wait-"

"-I understand you and Hiro and a woman named Hana trained the founding members of this group, the generals so to speak, to fight and that they are now training the rest of the building. I will sign up for a class and possibly sign up to be imbued with more powers. I have some catching up to do, but I think I shall be ready when the time comes, yes?"

"NO!" Kaito struggled to speak as Kimiko swept past him. "Just because I brought you here to help with weapons does NOT mean that I intend for you to step onto that battlefield! I was planning on having you join Ando, The Bennets, Heidi, Janice and Laurent in protecting the children-" He walked towards his daughter as she strolled quickly towards the door. "-Kimiko wait!"

Kimiko turned to her father, her hand on the doorknob. She winked at her father and smiled. "Oh, but I will be on that battlefield, Father. I will be there alongside you and my brother, fighting and making you proud. I will fight beside the two of you and I'm about to fight for Ando, even if it means fighting Ando himself. Thank you for your guidance." She bowed quickly and walked out as Kaito looked around the apartment, infuriated.

"That's NOT what I meant!" He called out as the door closed behind her.

* * *

Ando stretched out on his bed, staring at the ceiling as he thought about his past with Kimiko. For many years he'd worshipped her from afar, wishing he could work up the nerve to ask her out. After he'd befriended Hiro and discovered that she was his sister, he'd become excited, thinking that he could finally get close enough to her to win her over, but it seemed for a long time that that idea would just be a pipe dream. All of that changed in November after the events in Kirby Plaza. Hiro had teleported them to their office after Sylar's attack and then returned to attempt to finish the man off. Ando stayed behind, and found himself promoted by Kaito to Hiro's former position. He soon found himself working late into the night alongside Kimiko, entertaining her with stories of his adventures in the United States with her brother. Within a week, they were dating, and a few weeks after, they had become lovers. It was, as far as Ando was concerned, the happiest moment of his life. That happiness ended for him the day after Christmas, when he'd arrived at Kimiko's apartment to find that all of her belongings were gone. The next day, Kaito came to him with news of Hiro's reappearance from the 16th century and asked him to join them both in a new mission in Las Vegas. When he'd asked Kaito about Kimiko's disappearance, he'd only been told that she'd been transferred to another city. Kaito refused to say anything else. For the last fifteen months, Ando had tried so hard to forget the month that he and Kimiko had spent together, and forget the feelings that she'd awakened in him. He'd dated other women, finding fault with all of them, while refusing to give his heart so freely again as he had with Kimiko. He'd finally begun to think that he was over her, and was ready to move on, until he'd seen her that morning, nonchalantly scrambling eggs in his kitchen.

Ando sighed as he shook his head. Upon seeing Kimiko again, every feeling he'd ever had for her had rushed back to him as quickly as he'd rushed into the kitchen when he'd heard that she was there. It took every bit of self control he'd had not to pull her into his arms the moment he'd laid eyes on her, mindful of the fact that he'd never told Hiro about his relationship with her, and that his own girlfriend Bridget was standing beside him. Talking with Kimiko earlier and pushing her away for Bridget was the hardest thing he'd ever done. As much as he loved Kimiko, he didn't think it was right to toss Bridget away, simply because Kimiko had returned.

He turned his head as he heard a knock on his bedroom door and smiled softly as Hiro peeked into his room. "Hey, Hiro. What's up?"

"I was looking for Kimiko. She said she would come by here so that Leilani and I could take her shopping for groceries. Has she been here?"

Ando nodded, frowning. "She was here earlier. I think she went upstairs to see your father."

Hiro walked into the room and closed the door. "Ando, I knew about the two of you."

Ando sat up on his bed, his eyes wide with shock. "Excuse me?"

Hiro nodded apologetically. "Father told me. He told me when I returned from becoming helping Kensei that you and Kimiko were seeing each other." He stared at the floor, ashamed. "He told me that he sent Kimiko to safety. I did not know until last night that she had a power, he told me that he wanted her safe from his enemies, especially Linderman, while we helped build the army. I am sorry I did not tell you. Father wanted everything to be kept secret, even from you."

"You knew about us?" Ando shook his head as he closed his eyes. "You should have told me, Hiro. You are my best friend. You have trusted me with so much over the past two years, why didn't you think you could trust me with this?"

"I had to honor Father over my very best friend. I am deeply sorry." Hiro looked up at Ando, his expression miserable. "Father never told me where Kimiko was either, he simply told me she was safe and would remain so until after the war. He was afraid if anyone knew, they could be taken and tortured into telling of her whereabouts, even though she was moved almost daily. He didn't want you to be taken. I didn't either." Hiro sighed. "Forgive me for protecting you both. I have watched you since we moved here, watched you with the women you've dated. You haven't forgotten Kimiko, have you?"

Ando's shoulders sagged as he sat back down on the bed. "No. I haven't. I loved her, Hiro. We were only together for a little over a month, but I loved her deeply. I haven't forgotten her."

Hiro looked at his best friend, shaking his head sadly. "You should be with her."

"But Bridget-"

"-She loves you yes, but you love another. You should let Bridget go in order to reunite with Kimiko." Hiro smiled softly. "I have always thought of you as my closest friend, like family. It would be good to have you be family in reality as well as in my heart."

"Bridget loves me." Ando shook his head. "It wouldn't be fair to her to break her heart. It wouldn't be fair-"

"-Is it fair to stay with her when you love another? She will be hurt, yes. But in the long run, wouldn't it hurt her more if you stayed, only being with her half-heartedly? If you do not love Bridget as you love my sister, you should let her go. If you DO love her, I will not discuss this with you again, only wish you happiness with her as I console Kimiko."

Ando sighed. "I love Kimiko more than life itself, Hiro."

"Then be with her. End things with Bridget. Do not lead her on further and be with Kimiko. Follow your heart, Ando."

Ando smiled softly. "I will consider it. Thank you, Hiro."

Hiro nodded. "You are welcome. I apologize again for not telling you about her sooner, where she was and why she was hidden."

"Apology accepted." Ando beamed at his best friend as Hiro bowed to him and left the room. As soon as the door closed, he frowned. "Either way, someone gets hurt." He whispered softly to himself.

* * *

Gabriel, Olivia and Angela stood in the doorway to Faith's nursery, surveying their work with tired, but satisfied smiles. The crib was placed near the door, decorated with peach-colored bedding. The color wash on the walls gave it a soothing, peaceful air, bathed in sunlight from the wide windows that offered a view of the desert behind the building. A changing table and dresser were placed against another wall, and a swing sat in a corner. "You need a rocking chair." Angela nodded. "I'll get one for you. I got one for Heidi before Simon was born."

"Are you trying to start a tradition?" Olivia smiled at her mother.

"Would that be so wrong?" Angela looked around the room again. "Beautiful job."

"Thank you. You didn't do so bad yourself, helping us." Gabriel yawned. "What time is that party tonight?"

"It starts at six." Olivia winced as she stretched, grasping her lower back. "Damn."

"Back pain?" Angela smirked. "I remember those days as well. You should start watching your posture, Dear, not that you ever did. You always slouched. You stand around swaybacked too much, it's going to hurt more."

Olivia rolled her eyes as she checked her watch. "It's three o'clock now. If we take a two hour nap, we'll still have time to get ready."

"I can take an almost three hour nap." Gabriel laughed. "I don't take an hour to get dressed and primped like some people."

"Oh hush." Olivia yawned as she turned and walked into the bedroom, collapsing on the bed. "I'm exhausted."

"Sleep while you can." Angela shook her head as she walked through the room. "Once that granddaughter of mine is born, those long hours you kept as a doctor will seem like child's play in comparison, pun intended."

"I know." Olivia sighed. "Thanks for helping, Mother."

Angela smiled as she turned and headed for the door. "You're welcome." She glanced over at Gabriel, her mouth stretched into a thin, resolute line. "Would you mind actually LETTING her sleep? I know you're probably dying for me to leave so you can maul her but-"

"-ME?" Gabriel's eyes widened. "Excuse me Angie, but OLIVIA'S the one who's been mauling ME for the last two days, not the other way around."

"Consider it payback for all the times you've tackled her then." Angela smirked as she swept out of the room.

Gabriel groaned as he heard the front door slam. He crawled onto the bed beside Olivia, exhausted. "Should we skip the party tonight?"

Olivia opened one eye and glared at him. "Hell no. Peter's my brother, Sherry's one of my best friends, Mohinder is also one of my very best friends-"

"-Yeah, yeah. Yadda-yadda." Gabriel closed his eyes. "I'm serious about the sleep part. Try not to maul me for the next two hours, okay? I'm dying for a few z's here."

"You stay on your side and I'll stay on mine." Gabriel watched as Olivia curled up and dozed off.

"Follow your own advice, Precious."

* * *

Kimiko turned as she heard a knock on her bedroom door. She beamed as Leilani entered and gasped at her. "Wow, Kimiko!"

Kimiko turned and regarded her reflection in the mirror, staring at the slinky red dress she was wearing. "You don't think it's too much? I heard it was a rather informal gathering tonight."

Leilani shrugged as she stared down at her own pink dress. "It's no more revealing than mine." She laughed. "Yours just well, FITS better." She raised an eyebrow. "Trying to attract Ando?" She nodded as Kimiko turned to her, eyes wide. "I got a serious vibe from the two of you this morning. You have a history, don't you?"

"Yes." Kimiko nodded.

"And you're not ready for the two of you to be ANCIENT history, are you?" Leilani smiled.

"No, I'm not."

"Well, wear that dress around him, and I think Ando will definitely want to revisit past history." Leilani winked as she turned and walked out of the room, Kimiko following her.

"Aren't you friends with Bridget?" She asked, confused.

"Not really." Leilani shook her head. "I tolerate her because Hiro and Ando are so close, but she and I have never really meshed, you know? She's not very Zen and her aura is just all wrong for Ando."

"And my aura?"

Leilani beamed. "Let's just say your aura is definitely better!" She studied Kimiko again. "So, ready to go party?

* * *

Gabriel moaned and shuddered as he orgasmed, collapsing on top of Olivia with a satisfied smile. Olivia shook her head as she stroked her husband's hair. "So much for that nap. I thought you wanted to sleep?"

"You were too tempting." Gabriel nibbled on Olivia's earlobe.

"Tempting how? I was sleeping, heavily I might add."

"Just seeing you lying beside me is enough to set me off. If it was such a bother for you, you could have pushed me away and kept on sleeping." Gabriel rolled off of his wife with a sigh.

"Now how could I do that when your hands started roaming everywhere and you were whispering such dirty, naughty, sexy things in my ear?" Olivia snuggled beside her husband. "And you say I play dirty pool!"

Gabriel glanced at the clock beside their bed and groaned. "The party. We've got twenty minutes to get ready. So much for that nap."

"Told you so." Olivia sat up and stretched. "We'll just be fashionably late." She climbed out of the bed and headed towards the shower.

Gabriel lay in bed for a moment, smiling as he heard the shower turn on. Grinning mischievously, he walked into the bathroom and climbed into the shower behind his wife, goosing her. As she jumped and turned around, he crushed his mouth down on hers, pulling her close. "We'll be a little more than fashionably late, don't you think? Besides, we'll get ready faster if we bathe together."

* * *

The elevator doors opened and Hiro stepped out into the lobby where party central was stationed, with Leilani and Kimiko. All of the people in the building milled around the lobby, taking alcoholic and virgin drinks from a self-serve bar set up in the corner. Soft music played in the background. Hiro smiled and waved to Niki, D.L., Micah, Matt and a baby Matthew cradling Janice. "Hello!" He turned to Kimiko. "You must meet my friends!"

Leilani laughed as she watched her boyfriend drag his sister towards his pals. She turned and spotted Ando talking with Geoffrey, Bennet, and Sandra, Bridget clinging to his arm. Raising an eyebrow and smiling, Leilani walked over to them. "Mr. Bennet, Sandra, Geoff, it's good to see you, as always." She nodded politely to them. "Have you heard? Hiro's sister arrived here late last night."

"Kimiko?" Bennet beamed. "I haven't seen her in years. Where is she?" He scanned the room.

Leilani pointed to the group surrounding Hiro. "Oh, she's over there with her brother."

Bennet's eyes widened for a moment as he spotted Kimiko. "Well she's, grown up since I last saw her."

Sandra nodded. "What a beautiful girl and what a LOVELY dress!"

Leilani watched as Ando glanced in Kimiko's direction, and then did a double-take as she turned her back to him, showing off her backless dress. Bridget glared at Ando as his eyes widened and he coughed, choking on his drink. Leilani smiled innocently at Ando. "Are you alright?"

Ando looked away, his face turning red as Bridget glared even harder at him. "I'm fine, thank you."

Kaito entered the lobby with Angela on his arm. He frowned as he spotted his daughter and quickly walked to her, clearing his throat. "What are you wearing?"

Kimiko turned and nodded to her father. "Just something I picked up this afternoon after we talked."

"It's a bit revealing, yes?"

"Oh don't be such an old poop!" Angela beamed at Kimiko. "It's a lovely dress and your daughter looks lovely in it. It's no more revealing than Niki's dress or Sherry's even." She pointed to Sherry and Peter as they stood near the bar, smiling and hugging friends as they walked over to them to congratulate them on their engagement.

"Thank you, Angela." Kimiko turned back to her father. "I'm just doing what you suggested father. In a company takeover or merger, one of the things you always try to make the other company see is the perks they'll receive. Yes? This is the same principle."

"I'd rather not everyone see the perks, my child." Kaito whispered in her ear before Angela steered him away.

Ando glared at Geoffrey as he swallowed down his drink. "A beautiful girl like that shouldn't be standing around alone with just her brother to keep her company, eh mon?" He watched, fuming as his Jamaican friend strolled over to Hiro and Kimiko.

"Ando. What's going on?" Bennet and Sandra turned to him as Bridget glared up at him. "And don't tell me 'nothing' because you've been distant all day!"

Ando sighed and took Bridget's hand. "Perhaps we should talk." He quickly led her outside of the building towards the gardens as Bennet and Sandra exchanged looks.

"Something tells me that Ando's about to toss that poor girl aside just like he's tossed the others. Good Lord, he runs through them like they're tissues!" Sandra shook her head.

Bennet laughed softly. "Tell me about it. I swear to God, if he even looks twice at Claire, I'm tanning his hide."

"Oh poo!" Sandra nodded towards Claire and Nikolai as they stood away from the other guests talking to one another, obviously lost together in their own little world. "Like Ando could ever turn Claire's head. That girl is spoken for and that boy of Claude's is smitten."

"I know." Bennet's eyes narrowed. "You don't think that they've-"

"-No. Claire's told me that they haven't. Yet."

"They'd better not any time soon if they know what's good for both of them."

"Oh give it a rest!" Bennet jumped as Claude materialized beside him, his arm draped over Hana's shoulders. "And give the kids a rest, they're young and in love. You remember what's that like, I'm sure?"

"I do." Bennet nodded. "Which is why I'll say this again. They'd better behave if they know what's good for them."

Everyone turned and applauded as Mohinder and Candice walked through the front doors, carrying their daughter. Mohinder beamed as he held out his arms until everyone fell silent. "My friends, I would like for everyone to meet our daughter, Shanti Quinn Wilmer-Suresh." He wrapped an arm around Candice as everyone crowded around them, cooing and crowing over the beautiful infant.

"I HATE YOU, YOU BASTARD!" Everyone turned as a sobbing Bridget stormed through the doors, shoving people out of her way as she ran past them to the elevators, with Ando hot on her heels.

"BRIDGET! WAIT!" He stopped for a moment, nodding to Mohinder and Candice. "Shanti?" Mohinder and Candice nodded. "She's very beautiful." He turned and chased after Bridget as waited by the elevators, stabbing impatiently at the buttons with her finger. "Bridget, please try to understand."

"Understand WHAT?" Everyone stared as Bridget shoved Ando. "Understand that you're just throwing me away just like you've thrown away EVERY woman that you've dated here?"

Ando glanced over his shoulder as everyone at the party quickly looked away, still listening. "Bridget please. I didn't mean to hurt you but-"

"-But someone better came along and you just HAVE to pounce on them now, right? Let me guess, Hiro's sister?" At hearing this, Hiro glanced at Kimiko as she smiled softly and turned away from her brother and Geoffrey, her face turning as red as her dress. "Now that she's here, you're going to chase after her now?"

"I love Kimiko, I've always loved her. I didn't know she was coming here, but now that she is-"

"-Now that she is here, what?" Bridget glared at Kimiko's back before turning back to Ando. "You two were together before? As a couple? And now you want to try again with HER?" She looked over Ando's shoulder at Kimiko again. "Hey Kimiko! You want him? He's all yours, Honey! Just try getting into his heart though, many women around here have tried and all of them have failed because he's nothing but a pussy-hound, a liar and an ASS!" She spun on her heel, stabbing at the buttons on the elevator again with her finger. "And now what the FUCK is wrong with the elevator?"

"I can fix it." Micah started to walk towards the elevators and frowned as he was stopped by a wide-eyed Peter. "What?"

"Uh." Peter sighed. "I know what's wrong with the elevators and you don't need to open them, Micah."

"What's wrong with them?" D.L. asked.

"Let's just say that if he brought that elevator down here now, he'd get an education that he's not exactly ready for." Peter nodded knowingly at D.L. "An education from my sister and her husband."

"WHAT?" Angela rolled her eyes. "Oh dear GOD! Someone should turn a hose on those two!"

"Hey Micah!" Claude called out. "Bring that elevator down with a quickness, Mate! I want to see those two rutting like the horny beasts they are!" He yelped as Hana smacked him in the head. "What?"

"There are children present, you ass!" Hana hissed.

"FINALLY!" Bridget sighed with relief as one elevator door opened and she stormed angrily into it. She turned and glared at Ando. "You can just go fuck yourself, because now, ain't no women in this building gonna do it!" She nodded as the doors closed in front of her.

Moments later, the other elevator doors opened. Olivia and Gabriel strolled nonchalantly into the lobby, adjusting their hair and clothes. They looked around at the quiet lobby as everyone snickered at them. Olivia glanced over at Gabriel. "We were quiet this time, weren't we?"

"I thought so. We covered each other's mouths with our hands, at least." Gabriel looked out at the room, smiling innocently. "Hey, the party's started huh? What did we miss?"


	76. Chapter 76

Chapter Seventy-Six: The Party Continues

Olivia and Gabriel smiled nervously as everyone stared at them, then shrugged and turned to coo over baby Shanti again. As Peter walked over to them, Olivia smiled. "Congratulations again on your engagement." She looked around, blushing. "No one overheard us this time, did they?"

Peter shook his head, giving her a lop-sided grin. "No, I sort of outed you two this time. Sorry."

"Thanks a lot." Gabriel rolled his eyes. "And you did that because?"

"Because he didn't want an impressionable child like Micah bringing down the elevator the two of you stopped and being scarred for life at the sight of the two of you screwing each other." Angela snapped as she stomped over to them. "Apparently you twits didn't realize that when you stop ONE elevator, it stops BOTH of them! Good God! Can't you two give it a rest for once in your lives? If the two of you embarrass me like this AGAIN, I'll castrate you" she glared at Gabriel "and stick a chastity belt on you!" She pointed angrily at Olivia. "You two are supposedly intelligent, sensible adults, adults who are about to have a CHILD for crying out loud! You'd think the two of you would have a little bit of modesty, decency-"

"-Oh give it a rest, Cruella!" Gabriel sighed as he took Olivia's arm and began to guide her away from his mother-in-law. "What's the matter? Has Kaito's little samurai not done his job lately?" He smirked as Peter started laughing while Angela sputtered, her face turning red with fury.

"How DARE you!" Angela started after Gabriel and Olivia, only to be stopped by Peter.

"Leave the alone, Mom. They're young and in love. Sherry and I do stuff like that all the time too, we just haven't been busted yet."

"I can't believe YOU of all people are defending HIM!" Angela glared at her son before turning on her heel and marching off.

Peter ran his fingers through his hair. "Great." He whispered as he joined Olivia and Gabriel as they talked to Sherry.

"So she just started screaming at Ando and left?" Olivia gasped as she turned to Gabriel. "Man, for once I regret having sex with you. I'd have given anything to see that."

"Thanks." Gabriel sighed.

Olivia turned back to Sherry. "So why did he dump THIS one?"

Sherry grinned. "Apparently he's in love with Hiro's sister, Kimiko."

"Really?" Olivia nodded. "Interesting."

"I heard them talking about it today." Gabriel nodded. "Super-powered hearing strikes again."

"Spill it!" Sherry giggled.

"I don't know." Gabriel smirked at his wife. "I mean, why should I share anything with someone who regrets having sex with me."

"Oh for God's sakes! I just regretted that one time. We missed a cool fight AND got screamed at by my psycho mother. Don't tell me YOU don't regret tackling ME, just a little."

"I never regret getting a chance to see your 'O' face." Gabriel laughed and nodded. "Fine, I overheard Kimiko and Ando talking today." He leaned close to the women and Peter. "It seems that after Kirby Plaza, Kimiko and Ando got close, VERY close." He wiggled his eyebrows. "They fell in love."

"Awwww." Olivia smiled.

"Anyway, the day after Christmas, after Angela called Kaito to find Hiro and meet us in Vegas to discuss what Linderman was up to, Kaito put Kimiko into hiding. She apparently has an interesting power herself and he didn't want Linderman finding her. He also didn't want her fighting with us."

"And I thought YOU were overprotective." Olivia winked at her husband.

"Kaito didn't tell Ando where Kimiko was and Kimiko wasn't allowed to tell Ando what really happened. All he knew was that she had been transferred. It broke his little heart."

"Poor Ando." Sherry shook her head.

"That's why he's been running around here chasing after girls like they're bitches in heat. He's been trying to forget Kimiko." Gabriel grinned.

"But it didn't work." Peter laughed and shook his head. "And when Kaito finally brought Kimiko here-"

"-He realized he was still in love with her." Gabriel nodded.

"Is she in love with him?" Olivia asked, reaching out and squeezing Gabriel's hand.

"She's just as crazy about Ando as he is about her." Gabriel looked over his shoulder as Kimiko continued to talk with Hiro and Geoffrey. Ando stood off in a corner, sitting in a chair, looking shell-shocked. "Now they just have to get on the same page with each other." He turned back to the group. "I also overheard Kimiko confronting Kaito about lying to Ando. She's pretty determined to win Ando back."

"So why doesn't she go to him?" Sherry sighed.

"I think she's trying to make him a little jealous first, get him to make the first move." Gabriel looked over at Ando again. "If he doesn't, our little Jamaican buddy over there may end up losing his heart for Miss Nakamura as well. She's a very lovely woman." He looked over at Olivia. "As are you."

Olivia kissed his cheek. "Baby, I don't mind you looking or noticing that other women are beautiful. I'm not insecure about stuff like that."

"Really?" Gabriel stared at her.

"Really. You can read the menu all you want, it's when you try to order from it that I'll come down on you." She laughed. "Hell, I look, why shouldn't you?" She headed over to the bar to fix a virgin strawberry daiquiri as Gabriel frowned.

"Who the HELL have you been looking at?" He turned and followed after her.

* * *

Claire and Nikolai held hands as they walked out of the building and headed towards the pool. Claire shivered for a moment, wrapping her coat around her tighter as she and Nikolai sat together in a lounge. "Man, it's still cold!" She laughed softly. "This time last year, we had an early spring. We were out by the pool, swimming."

"I remember." Nikolai looked away for a moment, tears brimming in his eyes. "It was warm by February, plus the pool was heated. I remember how much Tatiana liked to swim."

Claire squeezed his hand as she rested her head on his shoulder. "A year ago yesterday."

"I remember." Nikolai sighed. "I am thankful for everyone here. The last year would have been unbearable without everyone here supporting me and sharing my grief, especially Claude, Hana and you." He turned to her and kissed her cheek. "When Tatiana died, I'd lost the last of my blood family. I have a new family though, everyone here has become my extended family, but I miss Papa, Natalia and especially Tatiana."

"I'm sorry." Claire shivered again as Nikolai wrapped his arms around her. They lay back together on the lounge chair, wrapped in each other's arms as they stared at the stars.

"It's okay." Nikolai whispered. "As I said, you have helped to make it better." He smiled softly. "I don't know what I would have done this last year without you to keep my mind occupied."

"Occupied how?" Claire smiled over at him, giggling as Nikolai began to blush. "OH!"

"Not THAT!" Nikolai laughed softly. "Not that I don't think about-" He shook his head. "-We're still too young for now. YOU'RE too young."

"I'm seventeen!" Claire sat up on her elbows. "And you're eighteen."

"We're too young. We're not ready." Nikolai stared at Claire. "You're not ready, are you?"

Claire shrugged and lay back down. "I don't know." She shook her head as she rested her head against Nikolai's shoulder. "No, if I don't know for certain if I am ready, I'm probably not." She looked over at him, her expression serious. "But when I am ready, I want it to be with you." She chewed her lip nervously. "Nikolai, have you ever-"

"-No." Nikolai shook his head. "In Prague, I was too busy for girls. My life was taking care of my father and sisters. After I came here, all I knew was you. I've never dated anyone before you." He looked into her blue eyes, smiling softly. "And you're the only one I'll ever want to date."

Claire smiled. "I've never dated anyone seriously. I had 'boyfriends', but it was mainly hand-holding and kissing, that's all. I never really had any deep, serious feelings about anyone, not until we started seeing each other." She snuggled beside him. "We can wait though. We'll know when we're ready to move forward."

"Yes, we will." Nikolai sighed as he tightened his arms around Claire, both of them staring up at the stars in the sky again.

* * *

Gabriel sidled over to Ando, a drink in his hand. "Heard about the excitement." Gabriel smiled down at Ando as the man cringed in his chair. "Oh, don't look so embarrassed, I'm just glad that my sexcapades with Olivia were overshadowed for once. Besides, we've all been there."

"Oh?" Ando asked miserably as he stared over at Kimiko. She stood with her back to him, laughing as Geoffrey talked to her.

"Yeah." Gabriel nodded. "Hey, even I had a girl go psycho on me once. I know, you'd think it was the other way around, right? Actually, I didn't date much before Olivia. The closest I ever came to getting married before I met her was this girl from college, Amanda. She was really snooty and looked down on me for taking over my father's business after I graduated."

"You went to college?" Ando stared up at him.

"Hey, don't look so surprised." Gabriel shrugged. "I have a degree and everything. Granted, it's in early American History, but it's still a degree. My mother insisted that I go to college, she didn't tell me what I had to study. I got a useless degree just to shut her up. She wasn't pleased, even though I actually graduated. She wanted me to major in business." He sighed. "Anyway, that girl Amanda and I dated throughout college and after graduation, she broke up with me to date stockbrokers. She hated the fact that I had no ambition beyond taking over my father's business."

"And this has to do with me how?" Ando looked back over at Kimiko, sighing loudly.

"Well, after Amanda, I dated this other girl briefly. Her name was Charlotte. We went out a couple of times, but quite frankly, I just wasn't that into her. She was apparently into me though, a little too much." Gabriel rolled his eyes. "When I broke it off with her, she started screaming at me. We had just finished dinner at this really nice restaurant-"

"-Let me guess." Ando looked back up at him. "You broke up with her in the restaurant because you figured she wouldn't make a scene in public?"

"BOY was I wrong!" Gabriel laughed softly. "She screamed bloody murder, called me every name in the book, insulted my mother, my grandmother and my ancestors all the way back to Italy and Ireland. Then she insulted my manhood, not that she would have known ANYTHING about that. I may have been a shit to her, but I wasn't a complete bastard. I didn't sleep with her at least." He grimaced as Ando sank further in his seat. "But you and Bridget have been dating since before Christmas. I only went out with Charlotte a few times. Anyway, she screamed, called me names, threw her drink in my face and stormed out of the restaurant. I was totally humiliated and the fun didn't end there. She threw a rock in the window of my shop, followed me home and screamed insults to me from the street until the police showed up and arrested her for disturbing the peace. Guess who she called to bail her out?" He shook his head. "Not only did I not bail her out, I pressed charges for vandalism after I realized what she did to my window. Even after that, she called me sporadically for a few years after that. Hell, she left a message on my machine a few days after Chandra Suresh first met with me. Crazy bitch wouldn't leave me alone for almost six years!"

Ando glared up at him. "Are you trying to make me feel better, or worse?"

"I was trying to make you feel better, Dumbass! Look, so Bridget threw a hissy-fit and called you out in front of pretty much everyone you know. At least she hasn't thrown rocks at you or stalked you."

"Yet." Ando muttered.

"Oh Bridget doesn't strike me as the type. You can usually spot the crazies. Charlotte was crazier than a shit house rat, I knew that after the first date."

"Then why did you go out again?" Ando asked.

Gabriel grinned. "I was lonely and horny. The crazy ones are usually pretty wild in bed, or so I hear. Halfway through the second date though, I realized that I didn't want to sleep with her, wild or not. I wasn't in the mood to handle the crazy. It was this look in her eyes. You could practically see the pinwheels spinning, know what I mean?"

Ando nodded. "I remember seeing pinwheels when you almost killed me in Isaac's loft."

"Yeah, I was batshit, that's for sure." Ando jumped as Gabriel laughed good-naturedly clapping a hand on his shoulder. "I'm glad I didn't kill you though, you're good people."

"Gee, thanks." Ando muttered.

"Welcome." Gabriel looked over at Kimiko. "She loves you too, you know."

"Then why is she over there with Geoffrey?" Ando glared.

"To piss you off and make you as jealous as she was while Bridget was glued to your side, of course." Gabriel looked down at him. "Olivia pulled some similar shit with me after I took off last Christmas. When I came back, she had Mohinder sniffing around and she made sure to throw that up in my face. It pissed me off and made me fight for her more than I would have if I'd shown up and seen her alone. Do I think she would have EVER given Suresh a tumble? Hell to the fucking no, he's not her type, but it still pissed me off that she'd tease me with the simple IDEA of it."

"What did you do?" Ando asked.

"I told her how I felt and I made her listen. I spilled my guts, opened myself completely to her and let her know that I loved her, I adored her, I worshipped her and that I was never leaving her again. Then I shoved her up against a wall and kissed her harder than I've ever kissed her before. Then, I screwed her brains out."

"And it worked." Ando nodded.

"We got married that night, we've been married for over a year, we're having a baby and we're still having the hottest sex ever, so yeah, it totally worked!" Gabriel looked down at him, winking. "Now it's time for you to man up, go over there, drag her off somewhere private and make Kimiko listen to you. And don't give me any of that 'honor' bullshit. You love her, she loves you, now it's time for you to show her."

"Yeah." Ando nodded again, this time more forcefully as he stood up, rolling up his sleeves. "I have to show her that I'm not letting her go again." He turned to Gabriel. "Thanks, Dude!"

"Go get 'em!" Gabriel grinned as Ando walked towards Kimiko, his head held high.

"What the hell did you just do?" Olivia walked over to him, sipping her non-alcoholic daiquiri.

"Gave him a serious pep talk." Gabriel smiled as he watched Ando. "He's either about to get the girl, or get his ass kicked by Geoffrey. Either way, I think we're about to see another fun show!" He leaned against a wall, watching as Ando stood behind Kimiko, clearing his throat.

Kimiko ignored Ando, talking and laughing with Geoffrey as Hiro watched them both. Ando cleared his throat again, this time more loudly, then spoke. "Kimiko. I must speak with you."

Kimiko turned, her expression cool as she raised an eyebrow. "Yes?"

"I must speak with you now, alone and in private." Ando pulled back his shoulders and stood up straight as Kimiko turned away from him.

"Maybe later." She purred.

Ando turned to Gabriel, frowning. Gabriel pulled his shoulders back and raised his fist, urging Ando on. Olivia leaned towards him. "If Geoffrey starts to kick his ass, you'd BETTER jump in there and help. You started this, you know."

"I think he can fight his own battles without me." Gabriel grinned.

Ando turned back to Kimiko. "Kimiko. It is important that I speak to you now, not later."

Geoffrey rolled his eyes. "Ando man! Did you not hear the lady! Scramble!"

"I was not speaking to you, Geoffrey." Ando looked at Kimiko seriously as she turned, studying him. "Kimiko, I am asking you to please speak with me in private."

"Ando-" Geoffrey glared at him. He stopped speaking as Hiro and Kimiko both raised their hands.

"It's okay." She nodded as she held out her hand to Ando. "Where did you want to go?"

Ando smiled. "I would like to speak to you downstairs, in the training room."

Kimiko nodded as Ando took her hand and allowed him to lead her away from the party. Gabriel turned to Olivia, smiling. "I swear, I should charge people for helping them with stuff like this."

"Yeah, yeah." Olivia laughed. "I see the crowd around little Shanti has started to lessen a bit. I'm going to see if I can finally get to hold her."

"What do you mean 'finally'? You held her yesterday, didn't you?"

"Well, I would have, if my brother and husband hadn't bogarted her!" She turned and walked away as Gabriel followed her.

"I didn't BOGART the baby!"

* * *

Kimiko turned as she walked into the training room, facing Ando. "Well, I'm here. What did you want to talk about that was so important?" Her eyes widened as Ando stepped forward and kissed her passionately. She stepped away, cocking her head to the side. "You expect me to jump into your arms moments after you break up with yet another girl?"

"Yes!" Ando nodded.

"Why?"

"Because we belong together." Ando smiled at her. "Bridget, Rosario, all of the others have meant nothing to me. I was hurt when you left, when I thought you left me willingly and without word. I tried to forget the pain with the others, but it didn't work and when you returned, I realized that I have never loved anyone as I have loved you." He reached out, cradling her face in his hands. "You are the only woman I have ever loved, Kimiko Nakamura, the only woman I will EVER love. I want to spend the rest of my life with you and no one else. Now that you have returned, I never want to let you go."

"How do I know that you're not just going to throw me away like you did Bridget tonight? You said this afternoon that you wanted to stay with her, now you are saying you want me. You could just be fickle."

"You know I'm not." Ando smiled. "You know I'm telling the truth."

"I do?" Kimiko smiled back.

"You do, just as I knew, even as I told you those things this afternoon, that we would never be over and that I would never choose Bridget over you. I love you, not her, not anyone else."

Kimiko nodded as she stepped towards Ando. "I love you too." She kissed him, then started laughing. "Poor Geoffrey!"

"What?" Ando grinned.

"I knew that the combination of this dress and the threat of another suitor would tip you over the edge!" She kissed him again, this time more passionately. "I just didn't realize how easily you'd cave!"

"I'D CAVE!" Ando started to argue, then shook his head. "I did cave, didn't I?"

"You folded like a house of cards." Kimiko wrapped her arms around him, their foreheads pressed together. "And you couldn't have done it sooner. Geoffrey's a nice man, but rather boring, and if Bridget had gotten any closer to you, I would have had to start a cat-fight in the lobby."

"Really?" Ando grinned. "You know, I could have Hiro turn back time so you could do that."

"Beast!" Kimiko shook her head. "You'd like that, two women fighting over you."

"No." Ando sighed as he kissed Kimiko again. "I'm just happy to have you fighting FOR me. You have no idea how much I've missed you."

Kimiko lowered her eyes, blushing. "Show me how much." They began to kiss again as they sank towards the floor.

* * *

Two hours later as the party began to wind down, Noah passed by Olivia and Gabriel as they stood with Mohinder and Candice, Olivia cuddling baby Shanti. Noah turned to them, a worried expression on his face. "Have any of you seen Claire?" As everyone shook their heads, Noah frowned and headed outside with Claude.

"Nikolai's been missing a bit as well." Claude glanced over at Noah. "You don't think that maybe they're-"

"-They'd better not be doing THAT!" Noah glared at Claude.

Claude shook his head. "I wasn't suggesting that they were-" He rolled his eyes "-I was suggesting that they were together, but not in the biblical sense. Good lord, man! Your attitude towards her certainly changed after you pumped a couple of bullets into me, didn't it?"

What's that supposed to mean?" Noah searched the parking lot with a flashlight, shining a light into the backseats of all of the cars.

"What it means Old Boy, is that you used to ignore her. You took every opportunity to NOT get close to her, too scared that she'd manifest and then you'd have to turn her in to Thompson. Now, that girl can't take two steps without you right behind her. If she stopped too fast, your nose would get shoved in her arse!"

"She's my daughter, I want to protect her." Noah glared over at Claude again. "I realized that soon after you left. I made it a point to start actually caring about her." He looked away. "I regretted being distant with her for as long as I did."

"And now you try to make up for it by smothering her." Claude nodded.

"SMOTHERING? Just how am I smothering her, huh?" Noah finished searching the parking lot and leaned against a car, crossing his arms in front of his chest as he stared at Claude.

"Like I said, you can't let her take two steps without you being right there behind her. She goes missing from a party with her boyfriend and you're searching back seats to make sure they're not shagging or doing something else that you think they oughtn't. You coddle her."

"I don't coddle her." Noah shook his head. "I've spent the better part of her life protecting her and keeping her safe. In case you've forgotten, Claude, our former boss is currently mounting an army to destroy anyone with special abilities. She, you and your son are scheduled to be slaughtered in a battle in about eight months. We're ALL scheduled to die, according to Future Hiro's story. I wouldn't put it past Linderman to have people watching this building, watching everyone in it. I wouldn't put it past him to try and kidnap some of us during a party, when everyone's milling about. It would be easier to pick us off, one by one before finally bringing down the hammer and killing whoever's left, don't you think?" Noah straightened up and headed towards the back of the building. "And if I were CODDLING her, I would have grabbed her, Sandra, Lyle AND Molly and spent the last sixteen months dragging them from hiding place to hiding place, preparing to stay ahead of Linderman and his goons for the rest of my life if need be. Instead, I'm staying here with her, with the rest of my family, letting her learn how to fight in a battle that she could very well be killed in, so don't you EVER accuse me of coddling my daughter again!"

"Okay, I won't accuse you of coddling her again, sheesh!" Claude followed him. "But you do smother her a bit. She's seventeen, Noah! In just a few months, she'll be eighteen, an adult. Isn't it about time for you to loosen the leash, just a little bit? I mean, listen to yourself, Man! You were saying inside that she and Nikolai had better not be-" he shrugged at Noah's angry glare "-but how old were YOU, how old was SANDRA when you both-" he sighed as Noah glared at him again "-I'm just saying, you can't keep her a baby forever, and if you are so dead set against her ever becoming a woman, she's going to be too scared to come to you if she ever screws up along the way."

"She'll never be too scared to come to me about anything." Noah muttered.

"Oh really? Who does she confide in then about her and Nikolai's relationship? Sandra, right? She's the one who said that Claire told her that she and Nikolai haven't done anything, a report that Nikolai has corroborated with me. He's a virgin too, and a bit shy about girls in general. I think Claire's the first girl he's ever even kissed, and it took him MONTHS to even work up to THAT! What I'm saying is HE comes to ME about Claire. Does she ever talk to YOU about him?"

Noah ignored him as they entered the gates to the pool area. He scanned the area, spotting a figure on the lounge chair. "CLAIRE!"

Claire had dozed off in Nikolai's arms, smiling as she rested her head on his chest, listening to his heartbeat. The moment she heard her father's voice, she woke up, her heart pounding as she sat up and wondered how long they'd been out there. "Dad?" She nudged Nikolai awake as Noah and Claude quickly made their way over to them. "We fell asleep, sorry." She quickly climbed out of the chair with Nikolai scrambling to stand beside her.

Claude laughed heartily as he elbowed Noah. "See? Told you they were okay and that they weren't up to any nonsense! They came out here and fell asleep."

"What were the two of you thinking, leaving the party?" Noah ignored Claude, his eyes boring into Claire.

Claire nodded. "We just wanted to spend some time together alone. Nothing happened Dad, I swear."

"See? Nothing happened! Told you they were good kids!" Claude smiled at them. "Though I can't understand dozing off out here. It's colder than a well digger's arse in the Klondike."

"We were together, we didn't feel the cold." Nikolai stepped forward. "Mr. Bennet, I apologize. It was my idea to come out here and-"

"-No it wasn't, it was my idea." Claire looked pleadingly at her father. "Don't be angry, it was an innocent mistake, falling asleep-"

"-I just cannot believe the two of you came out here alone without telling ANYONE! You had NO supervision-"

"-Supervision?" Claire gaped at him. "Dad, I'm seventeen, not seven. It's not like we were going to DO anything!"

"I don't care! You two shouldn't be out here, in the middle of the night, where anyone could grab you, attack you, hurt you-"

"-That wasn't going to happen." Everyone turned as Meredith stepped through the gate. She nodded to her trailer. "I saw them come out. I kept an eye on them. Trust me on this, if anyone had approached or tried to harm EITHER of them, they wouldn't have lived to tell the tale by the time I was finished. They didn't do anything either. They came out here, sat together, watched the stars and fell asleep. They're innocent teenagers, Noah. You should be proud of them."

"PROUD?" Noah glared at her. "My daughter-"

"-She's my daughter too!" Meredith nodded. "I gave birth to her, but you raised her and you raised her well. She's a good girl, Noah and Nikolai is a good and decent boy. Both of them at seventeen and eighteen are better, smarter and much more innocent than I was at that age, trust me. So they fell asleep? It's no reason for you to freak out and have a meltdown over it. You really should lighten up."

As Noah fumed, Claude nodded. "She's got a point Noah. The girl's going to be eighteen in just a few months. She's not a baby anymore. I know you're swearing up and down that you don't coddle her, but you've got to admit that you do, just a bit."

"I just want to keep her safe." Noah looked away.

"And she is. She's got a fierce mama lion who can burn anyone down who comes near her, not to mention a boyfriend with a smorgasbord of powers to defend her honor with. There's a building full of people in there who would give their lives to save hers. And if all else fails, she's quite the little powerhouse herself. She's one of the strongest fighters amongst us all and a hell of an aim with a throwing knife and sai. Hell, you should feel safer being around her than she should being around you. Give her a bit of breathing room, Noah."

"Dad, I swear nothing happened." Claire reached out and squeezed his hand. "We didn't do anything, we HAVEN'T done anything. I know it wasn't the smartest move, us sneaking out, but we only snuck out here. We were still on the property. We just wanted to have some time together alone, without you looking over our shoulders, not that anything was going to happen."

Noah looked down, his shoulders sagging and throat closing up as he stared at the hand that clasped his. "I remember a time, not so long ago that your hand was so tiny."

Claire smiled softly. "It's still pretty tiny, Dad."

"Not as tiny as it used to be." Noah clasped his other hand over hers. "I'm sorry I went overboard. I noticed you weren't around and-"

"-You got scared and freaked out." Claire nodded. "I know and I'm sorry."

Noah tugged at her arm, pulling her into a hug. "I'm sorry for flipping out. Just don't go sneaking off again. Claude and Meredith are right, you and Nik are both intelligent and level-headed and you're just a few months away from being an adult. It's time for me to start giving you a bit of freedom to BE an adult."

"Does this mean no more curfew?" Claire grinned at him.

Noah laughed softly. "Don't push your luck." He shook his head. "Let's get inside. It's chilly out here."

Claire let go of her father, looking at Meredith over his shoulder. "I'll be inside in just a minute, okay?"

Noah followed her gaze and nodded. "Don't be long." He kissed her forehead and headed towards the building with Claude and Nikolai following him, after Nikolai kissed her goodnight.

Claire walked over to a chair and sat down, Meredith following suit beside her. She studied her mother, her head cocked to the side. "You were watching over us?"

Meredith nodded and looked away. "I know I didn't raise you and I know I didn't do a good job of taking care of you when you were a baby, otherwise I wouldn't have set fire to an apartment with you inside, but I try to watch over you now whenever I can. I feel I owe you that, at least. I know it sounds silly, but I don't want to see anything else bad happen to you if I can help it." She sighed. "I guess in a way, I'm as overprotective of you as your dad is."

"Maybe so." Claire nodded. "But still, it's nice, I guess." She looked at the pool for a moment, staring at the cover. "I've pretty much tried to avoid you since you came here last year."

"I don't blame you." Meredith shrugged as she twisted her fingers nervously. "I lied to you about your father and I basically treated you as a means to get more money out of him. If it helps at all, I WAS happy to see you when you first found me, and not because I could use you to get money out of Nathan, but because I was just so happy to know that you were alive. I spent fourteen years kicking myself and hating myself for setting that fire and running away like a coward. I ran all over Mexico, blaming myself for killing you. When I first saw you, when you first came to me, I thought it was a miracle. Then I realized that you were special, like I was, which in a way is a miracle as well. I lied to you about so many things, I almost killed you when you were a baby, I've never cared if you never spoke to me again. I've never cared if you hated me. Just seeing you every day, watching you walk this earth, that's enough for me. Just knowing you're still alive is more than I deserve after what's happened."

"You were a scared kid when you started that fire. You weren't much older than I am now, and you had a baby and people were coming into your house. You panicked. You got scared and panicked." Claire nodded. "I understand that now."

"But I still should have tried to save you, or-" Meredith shook her head, tears brimming in her eyes. "-I've never forgiven myself for it."

"I have." Claire nodded. "If you hadn't set that fire, I wouldn't have been adopted by Mom and Dad. I know you would have wanted to raise me, but I think they did a really great job."

"They really did." Meredith nodded. "Better than I would have. They seem calmer, smarter, more settled. Because of that, you're smarter than you would have been if I'd raised you. You've had better opportunities too. Angela and her husband, Nathan's dad, they gave me money and sent things to me every month, but I think you're better off having been raised a Bennet than if you'd been raised a Gordon or a Petrelli. Either way with us you'd have been screwed beyond belief. Listen," Meredith reached out and took Claire's hands, squeezing them softly "I know I don't have the right, and if you say no, I'll understand and just keep watching over you from afar, but I'd really like to get to know you, Claire. I'd really like you to get to know me, the real me. You've already met the scattered, money-hungry, double-crossing mess that I was and I hated that woman. She was fucked up and still beating herself up for killing her daughter. I've found a lot of peace since discovering you were alive. I've become a better person. I'd really like you to get to know that person."

Claire studied her for a moment, then nodded. "I'd like to get to know her too."

"Really?" Meredith's eyes lit up as Claire smiled and nodded again. "Oh honey!" She hugged her daughter, beaming. "I know I'm not your Mom, but I'd still like to be someone special in your life, regardless. Sort of like how Nathan is with you."

Claire laughed softly as she hugged Meredith back. "Great, another parent! Like I don't have too many of those already." She let her go. "Just kidding. I'd like to get to you know again, this time without the lies and deception."

"I promise, no more lies." Meredith quickly crossed her heart. She looked around, shivering. "Damn it's cold out here."

"Tell me about it." Claire stood up with Meredith following. "I'm heading back inside."

"I'll watch you and make sure you get in okay." Meredith grinned. "I'm used to it. I've been doing it for over a year now." She smiled and watched as Claire quickly rounded the corner of the building and enter the lobby. She turned and walked to her trailer, smiling to herself as she finally felt truly happy for the first time since her daughter had been born seventeen years earlier.

* * *

Kimiko lay on the floor of the training room, her body curled around Ando's. "Well, apparently, you REALLY missed me! Thank God the floor is padded." She giggled.

"I know." Ando sighed. "And I thought it was only good for breaking my fall whenever Hana would knock me down." He groaned as Kimiko's cell phone rang. "Who could that be?"

"Hiro, I think." Kimiko rolled away from Ando and answered her phone. "Yes? We're in the training room. WHAT?" She snapped her phone shut and quickly stood up, grabbing her clothes and tossing Ando's to him. "Get dressed, HURRY!"

"Why?" Ando stared in confusion as she began to dress.

"Father and Hiro are on their way down." She turned to him and clapped her hands. "Dressed! NOW!"

Ando began to pull his clothes on. "Why are they coming here?"

"Father brought me here to help build weapons, swords and knives for the battle. He needed me to provide the raw materials." She turned to him. "That's my power, turning things into metal mainly steel."

"You can say that again." Ando winked at her as he dressed, smiling as she blushed and looked away.

"You know what I mean." As she zipped up her dress and Ando buttoned the last button on his shirt, the doors swung open as Kaito marched inside, Hiro behind him. Kimiko bowed to him. "Father."

Kaito raised an eyebrow, noticing his daughter's flushed face and Ando's hurriedly and wrongly buttoned shirt. "Have I interrupted something?"

Kimiko straightened her posture and pulled back her shoulders. "Ando and I have reconciled."

"I see." Kaito purred as he swiveled his eyes to Ando, locking eyes with the young man. "Do you intend to STAY with my daughter, or are you just waiting for something else to come along, as you have with the other girls here?"

"You know I love her, and have loved her for many years." Ando bowed to him. "I wish to ask for your permission to marry her." At that statement, Kimiko gasped and smiled.

Kaito nodded. "After what the two of you have done in here tonight, and what the two of you were doing under my nose after your first trip to the United States, I would EXPECT you to marry my daughter." He fixed Ando with a steely glare. "I would practically demand it!"

"Yes Sir." Ando smiled. "We have your blessing?"

"You do." Kaito turned to Kimiko. "Congratulations."

Kimiko beamed. "Thank you. I'm ready to help with weapons tonight."

"Good." Kaito turned back to Ando. "Would you, as my future son, like to help tonight as well?"

Ando nodded. "I will help with whatever you need, Sir."

"Very well then." He turned to leave the room as Hiro ran to both of them, smiling and hugging his sister and best friend. As soon as he turned away from his children, Kaito's face broke from it's severe expression to one of joy, smiling proudly to himself as he walked out of the room, his children quickly following him after they hugged.


	77. Chapter 77

Chapter Seventy-Seven: Rose Attacks

"Good Lord Woman! What's up with your ass?"

Olivia glared at Claude as he sat in the living room with Gabriel, Mohinder, Noah, Lyle, D.L., Micah, Peter, Nikolai and Anthony watching a baseball game. "Excuse me?"

"Claude-" Gabriel turned to him, his eyes beginning to narrow.

"I'm serious!" Claude stared at Olivia's rear-end as she handed a beer to her husband. "At first it was nice and round, but it's grown quite a bit these last few months. I know you've got a baby growing in the front, but what in the hell are you growing back there?"

Olivia smirked. "Your mother."

"Really?" Claude shook his head as he swigged a beer. "Nah! Me mum was never THAT big!"

"You must be joking!" Olivia laughed. "She'd have had to have been a rather big girl to have a big baby like you."

"Nope! Mum was a wee thing."

"I don't even want to know then just how much she cussed when she gave birth to your big ass then." Olivia shook her head. "You probably ripped her to shreds coming out. Poor thing probably had problems walking for months after you were born."

"Well, every woman I meet ends up walking funny sooner or later if I do the job right." Claude winked. "If you know what I mean."

"Claude?" Gabriel leaned forward. "I think even Micah knew what you meant with that one." Micah started giggling as D.L. glared at all of them.

"Would everyone please watch their language? My son?"

"Dad," Micah sighed "Mom used to strip on the internet in our garage. I don't think Claude's double entendres are going to scar me after that."

"Kid's got a point." Claude took another swig of his beer. "Speaking which, did she happen to save any of those performances online by any chance?"

"What are you talking about?" D.L. glared at him. "First of all, even if she DID save anything online, I wouldn't tell you or anyone else in this building and second of all, you've got Hana. That woman's fine as hell! Why would you ever want to see anyone else naked? Damn, you're a dog!"

"Just because I've got Hana doesn't mean I'm dead! I can still run to the end of my chain and bark!"

Olivia stood up and headed towards the door as the doorbell rang. She beamed when she opened it and hugged Nathan. "You're back! How did your little speaking tour in New York go?"

Nathan sighed. "It was fine. It was boring, mostly though. I swear to God, I was so glad when I finally stepped off that plane and arrived here. Heidi said that most of the guys were up here, so I thought I'd pop in."

"They're watching a game in the living room." Olivia nodded towards the room as she turned and headed in there.

Nathan's eyes widened. "Okay, Olivia?"

Olivia turned, smiling. "Yeah?"

"I don't want to hurt your delicate, pregnant feelings, and I know it's been a while since I saw you, but um-" He sighed "-I haven't seen you since Peter's engagement party in March and-"

"-Yeah?" Olivia crossed her arms in front of her chest.

"What in the HELL are you growing in your ass?"

Olivia's eyes narrowed. "You and Claude exchange notes on asking me that today or something?" She turned and stomped into the living room and sat on the arm of the couch, pouting.

Gabriel looked up at her as Nathan walked into the room, shame-faced. "What did you SAY to her?"

Nathan turned red. "Nothing. I just asked her what she was growing in her ass, that's all."

"Maybe it's a politician or a lawyer!" Olivia snapped. "Isn't THAT where you all come from anyway?" She stood up to stomp out of the room, only to be pulled into Gabriel's lap. She poked out her bottom lip as her husband kissed her cheek.

"Don't listen to any of them. I like the junk in your trunk."

"Shut up." Olivia muttered.

"What?" Gabriel nuzzled her neck. "I'm not kidding. It's sexy."

"Someone's an ass man." Anthony laughed.

"He'd have to be." Claude smirked.

"Hey, more cushion for pushin'." D.L. chuckled.

"Will everyone PLEASE get off of my wife's ass?" Gabriel glared at them.

"Yeah!" Anthony snorted. "I know there's room enough for all of us on it, but Gabriel wants to ride it alone!"

As everyone started laughing, Gabriel stood up and unplugged the television with a wave of his hand. "Everyone OUT!" As everyone groaned Gabriel placed his hands on his hips and stared at them. "You make fun of my pregnant wife, you leave, got it? I personally LIKE my wife's butt and if anyone else has a problem with it-"

"-We don't have a problem!" Claude sighed as he stood up, nodding to Nikolai. "I was just teasing her, that's all!" He turned to Olivia. "Sorry if I hurt your feelings, Luv, you know you're still the second woman on my to-do list around here, after Hana, that is."

"I was just wondering what was up with it, that's all." Nathan slunk towards the door. "Hell, instead of worrying about Olivia's ass, maybe we should take the stick out of yours, Gabriel."

"Come back in." Olivia sighed as she turned to Claude and Nikolai. "And you two? Sit back down, damn! So you're making fun of my ass, so what? It'll shrink back to non-existence when I have my daughter, I just keep telling myself that. I'll be skinny again and you two will still be assholes"

D.L. glanced up at Gabriel. "I wasn't making fun of shit. My people like women with big butts. Mind turning the tube back on now? The Yankees were kicking ass."

Noah sighed as he stood up and plugged the t.v. back in. "And that's why I was keeping my mouth shut. I learned my lesson about asking pregnant women ANYTHING when Sandra was carrying Lyle."

"Sit back down, Gabe." Peter shook his head. "You're getting touchy for no reason." He looked over at his sister as she sat on the couch. "You okay?"

"I'm fine, I just wish people would stop asking me why my ASS is getting so big!" Olivia shook her head as Gabriel sat back down beside her. "I've gained about eighteen pounds so far and I've got less than two months left. I knew I'd get bigger boobs and a shelf where my stomach was, I just don't understand why my butt is three ax-handles wide now."

"Well, if it's any consolation, it's still nowhere near the size of Ma's." Anthony shrugged.

"It's not so much wide as it is, well-" Claude shrugged "-it tends to stick out, like a-"

"-Bubble." D.L. shrugged. "Shoot, I think it looks fine as hell. Kind of like Niki's when she was pregnant with Micah. She had a NIIIIICE ass when she was pregnant with Micah!" He smiled to himself as he nodded then looked around as everyone stared at him. "What? Okay, damn! I'm a black guy who likes women with big asses! It's a stereotype, I know. What can I say? Some stereotypes exist for a reason."

"I've got a stereotype question-" Claude began to ask.

"-It's true." D.L. grinned. "Why do you think Niki AND Jessica couldn't keep their hands off of me?" He wiggled his eyebrows as the men and Olivia stared at him.

"Go Niki." Olivia smiled. "Gabriel's built like that too."

"My Man!" D.L. bumped knuckles with Gabriel, nodding and smiling.

"What stereotype are you talking about, Dad?" Micah turned to him.

D.L. coughed and looked away, embarrassed. "Nothing Son. Just watch the game."

After the game was over and the men had left, Gabriel and Olivia cleaned up the living room. Gabriel glanced over at his wife. "You okay after everyone teased your ass?"

Olivia smirked. "I'm fine. Like I said, after Faith's born, my ass will disappear, but they'll still be assholes. Besides" she stood and stretched, grimacing as she placed her hands on her back "it's not like they don't have a point. I think most of the weight I've gained hasn't been baby, but ass, lots and lots of ass."

"Well, I like it." Gabriel winked at her. "What was it D.L. said? It's more cushion for-"

"-Don't finish that." Olivia laughed. "I can't believe he said that in front of his son."

Gabriel reached out and took the beer bottles Olivia was holding. "Go to bed. I'll finish in here and join you." He wiggled his eyebrows. "Maybe show my appreciation for that caboose you're dragging around."

"You won't be able to do that tonight, Sir Mix-A-Lot." She kissed his cheek as he frowned. "I've got an appointment with Dr. Jones tomorrow, remember? No 'boom-boom' before doctor's appointments, you know that!"

"That sucks." Gabriel sighed as he kissed his wife again. "NOTHING?"

"Nope." Olivia shook her head. "And you're coming with me tomorrow, right?"

"After what I painted, you're not going to the doctor alone, I've already told you that." Gabriel nuzzled her again as he squeezed her rear-end. "And I wasn't bullshitting you earlier. I like that big butt."

"Hence the nickname 'Sir Mix-A-Lot'." Olivia laughed as she walked out of the room.

* * *

Linderman sat at his desk, smiling as he flipped through a newspaper. He looked up, beaming more as Gota entered the room with Rose and Mina. "Mina, Darling!" He set the paper aside and hugged the small girl. "And how have you been?" 

Mina nodded hesitantly. "Fine, Sir."

"And everyone's been good to you here?" He stared at Rose and Gota. "They've been kind to you?"

"Everyone's been nice, Sir." Mina smiled softly.

"And how have you been doing with imbuing everyone?" For the last few months, Mina had been going from person to person in the building, imbuing everyone with each other's powers. "I have to say My Dear, that YOU have lowered our mortality rates quite a bit. Without people having to resort to the serum as much, we haven't lost near as many people. Thank you for that."

"You're welcome." Mina looked around. "Is there anything else you need?"

"Well, now that you mention it, I do have a little task for you." He looked at Rose. "I understand my daughter has changed doctors?"

"Yes Sir." Rose nodded. "She's a patient of William Jones, an obstetrician in Las Vegas."

"Was it a problem to dig up anything on him?"

"No Sir." Rose shook her head. "Actually, it was much easier to get something on him than on her previous doctor. It seems that Dr. Jones has racked up quite a debt with a few loan sharks around Las Vegas. He's willing to work with you and do anything you wish if you're willing to pay off his debt."

"Very good." Linderman smiled. "And you've infiltrated his office as one of his nurses, yes?"

"I have." Rose smiled.

"Good." He turned to Mina. "You and Rose are going to head back to Las Vegas. Once you get there, I want you to try and make contact with someone named Katharina De La Vega." He handed Mina a photograph of her. "Make sure you're holding Rose's hand when you do this, do you understand?"

"Yes, Sir." Mina nodded as she took the photograph. "When should I do it?"

Linderman turned to Rose. "When is my daughter's next appointment with Dr. Jones?"

"Tomorrow morning."

He turned back to Mina. "Rose will need Miss De La Vega's main power before my daughter's appointment."

"Okay." Mina bit her lower lip. "What's her main power?"

"She can block others from entering her thoughts and prying around. Rose will need that if she wants to get a sample of my unborn granddaughter's blood." He sighed. "This is very important, Mina. Do you understand me?"

"Yes Sir." Mina nodded, her eyes darting around nervously.

Gota patted the girl on her shoulder. "I've got it on good authority from the people we have watching the building that Katharina usually goes out at night to the local casinos to play the slot machines. It'll be very easy for you to find her." She turned to Rose. "Don't let the girl screw this up, do you understand?"

Rose nodded. "I understand." She took Mina and guided her from the office.

"Rose?" They turned as Linderman glared at her. "Don't screw up your part of this as well, do you understand me? I want a sample of my grandchild's blood. You've told me that you know how to perform an amniocentesis, you learned in your previous profession as an obstetrics nurse. If you are unable to get the sample, or if you obtain it and end up harming either my daughter or that unborn child-" He let the unspoken threat hang in the air as Rose swallowed audibly, her face turning chalk white.

"Yes Mr. Linderman. I won't fail you." She turned and quickly walked out of the office with Mina. She headed out of the building and went to a helicopter with the girl, climbing inside. She twisted her hands nervously as they flew towards Las Vegas.

* * *

A few hours later, they arrived in Las Vegas and made their way to the Corinthian, waiting outside for Katharina to pass by them. Rose spotted her first and nudged Mina, nodding towards the woman as she exited the hotel and casino. Mina quickly approached her with Rose following, holding the teenager's hand. "Excuse me." Mina stopped Katharina. 

"Yes?" Katharina smiled at the girl kindly.

Mina smiled at her. "My mom and I are visiting from Indiana and I think we're lost." She held up a map. "We're looking for M&M World. I know it's here on the strip somewhere, but-" she shrugged her shoulders and shook her head, a helpless expression on her face.

"Oh, I know how you can find it." Katharina began to give them directions as Mina and Rose smiled and nodded. When she was finished, Mina took Rose by the hand as she offered her other to Katharina.

"Thanks so much. It's so good to find someone willing to help us. We've been asking around and people keep brushing us off."

Katharina shook the girl's hand. "Oh, think nothing of it. Glad to help." She let go of Mina's hand and smiled at her and Rose before she headed back towards the apartment building.

Once she left, Mina turned to Rose. "I took her power and transferred it to you. Could you tell?"

Rose shrugged. "I felt a strange jolt, but I don't know. I suppose I'll find out tomorrow morning." She hugged Mina. "And now, speaking of M&M World, let's go get you a few treats for a job well done, what do you say?"

* * *

Gabriel held Olivia's hand as they walked into the doctor's office. She smiled at the receptionist as she signed in and took a seat with her husband. A few moments later, Rose called her into an exam room with Gabriel and began to ask her routine questions about her pregnancy. She smiled and nodded as she weighed Olivia, writing down the results on her chart. "You've gained two more pounds, that's good." 

"And I'm sure most of it's in my ass." Olivia sighed.

"More fun for me." Gabriel winked at her.

Rose turned to Gabriel and smiled softly. "If you don't mind, Sir. I'd like for you to step out into the waiting room for just a few minutes while your wife changes and the doctor examines her."

Gabriel frowned. "I've been in here before when he-"

"-I know." Rose smiled and rolled her eyes. "New office policy. He'll call you back in after he's checked her cervix, before he does an ultrasound. It'll just be for a few minutes."

Gabriel turned to Olivia. "You okay with me being out there?"

Olivia nodded. "If I need you, I'll just yell."

"Okay." He glared at Rose again before he kissed Olivia on the cheek. "I'm right out there." He turned and walked out of the room, realizing that Rose looked familiar. He shook his head, trying to concentrate on where he'd seen her before.

Olivia stepped behind a screen to change into a gown as Rose filled a needle. When she stepped back into the exam room and climbed onto the table, Rose came towards her, smiling. Olivia frowned as she noticed the needle. "What's that?"

"A simple multi-vitamin injection. Your blood tests from your last visit showed that your iron was a little low. Plus, you've been stating how tired you've been lately." She nodded as she injected the fluid quickly into Olivia's arm. "Just relax."

Olivia nodded as she placed her legs in the stirrups, then gasped as she lay back. The room was spinning. She weakly turned her head towards Rose. "That wasn't a vitamin." She slurred.

"No." Rose shook her head as she pulled on a pair of gloves. She grabbed Olivia as the woman tried to climb off of the table. "Not so fast." She easily shoved the woman back onto the table and quickly strapped her to it. "This will go very easily if you don't fight me." She whispered.

"Gabriel-" Olivia whispered weakly, her head spinning from the tranquilizer she'd been giving. She fought to stay awake and concentrate on her telepathy power as Rose shook her head.

"Just relax and take a quick nap." Rose smiled as she grabbed a larger needle. "This will just take a moment. Don't move or I could hurt the baby."

Olivia gasped and struggled to stay awake as the woman approached her. She closed her eyes, trying to send a message to her husband. _The nurse. She works for my father. She's drugged me. Help me, Gabriel._ Her eyes snapped open as she realized that she could feel her daughter's mind inside of her, touching her own. She concentrated on the fetus and her mind as she glanced over at Rose again. She watched, her heart pounding as Rose lifted her gown and swabbed her stomach with iodine. She could feel her daughter's mind reacting to the danger as the woman smiled at her again before her hand arced downward with the needle. Just before the needle touched Olivia's stomach, a red glow emanated from it, from WITHIN it, stopping the needle and bending it. Olivia smiled proudly, her mind spinning as she realized that Faith had just used her power for the first time.

Rose glared at her. "You told the baby what I was doing, didn't you? Sneaky mommy." She leaned forward, her lips grazing Olivia's ear. "I'll give the tranquilizers a moment to work on her too, then."

"I don't think so!" Olivia sighed with relief as she heard Gabriel's voice booming in the room just as she finally passed out, the drug injected into her taking effect.

As he sat in the waiting room, Gabriel tried to remember where he'd seen the nurse before. His head snapped up as he heard Olivia's voice in his head. _The nurse. She works for my father. She's drugged me. Help me, Gabriel. _His eyes widened as he realized where he'd seen Rose before. She was the woman in the painting, where Olivia was being attached in the doctor's office. His heart began to pound as he realized that Linderman had gotten his hooks into the doctor, even after they'd switched. He stood and quickly left the waiting room, rushing to Olivia's exam room as he heard Rose hissing and whispering to Olivia, and heard his wife and unborn daughter's hearts pounding with terror. As he walked into the room, he saw the red glow of his daughter's force field stopping the needle as Rose told Olivia she'd wait for the tranquilizer she'd injected into her to work on Faith as well.

"I don't think so!" Gabriel slammed the door as he lifted his hand, shoving Rose against the wall. He glanced over at Olivia, realizing that she'd passed out. "Livvie? Honey?"

Rose smirked. "She's out cold. Chloral hydrate is a wonderful thing."

Gabriel glared at her and shook his head. "You work for Linderman, don't you?"

"You're going to kill me now?" Rose rolled her eyes. "I heard you're like that. I've heard that you're awfully brutal. Go ahead then, kill me."

Gabriel stared at her as he tried to listen to her thoughts. He shook his head. "You're hiding something. What is it?" He stared at his wife again. "Did you already-?" Immobilizing her against the wall, he patted down her clothes and then noticed the bent syringe on the floor. "-No, you didn't. Faith stopped you." He got close to Rose, his face inches from hers. "What can I say? My kid's pretty special." Continuing to keep Rose immobilized, he pulled out his phone. "Peter, I need you here at Dr. Jones' office. Remember that little painting I did? It's come true. Liv's out cold, but I don't think they've gotten anything. I'm holding Linderman's henchwoman now." He hung up the phone, smirking as he heard Rose's heart begin to speed up. "So, you got a power too?" Rose pressed her lips together and looked away. Gabriel pursed his lips together for a moment and turned to Olivia, untying her from the table before turning back to Rose, holding up the restraints. He twitched his fingers, turning her around with her back to him as Peter teleported into the room. He turned to his brother-in-law. "She drugged Olivia, but she didn't wait for it to completely take effect before she tried to take Faith's blood. Apparently Olivia and Faith have a bit of a mental link. Olivia let Faith know what was going on and Faith got her force field on." He smiled softly as he tied Rose's hands together. "YOU are coming with us."

"I'm not telling you anything." Rose smirked.

"You won't have to, once we call our little Haitian pal." He nodded as Rose's smile faded. "Oh yeah, you remember HIM don't you? He's on our side. Remember what he does?" He walked behind the screen and grabbed Olivia's clothes and purse, placing them on her lap before he lifted her into her arms, staring into her face with worry. "Will chloral hydrate hurt the baby?" He turned to Rose. "WILL IT?"

"Why do you think Linderman wanted it used?" Rose shook her head. "No, it won't. He didn't want his granddaughter harmed. HE'S humane!"

"Like hell he is." Gabriel glared at her before turning to Peter. "Take us to the lab. Mohinder's there, he can monitor Olivia while we use Laurent to block this chick's powers to tell us what we want to know."

"With pleasure." Peter put a hand on Gabriel's shoulder and then Rose's. Moments later, they were standing in the lab.

Mohinder gasped and ran over to them as Gabriel placed Olivia on a gurney. "What happened?"

"Linderman struck again." Gabriel stroked Olivia's hair and face as Mohinder covered her with a blanket. "I should have known better than to leave her alone even for a moment." He sighed. "That 'nurse' fed me a bullshit story about having to step out during her exam, stating it was a new office policy. I should have known better. I should have known that Linderman's spies would have told him that we changed doctors and sent someone to attack her anyway. He's hell-bent on getting a sample of Faith's blood." He shook his head. "I never should have left her, even for a second." He glared at Rose as she was placed in a chair by Peter. "You're GOING to tell us everything you know."

"Like hell I will." Rose shook her head. "I'll die first."

"Oh, I can arrange THAT shit!" Gabriel started towards her, rolling up his sleeves. He glared at Peter as his brother-in-law stopped him. "What? I want a crack at her. She drugged and attacked my wife, YOUR sister!"

"I know!" Peter sighed. "Just call off the Sylar side of you for a few minutes until I can get Laurent here to block her powers, okay? If we still can't get anything, you can pop her top then."

Gabriel turned back to Olivia and sat beside her, holding her hand. He looked up as Mohinder checked her vital signs. "She said she gave Olivia chloral hydrate."

"She slipped her a pretty powerful mickey." Mohinder nodded. "Her vitals are strong. She'll come around in a few hours. She'll be groggy as hell when she does."

"The baby-"

"-Will be fine." Mohinder listened to Faith's heartbeat with a stethoscope. "She's a strong one."

"She stopped Rose from stabbing Olivia in the stomach with a needle. She created a force field in utero." Gabriel raised his eyebrows. "I've never heard of someone manifesting before they're even born, have you?"

Mohinder shrugged. "Some people manifest as adults, like Peter and Olivia. Some people manifest as children like Molly and Micah. It's not much of a stretch for someone to be born WITH their power already. We're dealing with uncharted territory for the most part. Both of Faith's parents are powerful people. It's not unbelievable that her power would manifest before she was even born."

"It kept her from getting her blood taken." Gabriel chuckled.

"What?" Mohinder stared at him.

"We're going to have to blindfold her to get her vaccinated, aren't we?" Gabriel grinned. "Any doctor comes at her with a needle, she's going to block it by any means necessary."

"I would think so." Mohinder smiled. He looked up as Peter teleported out of the room. Moments later he returned with Laurent. "And welcome back."

Peter nodded. "Thanks." He pointed to Rose. "That's her. She just attacked Olivia in her doctor's office."

Laurent sighed. "Rose Scott. I remember her from Linderman's compound."

"What's her power?" Gabriel asked.

"Electronic transportation." Laurent nodded.

"Excuse me?" Gabriel stared at him.

"She can travel through power lines." Laurent smiled. "Interesting power, actually. She doesn't use it much, but Linderman has it in his arsenal now."

"Great." Peter sighed. "So now they can just enter our building through power lines if they want? Lovely." He turned to Laurent. "Block her powers, all of them. We've got a few things to ask her."

"Ask away. I'm not saying SHIT!" Rose looked away.

"You don't have to SAY anything." Gabriel and Peter smiled as Laurent's power began to work, ending her ability to block them. "Mina Cuthbert, huh?" Gabriel leaned forward. "And she can transfer powers with the touch of her hand." He nodded. "And Linderman wants to keep her close. He uses her for imbuing his people now instead of using the serum." He smirked. "They haven't figured out how to imbue with the serum without killing some of the subjects. We'd tell you how WE do it and have had a one hundred percent survival rate, but then we'd have to kill you." His eyes widened. "And Mina's here in town? Excellent!" He turned to Peter. "So can I pop her top now, or what?" He shrugged as Peter rolled his eyes. "What?"

"He's going to kill you, all of you." Rose spat. "You're all going to die screaming."

"Not before you do." Gabriel turned to her, his face twisting. "You attacked my wife. You attacked my unborn daughter. You drugged them both and tried to take my daughter's BLOOD! I think it's only fair that I shed yours for that."

"You'll have to catch me first." Rose laughed as she lifted her hands. The cloth restraints were untied. "While you were both so busy reading my mind, neither of you noticed that I untied my restraints." Before they could catch her, Rose stood and threw her chair at them, bolting for the door. Peter, Gabriel and Laurent ran after her as she dashed down the hall, searching for an electrical outlet. Frustrated, she noticed the men were behind her and realized that Laurent was still blocking her powers. "You won't get ANYTHING else out of me!" She shrieked as she ran down the hall again, Peter, Gabriel and Laurent hot on her heels. "He'll kill me anyway when he finds out I've failed!" She spotted a window and broke it with her arm. Sobbing with fear, she placed her hands behind her head, staring at a jagged piece of glass that remained in the frame. Before then men could reach her, she screamed and shoved her head down onto it.

"HOLY SHIT!" Peter gasped as her body fell back, her head rolling off to the side. He stopped, his eyes wide. "Did she just do what I think she just did?"

Gabriel winced. "Instant decapitation. Now that's ballsy."

Laurent looked away. "She wasn't a bad person, she just followed the wrong man." He lowered his head. "When will they realize that Linderman isn't God? He's not worth following, he's not worthy dying for."

Peter grimaced. "Well, he just lost one follower."

Gabriel shook his head. "Mina Cuthbert."

"What?" Peter turned to him.

"We need to find her. We need to get to her before Linderman does."

Peter nodded. "I'm on it." He grabbed an atlas as he tried to concentrate on Mina, thinking of her name as he began to flip through maps.

* * *

Linderman sat in his office, frowning as he tried to find Rose using Molly's power. He grabbed a phone. "Tell the guards surrounding Mina to get her out of Las Vegas immediately." He closed his eyes. "Damn you, Rose." He whispered.

* * *

Peter's hand landed on a map of Nevada. "I've got Mina's location. She's here in Las Vegas, but she's on the move." 

"You think Linderman's trying to get her out of town?" Gabriel asked.

"Yeah, I do." Peter sighed. "And as long as she's on the move, I can't teleport. Someone's moving her pretty quickly." He concentrated and sighed. "She's apparently in a helicopter. She's out of Las Vegas now."

"Just teleport into the helicopter." Gabriel rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, because THAT would be a piece of cake!" Peter glared at him. "I can't do that. I have to have an exact, stationary location to teleport to, not a moving object. If I tried, I could just teleport a few hundred feet into the air and plummet back down to earth." He sighed. "Mina's slipped through our fingers for now, we're just going to have to accept that."

"A kid who can transfer powers from one person to another?" Gabriel turned and punched the wall. "We CAN'T just let her slip through, Pete!" He leaned towards Peter. "You know what someone with that power can mean, don't you?"

"It means that Linderman could make Olivia a walking nuke when he's ready for that to happen, I know." Peter sighed. "But there's nothing we can do about it right now."

"Like hell there isn't!" Gabriel began to pace the floor. "We've been playing nice for too damn long! It's time for us to attack Linderman, attack his compound! It's time for us to take the fight to him! We're ready! We've been training everyone in the building for months now. We're ALL ready. What are we waiting for?"

"We're NOT ready yet!" Peter shook his head. "We're not ready to fight him."

"Yes we are!" Gabriel slumped against a wall. "My wife and daughter just got attacked. Linderman's just going to try again unless we stop him, you know this."

"I know, and we're going to continue to try and stop him, but we're not ready for an all-out battle yet." Peter sighed. "Olivia's my sister, Faith's my niece, I'm just as pissed as you are."

"May I say something?" They turned as Laurent nodded. "We're not ready for all-out war yet, but I agree somewhat with Gabriel. It's time for us to start playing dirty. It's time for us to find a way to turn as many of Linderman's people against him that we can." He smiled. "It's time to play by Linderman's rules."

"What have you got planned?" Peter asked.

Laurent turned to Gabriel, smiling. Gabriel smiled and nodded. "Oh, I know JUST what he's got planned."

* * *

A quick shout-out to Unlikely Hiro and the others at the OWI website. There's a fanfic thread there where people can offer up ideas for different abilities and the abilities that Rose and Mina both have were brought up and discussed by Unlikely Hiro. Thanks for the ideas, I hope I've done them justice! 


	78. Chapter 78

Chapter Seventy-Eight: Poking the Bear

Peter passed through the lab with Laurent, glancing over at Gabriel. After they'd gone over their initial plans for that night, and had made a few calls, Gabriel had gone to Olivia, sitting by her side and holding her hand as he waited for the tranquilizer Rose had injected her with to wear off. Mohinder stood beside them as well, taking her vital signs and peeling back Olivia's eyelids to check her pupils. Peter walked over to the exam table, touching his sister's forehead gently. "How are they doing?"

Mohinder nodded. "She's still out like a light. She should start coming around soon, though. It's been a few hours. Her vitals are strong and the baby's heartbeat is strong as well. They'll be fine."

"I hate seeing her out like this." Gabriel shook his head. "I never should have left her alone in that room. I should have demanded to see the doctor and made HIM explain why I couldn't stay in the room with her while she was being examined. I should have known something wasn't right."

"Don't beat yourself up over this." Peter sighed. "From what I got from Rose before she decapitated herself, they were blackmailing her doctor. There's no way he would have ever been allowed in the room with you and Olivia, you would have read his mind and known that they were forcing him to do this in exchange for paying off his gambling debts."

"Maybe we shouldn't have switched doctors after all." Gabriel mused.

"No, they probably would have gotten something on him as well." Peter shook his head. "They're going to get something on every doctor Olivia goes to. Linderman's desperate to get a sample of Faith's blood."

"Because I let my mind slip just for a moment in his presence." Gabriel closed his eyes. "Linderman would never know that Faith's blood is the key to our victory if I hadn't let my mind go there for a split second when I pulled a John Wayne and charged into that hotel room to rescue Candice and Laurent after Tatiana died. I was so narrow-minded in wanting revenge and wanting to be the hero that I screwed us all."

"He would have found out eventually." Peter patted Gabriel's shoulder. "According to Candice, Collette had already told him that we had a secret weapon. Linderman could have come around any one of us at the right time to pick up what we know about Faith. You knew about it, Olivia, me, Sherry, Mohinder, Noah, Sandra . . ." Peter shook his head. "Any of us could have thought the wrong thing at the wrong moment around Linderman or any of his people. They can all read minds now, remember?"

Gabriel sighed. "I know. It just HAD to be me to slip up though." He turned to Peter. "If Linderman's going to go after any doctor Olivia goes to, HOW is she going to get adequate care until Faith is born?"

"She still can." Peter nodded. "We're just going to have to be extra diligent from now on. She'll switch doctors again and you or I one will always accompany her to visits. And from now on, whoever goes with her will REFUSE to leave her alone, even for a second in the office. We'll raise hell if they try to make us leave, with Olivia agreeing to leave with us."

Gabriel nodded. "And when Faith's born? What's to stop anyone posing as medical personnel from going into the nursery to take her blood then? What's to stop someone from doing it while Olivia's giving birth?"

Peter frowned. "I don't know about that one."

"Home birth." They turned as Olivia's eyes slowly opened. Gabriel sighed with relief as Olivia turned her head to look at them. "I'm going to have to deliver at home."

"What?" Peter stared at her. "What are you talking about?"

"You should have Faith in a hospital." Gabriel nodded.

"I can't." Olivia closed her eyes for a moment. "I'm going to have to deliver Faith at home, no hospitals. We can't risk someone sneaking into the hospital room to try and take her blood."

"It's too risky." Gabriel shook his head. "Complications could-"

"-And a hospital is going to do what, if complications arise? A caesarian? I'd like to see the doctor's reaction when he tries to cut me open to take Faith, only to discover that his incision heals as soon as he does it." Olivia nodded. "It's the only way to be safe."

"And just WHO is going to deliver Faith?" Peter's eyes widened as Olivia and Gabriel turned to him. "OH HELL NO!"

"Why not? You're her uncle." Olivia grinned.

"You're a nurse." Gabriel nodded.

"I'm a HOSPICE NURSE!" Peter glared at them. "I'm not a midwife, and even if I DID know how to deliver a baby, I'm not delivering my SISTER'S baby! Forget that!" He turned to Mohinder. "Back me up here, I shouldn't be delivering Faith!"

"Why not?" Mohinder shrugged. "You're telling me that in nursing school, you didn't do an obstetrics rotation?"

"Well, I did, but-" Peter sighed "-I'm NOT delivering my niece! Forget it! I'm not kneeling down between my SISTER'S legs and-" he shuddered "-It's just wrong on so many levels."

"So you're saying that if I or anyone else went into labor and we didn't have time to get to a hospital, you wouldn't step in and deliver a baby? If Candice or Janice had started crowning in front of you, you're saying you'd have held your hands up, backed away and said no?" Olivia slowly sat up, clutching her head. "Damn, I'm dizzy as hell."

"It's the tranquilizer." Mohinder gently pressed on Olivia's shoulder until she lay back down.

Peter shrugged. "I'd have HELPED deliver a baby if I HAD to."

"Then think of it this way." Gabriel leaned against Olivia's exam table, his arms crossed in front of his chest. "You HAVE to do this. If you don't, Olivia's going to have to give birth in a hospital and risk the chance that Linderman's people will get Faith's blood. If he gets her blood-"

"-I know." Peter's shoulders slumped. "They'll be able to generate force fields and we'll be screwed." He nodded. "FINE! I'll read up on home births and I'll HELP deliver the damn baby!" He glared at them. "But I'm not doing it alone."

"I wasn't suggesting you do it alone." Gabriel grinned. "I'll read up on what to do during a home birth. I was already planning on being in the room to coach Olivia. We've been going to Lamaze classes for the last two months, I'm ready to do this! I only puked once during the video they showed us. Mohinder was in the delivery room with Candice and Matt was in the delivery room with Janice. They can help too."

"Excuse me?" Olivia glared at her husband. "I'm not having Larry, Curly, Moe AND Shemp delivering my kid!" She turned to Mohinder. "No offense."

"None taken." Mohinder shook his head. "Watching Shanti enter this world was enough for me and I think I can speak for Matt as well when I say that neither of us want to watch you scream and yell while giving birth to Faith. I found myself wishing that we were in the 1950's when men were expected to pace the halls outside of the delivery room passing out cigars rather than actually WATCH their women push out a baby. It was great when it was over, but-" Mohinder shuddered.

Olivia smirked. "I was planning on only having Gabriel and Peter in the delivery room if I'd had her in a hospital. Mother would have been there too, but only after bitch-slapping everyone who stood in her way."

Peter stared. "You wanted me in the delivery room regardless?" Olivia nodded. "And when were you going to spring THAT on me?"

"When I went into labor. I knew you wouldn't be able to deny a screaming, scared, crying woman, especially if she were your sister." Olivia grinned.

"Emotional blackmailer." Peter quipped.

"Emo whiny baby." Olivia winked.

Peter laughed. "Well, I was going to ask how you were feeling after getting slipped a mickey at the doctor's office, but if you're awake enough to argue with and emotionally blackmail me, I can see that you're doing fine."

Olivia nodded. "I'm still a little dizzy and groggy but yes, I'm fine." She touched her stomach. "And so is Faith, I can tell." She glanced over at Gabriel. "I'm glad you got my message. I was fading pretty fast, I didn't know if I'd actually sent it."

"I got it loud and clear." Gabriel squeezed her hand. "I showed up in time to see Faith stop Rose from puncturing your stomach with the needle."

"I saw that too, right before I passed out." Olivia smiled. "Heck of a kid, huh?"

"Well, she IS ours, would you expect anything less?" Gabriel rubbed Olivia's belly. "You realize we're going to pay hell getting her vaccinated when she gets older."

"Tell me about it." Olivia nodded. "So what happened after I passed out?"

"A lot." Gabriel sat beside Olivia and began to talk.

* * *

Late that night, Olivia sat on the couch with Angela, watching as Gabriel entered the room, dressed in black pants and a black turtleneck. "Well, don't YOU look stealthy!"

"Thank you very much." He winked at her.

"Are you sure this is the best idea?" Olivia frowned as she patted her stomach. "We're okay. You don't have to go poking the bear, you know."

"Hey, he's been fucking with us and fucking with us for months now, it's only fair that we get a little of our own back." Gabriel nodded. "He thinks he's so protected in his little lair in the mountains. He's about to get a shock."

"As well he should!" Angela nodded. "Why you boys didn't think of this before is beyond me."

Olivia sighed as she stood up and walked over to him. She wrapped her arms around his neck, hugging him. "Be careful."

"I will." He kissed his wife. "You gonna be up when I get home?"

"Depends on how long you'll be." Olivia smiled. "I'll try."

"Good, because I'm a little pumped about this mission. If it goes the way I'm expecting, I think I'll be in the mood to celebrate when I get home." He winked at his wife.

Olivia laughed and walked over to the door as the doorbell rang. She smirked as she spotted Nathan, Claire, Nikolai, Claude, Hana, Niki, D.L., Hiro, Matt, Candice, Peter, Sherry, Anthony and Laurent standing in front of her, all dressed in dark clothes. "Hail, hail, the gang's all here, I see."

Peter grinned as they walked into the apartment. "We're just going to let Linderman know that we're not lying down and taking the shit he keeps doling out, that's all."

"I'm hoping to see that Gota bitch again myself." Hana sighed. "Maybe this time I'll kill her for good."

"You KNOW we're not going INTO the building." Claude wrapped an arm around Hana's waist. "We're just going to stand outside, that's all."

"We SHOULD go into the building!" Hana snapped at him. "We should go in there and tear that place apart!"

"We're not ready yet. And we're not going to make the first strike against him." Claude looked down at her. "We're just going to-"

"-Stand outside and taunt him." Hana rolled her eyes. "I know. Childish."

"We're the good guys, remember? We want them to KNOW we're the good guys, you know that Darling." Claude kissed her cheek. "How good would we appear to be if we stormed in there and started killing people willy-nilly? We're just going to try and do a bit of recruiting, while telling the people he's got in there who they're REALLY working for."

"We're just going to lower the morale there, that's all." Peter looked at the group. "We have to ALL remember that we're not going to attack ANYONE unless we're attacked first." He looked at Gabriel pointedly. "Understand?"

Gabriel sighed. "I understand, but if Linderman comes out after us-"

"-He won't have the balls." Nathan smirked.

"He's right." Niki nodded. "He prefers to have others do the dirty work instead."

"Okay, so we're ready?" Peter looked around at everyone. "Candice has shown everyone the plans to the building and to the outside, right?" Everyone nodded. "Okay then. We're breaking up into three groups to teleport. One group's with me, one's with Hiro and the other is with Nikolai."

Nikolai closed his eyes nervously. "I'm still a bit nervous about this. I've only teleported a few times."

"We have faith in you." Claude nodded to him. "I'm in your group, along with Claire, Nathan and Hana. We trust you and know that when we show up, we'll all be in one piece."

"That's what I'm afraid of." Nikolai sighed. "One big piece with all of us mixed up in it."

"We can do this." Gabriel nodded. "We're ready."

"Yeah, ready to piss Linderman off." Nathan grinned. "Okay, who's in which group?"

"I'm with Nikolai, Hana, Nathan and Claude." Claire smiled as she took Nikolai's hand.

"Gabriel, Anthony, Sherry, and Candice are with me." Peter nodded.

"So that leaves D.L., Niki, Matt and Laurent with me." Hiro smiled.

"You two got your-" Peter smiled as Hiro and Nikolai both held up megaphones. He held up the one in his hands. "We're ready."

"You boys and your toys." Olivia smiled. "Be careful, all of you!"

"We will." Nathan grinned at her. "We're going to come back in one piece."

"WE'RE not the ones you need to worry about." D.L. nodded. "Bastard thinks he can kill kids and drug pregnant women? Think again, asshole!"

"I'm with Olivia on this one, be careful!" Angela stood and walked to Gabriel, hugging him tightly before turning to her sons and hugging them as well. She walked over to Claire and smiled. "So young, but so strong. You remind me of myself more and more with each passing day."

Claire rolled her eyes and smirked before she hugged her grandmother. "That IS a compliment, right?"

"Of course it is!" She kissed her granddaughter on the cheek. "You're the one I worry about the least. You know how to take care of yourself better than anyone else." She turned to Sherry. "And you-"

"-Yeah?" Sherry sighed.

"Be careful. Remember, we're going wedding dress shopping tomorrow." Angela winked.

"Is there a store called 'It's Never Too Late'?" Sherry smirked at her brother. "Supposedly, I'm going to be waddling down the aisle in December."

"We'll find something loose-fitting, just in case." Angela glared at her son. "Unless you two are going to PLAN on that pregnancy."

"Okay, let's get into our groups." Peter nodded quickly, changing the subject as everyone settled into their three groups. He looked at everyone again. "Stay close together, don't attack unless you're attacked first, and Laurent? Block them but not us, got it?" Laurent nodded wordlessly. "Let's roll." Everyone in the groups held hands and closed their eyes, suddenly disappearing from the apartment.

Olivia chewed on a fingernail nervously. "Come back safe, guys."

"They'll be fine." Angela sighed. "If I didn't have to baby sit YOU, I'd be right there with them."

Olivia glared at her mother. "Just what the hell does that mean? BABY SIT?"

* * *

Everyone appeared in the woods near the compound, taking a deep breath as they realized they had all arrived together. "Thank God." Nikolai sighed. "We're all in one piece, and yet we're all separate."

"Knew you could do it!" Nathan threw an arm around Nikolai's neck, grinning. "My daughter doesn't date dumbasses!"

"No, I don't." Claire squeezed his hand and looked around. "So what do we do first?"

"Poke the bear, of course!" Gabriel grabbed the megaphone from Peter's hands.

"HEY!" Peter tried to take it back, glaring as Gabriel pushed him away. "Wait a damn minute!"

"No guts, no glory, Emo-Boy!" Gabriel lifted the megaphone to his lips. "HEY LINDERMAN! GUESS WHO THIS IS NUMBNUTS!"

"Shit!" Peter groaned. "I guess it's 'go-time'!" He looked around. "Everyone stay close to me. I think we're going to have to have a force field in a minute, since loudmouth here has started the show."

In his room, Linderman was sleeping soundly with Gota snuggled beside him in their suite. The moment Gabriel's voice began to ring through the building, he sat up and looked around. "What the hell?"

"What is it?" Gota sat up, brushing her hair out of her eyes. "Did I just hear a voice?"

"HEY! WAKE UP, DADDY DEAREST! THIS IS YOUR SON-IN-LAW, REMEMBER? GABRIEL GRAY!"

"Little bastard!" Linderman jumped out of bed and pulled on a robe as he grabbed his cell phone. Gota followed suit, pulling on her robe as she followed Linderman out of their bedroom and out of their suite. "Yes, it's Linderman. OF COURSE I'M HEARING IT TOO! Find that little shit and kill him!"

"I JUST WANTED TO GIVE A SHOUT-OUT TO MY WONDERFUL FATHER-IN-LAW AND THANK HIM SO MUCH FOR ATTACKING MY WIFE AND UNBORN DAUGHTER TODAY! HOW MANY OF YOUR PEOPLE HAVE TO DIE BEFORE YOU FINALLY REALIZE THAT TRYING TO ATTACK US ISN'T WORTH IT, HUH? ROSE KILLED HERSELF AFTER SHE ATTACKED OLIVIA! WE CAPTURED HER AND SHE KILLED HERSELF! WHO ARE YOU SENDING NEXT?"

As Linderman ran down the stairs to the lobby, he spotted Mina. She turned to him, tears streaming down her cheeks. "You told me that they took her, you didn't tell me that she died!"

Outside, Peter finally wrestled the megaphone from Gabriel. "THIS IS PETER PETRELLI! I'M OLIVIA'S BROTHER! I'M SENDING A MESSAGE, NOT TO LINDERMAN AND NOT TO THOSE FAITHFUL TO HIM, BUT TO THOSE OF YOU WHO ARE TRAPPED IN THAT BUILDING AGAINST YOUR WILL! WE HAVE SOMEONE OUT HERE, SOMEONE THAT YOU KNOW. HE CAN BLOCK POWERS, EVEN MR. LINDERMAN'S!"

Laurent closed his eyes and leaned towards Peter. "I can't block from that far away. I can't stop him from using powers INSIDE the building." He hissed.

"What's he gonna do, nuke everyone?" Peter whispered. He lifted the megaphone back to his lips. "COME OUT! JOIN OUR SIDE! THE PEOPLE THAT ARE STAYING WITH US ARE THERE BY CHOICE! THE PEOPLE ON OUR SIDE CHOSE TO COME TO US! CAN YOU SAY THE SAME FOR YOURSELVES! IF YOU'RE NOT THERE BY CHOICE, IF YOU WERE FORCED TO EITHER DIE OR COME WITH LINDERMAN, COME OUT NOW! WE CAN HELP YOU! WE CAN PROTECT YOU! DO YOU WANT TO ALLY YOURSELVES WITH A MAN WHO KILLS CHILDREN? DO YOU WANT TO ALLY YOURSELVES WITH A MAN WHO ATTACKS A PREGNANT WOMAN? THAT WOMAN THAT WAS ATTACKED TODAY WAS MR. LINDERMAN'S OWN DAUGHTER! WHAT DOES THAT SAY ABOUT HIM? CAN YOU TRUST SOMEONE WHO WOULD ATTACK HIS OWN FLESH AND BLOOD?"

In the lobby, Linderman turned to notice the people that were slowly stepping out of their rooms, their eyes wide as they stared at him. "The first person who tries to leave this building will die." He snarled. His head snapped around as a man tried to slip past him, running for the doors. Linderman glared and waved his hand, smirking as the man's head rolled away from his body. Hearing the others gasp, he turned back to them. "Who's next?" He glanced over at Mina as she tried to run past him and reached out his hand. The girl screamed as she was dragged back to him. Shoving her roughly at Gota and Ombassa, he rolled his eyes. "Take her to my suite, lock her in a guest bedroom and don't let her out!" He stared down at the girl as she struggled to get away from him. "I'm very disappointed in you."

"NO!" Mina shrieked as Gota and Ombassa dragged her up the stairs. "I don't want to be here anymore! Let me go!"

Linderman turned back to the others. "I can't kill you all if you rushed past me in a group, but I WOULD be able to get quite a few of you. Anyone want to run that risk?"

Claude took a megaphone. "MY NAME IS CLAUDE RAINES! I USED TO WORK FOR MR. LINDERMAN YEARS AGO, THOUGH I DIDN'T REALIZE IT. LAST SPRING, ON MARCH 16, 2007, MR. LINDERMAN ORDERED SOMEONE IN OUR BUILDING, SOMEONE WHO HIS GIRLFRIEND GOTA HAD HYPNOTIZED INTO BEING A SLEEPER AGENT, TO KILL EIGHT PEOPLE IN OUR BUILDING. ONE OF THE PEOPLE WHO WERE MURDERED ON MR. LINDERMAN'S ORDERS WAS MY DAUGHTER, TATIANA. SHE WAS NINE YEARS OLD. I ADOPTED HER AND HER OLDER BROTHER AFTER GOTA MURDERED HER FATHER AND OLDER SISTER WHEN THEY REFUSED TO JOIN MR. LINDERMAN'S GROUP HERE. ONLY TATIANA AND HER BROTHER NIKOLAI SURVIVED. THE ADOPTION HAD BECOME FINAL THE DAY BEFORE SHE WAS MURDERED. THE DAY SHE DIED, TATIANA CALLED ME 'DADDY' FOR THE FIRST TIME. SHE WAS JUST A LITTLE GIRL, BUT LINDERMAN DIDN'T GIVE A BLOODY SHIT! DO YOU WANT TO ALLY YOURSELVES WITH SOMEONE WHO COULD DO THAT?"

Claude handed the megaphone to Nikolai. "MY NAME IS NIKOLAI UROVITCH-RAINES. THE CHILD THAT DIED LAST YEAR WAS MY BABY SISTER. SHE WAS THE ONLY FAMILY I HAD LEFT AFTER LINDERMAN'S GIRLFRIEND GOTA MURDERED MY FATHER VIKTOR AND MY TWIN SISTER NATALIA! I WATCHED AS GOTA SHOT MY SISTER TO DEATH. LINDERMAN'S SLEEPER AGENT ALSO ATTACKED ME AND MY GIRLFRIEND CLAIRE BENNETT, BUT WE WERE LUCKY ENOUGH TO SURVIVE!" Nikolai put the megaphone down, fighting tears as Claire hugged him.

"Heads up, Guys!" Gabriel turned to them.

"I hear them too." Peter looked around. "Guards are coming! Everyone stay close and either touch me or touch someone who's touching me!"

Guards ran into the clearing where the group stood, surrounding them as they gathered together. Just before the guards opened fire, Peter concentrated, emanating a red glow. The force field surrounded the group as bullets bounced off of the red, glowing shield that surrounded them. Peter glanced around. "Someone keep talking!"

Sherry nodded, taking a megaphone as she kept a grip on Peter's arm. "MY NAME IS SHERYL BOMBANO! I'M PETER PETRELLI'S FIANCEE! A FEW YEARS AGO, MY OLDER BROTHER JOHNNY WAS GUNNED DOWN OUTSIDE OF A STRIP CLUB IN NEWARK, NEW JERSEY! THE MEN WHO MURDERED JOHNNY WORKED FOR MR. LINDERMAN! THEY WERE HIS MOB CONNECTIONS! WHEN OUR FRIEND, COLLETTE RENARD WAS TURNED INTO A SLEEPER AGENT BY GOTA, SHE MURDERED MANY OF THE PEOPLE ON MY FLOOR! THEY WERE MY FRIENDS! ALONG WITH TATIANA UROVITCH-RAINES, HE IS ALSO RESPONSIBLE FOR THE DEATHS OF BONNIE AND MARY CLEARY, PATRICK FLANIGAN, FINN O'SHEA, JULIA MARTIN, AND DR. HERBERT OSGOOD II. WHEN COLLETTE REALIZED WHAT SHE'D DONE, SHE KILLED HERSELF BEFORE WE COULD STOP HER. HER BLOOD IS ON LINDERMAN'S HANDS AS WELL! COME OUT! WE'LL PROTECT YOU AND LET YOU JOIN US IF YOU DON'T WANT TO BE HELD HOSTAGE BY LINDERMAN ANY MORE!"

Linderman turned in the lobby, smirking. "Do they honestly think they can get people to leave here?" He smiled as Gota walked over to him. "Our little girl?"

"She's in her new room. Ombassa is watching over her." She glared at the doors. "Stupid people, the lot of them."

"I know." Linderman turned, noticing the people still standing in the lobby. "I think everyone should go to bed now, don't you? They'll shut up when they've either worn down their force field and they're riddled with bullets, or they've worn out their vocal cords. If you even think about slipping out through the back doors, I've got guards on them. You'll be shot on sight." He nodded as the people slowly turned and went back to their rooms, some glancing over their shoulders at Linderman, alternating between looking terrified at him and staring wistfully at the doors.

Outside, Peter groaned as he struggled to keep the force field up. "Guys, I'm fading here."

"Then we've got a problem!" Gabriel glared at him. "The guards don't seem to be running out of bullets and they're not tired of shooting at us."

Peter's eyes widened as the force field suddenly surged, glowing even redder as it expanded. "What the-?" He turned as Nikolai grinned at him. "-Did you just-?"

Nikolai nodded. "When we first shook hands, I told you I took all of the powers you had collected." He smiled and closed his eyes. "The two of us holding up the field will be easier, don't you think?"

Peter smiled. "And the two of us using it together is making it stronger." He stared at Gabriel. "We need to remember to tell Mohinder that."

"We'll tell him if we can make it out of here." Gabriel watched as Candice took a megaphone.

"MY NAME IS CANDICE WILMER! MANY OF YOU REMEMBER ME! LINDERMAN USED ME, JUST AS HE'S USING EVERY ONE OF YOU! WHEN I REALIZED WHO THE TRUE GOOD GUYS WERE, I JOINED FORCES WITH THEM! WHEN LINDERMAN FOUND OUT THAT I HAD SWITCHED TEAMS, HE HAD FURKAN AND OMBASSA TORTURE ME! MY FRIENDS HERE, THE TRUE GOOD GUYS RISKED THEIR LIVES TO RESCUE ME! I WASN'T THE FIRST PERSON THAT LINDERMAN TORTURED! REMEMBER THE BUNTON CHILDREN? REMEMBER THEM? LINDERMAN USED THE SERUM ON THEM, THE REGENERATION SERUM. THE BOY DIDN'T SURVIVE THE IMBUEMENT, BUT THE GIRL DID! LINDERMAN HAD HIS LAB RATS STAB HER, SHOOT HER AND KILL HER OVER AND OVER AGAIN TO SEE JUST WHAT SOMEONE WHO HAD BEEN IMBUED WITH THAT SERUM WOULD SURVIVE. SHE FINALLY DIED FOR GOOD WHEN THEY SHOT HER IN THE HEAD! DO YOU KNOW WHAT LINDERMAN IS PLANNING? HE WANTS TO KILL EVERYONE WITH SPECIAL POWERS, INCLUDING THE PEOPLE THAT HAVE ALLIED THEMSELVES WITH HIM. HE WANTS TO GET RID OF EVERYONE WHO COULD BE CONSIDERED COMPETITION. HE WANTS TO RULE THE WORLD, GRIND HUMANITY UNDER HIS HEEL. ANYONE WITH POWERS, **ANYONE** IS COMPETITION TO HIM! AFTER HE KILLS US, HE'S GOING TO DESTROY ALL OF YOU! COME OUT NOW AND JOIN WITH US! DON'T LET HIM TAKE OVER THE WORLD, DON'T LET HIM TAKE YOU OVER A MOMENT LONGER!"

Linderman snorted. "Does that little traitor honestly think that anyone's going to listen to HER?" He turned as a gun fired behind him. "Well, apparently someone was stupid enough NOT to believe that I had guards at the back doors."

"Idiots." Gota glanced over at him, taking his hand. "She IS lying about your wanting to kill all of US, isn't she?"

"Now, what kind of man would I be if I killed the people who stood by me this whole time? I would never kill my friends." Linderman kissed her softly. "It's a fairy tale they're telling themselves in order to justify creating an army of their own."

Gabriel sighed. "Peter, they're not coming out."

"I know." Peter grimaced, sweat dripping down his face with the effort to keep the force field intact while the guards continued to shoot at them. "He's placed guards at the doors to kill anyone who tries to escape." He looked around at his friends. "Think we've made our point."

D.L. nodded. "I think we've put a few questions in everyone's heads and lowered morale a bit."

"Then we've done what we've come to do." Matt looked around. "Can we teleport with a force field up?"

"No, but I know how to stop these guards long enough to do it." Peter took a deep breath. "Nikolai, at the first count of three, we're lowering the force field and EVERYONE is going to bomb the shit out of the guards. Then on the second count of three, we're teleporting our asses out of here, got it?" Everyone nodded. "They're attacking us, so now it's time to attack back. Bombs away, blow them to kingdom come." Everyone slowly turned outward with Laurent and Hiro protected in the center of the group, making sure their shoulders still touched. "Ready? One. Two. Three." The moment Peter uttered 'three', the red glow surrounding them disappeared. Before the guards could react, they flew through the air, exploding and screaming as the group quickly assembled into their three teams. "One. Two. Three." They disappeared from the forest as the bodies of the guards lay in the clearing.

* * *

"Do you have a three?" Angela looked up as Olivia checked her watch, biting her lip nervously. She snapped her fingers in her daughter's face, making her jump.

"DAMN! WHAT?" Olivia glared at her.

"Do you have a THREE?" Angela sighed.

"Go fish." Olivia jumped, startled as everyone appeared in the living room, then sighed with relief. "Oh thank GOD!" She leaped off of the couch and ran to Gabriel, hugging him tightly. "You're okay!" She grabbed Peter and Nathan, hugging them before turning to the rest of the group, hugging everyone tightly. "You're ALL okay! I was so worried!"

"No need to worry." Gabriel grinned. "It went well!"

"We rocked!" Claire laughed.

"We didn't get any newbies, but I think we pissed your Pops off big time!" D.L. nodded.

"We would have gotten some refugees if Linderman hadn't killed a few that tried to escape and scared everyone else back into their rooms." Peter frowned. "Hell, I would have rushed him as a group and tried to get past him."

"They're just scared." Nathan sighed. "And the ones who aren't are there of their own free will."

"Why would anyone want to stay around there?" Angela asked as she hugged her sons.

"He's a charming man, Mom. You of all people should know that." Nathan grinned. "People thought David Koresh and Jim Jones were charming too, and the ones who didn't stuck around out of fear."

"He can be pretty scary." Olivia nodded. "He kept me in line for eleven years, up to a point." She smiled at everyone. "I'm just glad everyone got back okay."

"I told you we'd be fine." Gabriel hugged her. "Right now, the only one in trouble is your father. He's going to pay hell keeping his people in line and keeping them from running for the next five months!"

"And just to keep messing with him, we should start doing this every week or so, just to fuck with his head." Matt grinned. As everyone turned to stare at him, he shrugged. "WHAT?"

"It's a pretty cool idea." Peter nodded. "Wear them down until they crack."

"Or until he does something drastic and retaliates." Olivia whispered.

Gabriel shook his head. "What's he going to do about it?"

* * *

"I'm going to kill every last one of them!" Linderman paced the floor in his office as Ombassa and Gota looked on. "God, if Olivia wasn't pregnant, I'd have our people storm that ridiculous building tonight and decapitate them all!"

"Let's do it anyway!" Gota nodded. "Before morale gets too low here. You know they'll be back."

"I can't do it yet." Linderman kicked a chair. "I've waited this long for that ineffectual bastard of mine to give me an heir, I can't kill her or her little friends until she's ready to give birth. If I stormed that place now, she could lose the baby."

"I've already told you Darling, I can give you an heir. Why you count on that silly piece of trash daughter of yours is beyond me." Gota pouted.

"She's due August 8." Linderman nodded. "That's in less than two months. We can wait until then." He smiled. "We can move our people elsewhere-"

"-They'll just track us again, thanks to that Walker brat-" Ombassa muttered.

"-And a week before my daughter is due, we'll find a way to take her." Linderman smiled. "The child will only be a week early, she'll survive. And then we'll be able to go after those idiots in Las Vegas, block anything they throw at us with my granddaughter's force field and destroy them all." He nodded. "They think they've got the upper hand? They think they've stopped us? They can think again." He turned to Gota. "We're not going to move. Starting tomorrow, you're going to start visiting each person in this building. You're going to use your lovely power to suggest to them that they love being here, that they'd rather die than join with the others." As Gota smiled beatifically at him, he nodded. "Let them come. Let them shout through that stupid megaphone until their vocal cords bleed. No one will come out. A week before my daughter's due, they'll be dealt quite a blow when we find a way to get into that building and steal my daughter and my granddaughter away. They may have been too timid to enter MY building, but I'm not afraid to enter THEIRS! It's technically still mine anyway."

"How will we get in without them attacking us?" Ombassa asked.

"We'll figure out a way." Linderman winked at him. "I'll start planning tomorrow. We've got almost two months to figure it out."


	79. Chapter 79

Chapter Seventy-Nine: Family Bonding

"What'cha reading?" Peter looked up from a book as Sherry climbed out of the pool and stretched out in a lounge chair next to him.

Peter smiled wryly. "Another book on home birth." He shrugged. "Olivia and Gabriel have been finding them everywhere for me. By the time I'm finished reading all of the books they keep digging up, I'll be an expert in childbirth."

Sherry grinned. "Hey, you could go into that! Make a living delivering babies."

Peter cut his eyes over at her. "Don't EVEN go THERE!" He sighed. "The idea of delivering Olivia's baby is still freaking me out. I can't believe she actually expects me to do this."

"Well, what else is she going to do? She can't deliver in a hospital, not with her father's idiot henchmen breathing down our necks trying to get a sample of Faith's blood."

"She could have someone else deliver Faith." Peter sighed. "Katarina's a nurse too. I don't see Olivia asking HER to do it. Oscar's a doctor-"

"-Yeah, a psychiatrist." Sherry nodded.

"He still had to go through medical school and work as an intern. You're telling me he didn't have to deliver a baby as an intern before he declared a specialty?" Peter frowned. "I really wish Olivia could have asked someone, ANYONE else to deliver Faith. Hell, Gabriel has eidetic memory, he could read these books and be able to remember everything in them to deliver that baby with his eyes closed. Faith is HIS daughter, after all."

Sherry laughed softly. "Honey, Gabriel's going to be a little busy coaching his wife through the contractions to be kneeling down between her legs to play 'catch the baby'. Besides, who wants to see a baby get shoved out of his favorite playpen? You're Olivia's brother, you're a nurse, what's the big deal?"

"I don't want to have to see my sister's hoo-hah, okay?" Peter sighed and closed the book. "And I'm sick of reading up on all of this crap."

"Pete, she's your sister. I know it's going to be weird to have to see all of that, but you just have to remember that you're a nurse and she doesn't have anything you haven't seen before."

"Yeah, but I don't want to have to see my sister's." Peter lay back in his chair, closing his eyes.

"It'll be cool, you'll see. You'll be able to look at your niece one day, smile and say 'I delivered you' to her. She's going to think that's pretty cool too, wait and see."

"I guess."

Sherry looked up as Gabriel walked towards the pool with a very pregnant Olivia in tow. "And speak of the devil!" Sherry grinned. "What brings you two out to the pool?"

"My idiot husband." Olivia grumbled as she eased into a lounge chair on the other side of Peter. "I was perfectly happy lying on the couch."

Gabriel sighed. "Well now you can be perfectly happy lying in a chair outside with fresh air."

"I was watching a movie, thank you." Olivia squirmed in the chair. "My back hurts."

"You were watching 'Star Wars', AGAIN!" Gabriel pulled up a chair and sat in it, basking in the sun. "Something had to be done."

"'Star Wars'?" Peter perked up. 'Which one?"

"'Attack of the Clones'." Olivia whispered. She glared as Peter groaned. "WHAT?"

"As Yoda would say 'sucked ass, it did'."

"It did NOT!" Olivia shook her head. "Okay granted, it wasn't as good as the first three movies, but it was better than 'Phantom Menace'!"

"Still sucked ass." Peter smirked.

"I have only one argument against that, okay? Samuel L. Mother-fucking Jackson." Olivia nodded.

Peter snorted. "THAT'S your argument?"

"He kicks ass!"

Gabriel nodded. "He is awesome. Even when sharks are eating him. He's still cool as hell." He sighed. "But Liv, the only 'Star Wars' movies even worth discussing were the first three." He turned to Peter. "Every time ANY of those movies come on t.v., guess who's watching?" He pointed to Olivia. "And I thought I was a 'Star Wars' geek! I'm actually SICK of those movies now." He shrugged. "Of course, I was sick of 'Attack of the Clones' after I first saw it."

"Movie theater, or home?" Peter asked.

Gabriel stared at Peter. "Movie theater of course!" He leaned back in his chair. "Hell, I was at Loew's Theater in Manhattan the NIGHT the movie opened!"

Olivia turned to him and stared. "You were in Loew's for the midnight showing?" Gabriel nodded. "Which one?"

"890 Broadway, why?" He stared as Olivia sat up, her eyes widening. Peter also stared at Gabriel with interest. "Don't tell me YOU TWO were there too?"

Peter turned to Olivia. "YOU were at that theater that night?"

"DUH!" Olivia nodded. She stared at her husband and brother. "You two were at THAT theater that night too?"

Peter grinned and nodded. "Oh hell YEAH! I dressed up and everything!"

Sherry stared in shock at her fiancé. "Um, what?"

Peter turned to her, nodding. "I totally dressed up in costume to go the midnight showing at the premiere! It was awesome! Hell, I think practically everyone there was dressed up that night!"

"Just when I thought you were cool." Sherry leaned back in her chair. "You were honestly one of THOSE geeks?" She shook her head and stood up. "I gotta motor for a while."

"Wait!" Peter laughed. "What's wrong?"

Sherry turned to him, trying not to smile. "Baby, I love you, but the idea that you were a grown man dressing up in a costume to go to a movie is just a little much right now. I think I'm going inside for a while."

After she left, Peter started laughing. "Guess I shouldn't tell her about the time that Nathan and I went in costume to see 'Rocky Horror Picture Show', huh?" Gabriel started laughing hysterically. "What?"

"Just picturing you dressed as Dr. Frank-N-Furter, that's all." Gabriel laughed harder. Soon, Olivia was laughing too.

"Who says I was Frank-N-Furter?" He grinned as they started laughing even harder. "I was dressed as Eddie, thank you. NATHAN was the one in fishnets that night!" He laughed. "I took pictures."

"OH MY GOD!" Olivia turned to Peter, grabbing his arm. "I've got to see them!"

"Nathan's sworn me to secrecy about ever showing them." Peter shrugged. "Something about a scandal coming out if the press ever saw them."

"I'm not press, I'm Nathan's bratty little sister that wants to see him in a bustier, fishnet and pumps!"

Peter studied Olivia for a moment. "Okay, if we were all at the same theater at the same time watching the same movie, you two had to have been in costume too. Spill it, what did you two wear?"

Olivia shook her head. "You first."

"Boba Fett." Peter puffed his chest out. "I looked fucking awesome, too!" He turned to Gabriel. "You?"

Gabriel squirmed for a moment. "I don't want to say."

"Obi-Wan?" Olivia grinned.

"No." Gabriel cocked his head to the side as he looked at his wife. "What about you? Let me guess, you were dressed as Padme, Kabuki makeup included?"

"Nope!" Olivia laughed.

"I know!" Peter nodded. "Leia, with the big buns on your head."

"Uh-uh." Olivia shook her head, blushing. She sighed. "There was a guy I was taking med classes with that had been bugging me and bugging me to go out with him. We went out a couple of times and things heated up a bit-"

"-I don't want to hear this." Gabriel frowned.

"We weren't serious! I thought he was cute and he suggested I wear a certain costume to the premiere, so I did." Olivia looked away as Gabriel's eyes widened.

"OH NO FUCKING WAY!"

Peter stared at Gabriel, confused. "What?"

"Let's say you're dating a hottie and you're going somewhere dressed as 'Star Wars' characters. What outfit would YOU try to get the hot girl to wear?" Gabriel turned to his wife, wiggling his eyebrows at her as she blushed.

"Damn." She muttered.

Peter gasped and spun around on Olivia. "NO FUCKING WAY!"

"Fine." Olivia rolled her eyes. "Roger talked me into wearing the gold bikini, are you happy now?"

Peter started laughing. "Oh, that's FUNNY!"

Gabriel stared at his wife, smiling. "So that was you, huh?"

Olivia shook her head. "What? You saw me there?"

"You were the only one with the balls to show up in a gold bikini so yes, I remember seeing you there." Gabriel winked. "I can't believe that the hottie I was checking out in line at the movie theater six years ago is now my wife. I remember you and that outfit very well. And I plan on getting back into that get-up six weeks after Faith is born, so be forewarned."

Olivia's eyes narrowed. "Okay hot-shot. You remember seeing ME there, what about you?"

Peter nodded. "Yeah, what were YOU dressed up as?"

Gabriel shrugged. "Who said I was dressed up?"

"Pretty much everyone there was dressed up."

"Roger wasn't." Olivia smirked. "I show up in the gold bikini, he showed up in street clothes. Needless to say, we didn't go out again." She studied her husband. "Were you the guy in the Darth Vader outfit that kept grabbing my ass?"

"First of all, I wouldn't be so uncouth as to grab a woman's ass in a movie theater, no matter HOW well she filled out a teeny outfit and second of all, I traveled to that theater in Manhattan from Queens, so I wasn't dressed up as Darth fucking Vader. Could you imagine the ass-kicking I would have gotten on the subway for that?" Gabriel shook his head as Olivia and Peter stared at him. "I was Han Solo, okay?" He rolled his eyes. "It wasn't so obvious that I'd get my ass kicked, but it was obvious enough that I blended in with the rest of the geeks at the movie theater."

"If I wear that gold bikini, you have SO got to put the Han Solo outfit back on." Olivia winked at him as she rubbed her belly. "Not that I'll be dressing like that any time soon."

Peter grinned. "Not for another month, at least."

"Longer than that." Olivia closed her eyes. "The rest of me has finally caught up with my ass. My fingers and ankles are swollen, my back is killing me." She sighed. "I'm tired and grouchy all the time."

"Tell me about it." Gabriel smirked. "Remember how I was freaking out about no 'boom-boom' for six weeks AFTER Faith's born?" He turned to Peter. "I didn't know that she wouldn't be in the mood six weeks before either."

"I don't want to hear this." Peter grimaced.

"I'm just not in the mood, okay?" Olivia frowned. "I feel like a beached whale. Beached whales aren't sexy."

"You're still sexy to me." Gabriel smiled at her.

"Besides, I'm too big to maneuver around." Olivia shook her head. "The ankles are SOOO not going behind the head any time soon."

"And that's my cue to leave!" Peter stood up, grabbing his books. "When you two start talking about your sex lives, or lack thereof, it's time for me to run." Laughing, he clapped a hand on Gabriel's shoulder. "Later Han."

Gabriel grinned. "Later Boba!" He climbed into Peter's lounge chair beside Olivia and smiled at her. "So that was really you in the movie theater that night, huh?"

Olivia shrugged. "Apparently so." She turned to him. "You honestly remembered me from that night?"

Gabriel shook his head. "Not until you told me, but I remembered a stunning woman strutting around the theater in a gold bikini, with her dark hair tied back in a braid. There was only one woman there dressed like that." He grinned. "And I ended up marrying her, years later. You know," he winked at her "thinking about you helped me quite a lot."

"How so?" Olivia frowned.

"Well, I was a bachelor, I was completely single, and thinking about you helped me get to sleep on quite a few occasions."

"EW!" Olivia made a face. "I just had a mental image of you and a bottle of lotion. That's not a good place for me." She sighed. "Oh no."

"What?"

Olivia sighed. "Faith just kicked my bladder." She held out her hands as Gabriel stood up. "HURRY!"

"Yes, my Darling." Gabriel laughed as he hauled Olivia out of her chair. "Run to the bathroom, if you can make it!"

"Run, hell! Waddle fast is more like it." Olivia groaned as she rubbed her back and began to waddle quickly towards the building. Gabriel started laughing harder. Olivia turned to him, glaring. "WHAT?"

"You're right, you are waddling!"

Olivia glared harder. "You know, you and that bottle of lotion might want to get reacquainted."

"We already have been." Gabriel grinned as he followed his wife into the building. "You passed the bitchy and horny stages and have now entered the grumpy tired stage. That bottle and I have started an affair behind your back."

"Hell, just have it around my feet, I can't see those either." Olivia sighed. She passed Claire leaving the building as she entered it. "Hey!"

"HI!" Claire skipped past Olivia and Gabriel as she went to the back of the building and knocked on Meredith's trailer door. Meredith beamed as she opened the door. "Ready for more mother-daughter bonding?" Claire grinned.

"Come on in!" Meredith opened the door wider.

* * *

Ombassa and Gota grinned up at Linderman in his office as he finished detailing his plan to them. "Masterful, Darling." Gota studied the blueprints to the apartment building. "And you're sure the interior of the building is the same?"

"That's why I'm going to have a spy inside. I also need someone to find out about the security there." Linderman turned to Ombassa. "That's where you come in."

"Which one do you want me to approach?" Ombassa asked.

Linderman looked over the list of tenants that Collette had passed on to them before her death. Smiling, he pointed out a name. "This one. Approach this one."

"And when I get inside?"

Linderman nodded. "At night, explore the building. I want details as to which apartment my daughter is living in, who lives around her, and which would be the easiest way to get inside and disable the security system before we attack."

"Of course." Ombassa stood up. "When do I leave?"

Linderman's eyes widened. "Whenever you're ready."

"Good." The man turned and headed out of the office. "I'll leave tonight and approach her in the morning."

"They usually congregate around the pool!" Linderman called after him. He turned to Gota. "How is your little project coming, my Dear?"

Gota shrugged. "Half of the people here now wouldn't dream of leaving this place. They all believe that they are truly where they belong now."

Linderman sighed. "Get to the others soon. I'm tired of the guards dragging people back to their rooms when they try to escape." He stared at the floor for a moment. "And Mina?"

"She's being a bit problematic." Gota smirked. "I don't understand why, but my powers don't seem to work on her."

"Probably a side-effect of her transference power." Linderman rolled his eyes. "No matter. She has a guard outside of her room. She's not going anywhere anytime soon." He sighed. "She's just a contingency plan anyway."

* * *

"This was my mama, your grandma. Her name was Colleen." Meredith handed a picture to Claire. "She passed when I was a young girl."

"She was pretty." Claire smiled softly as she studied the picture. "Did she have any powers, that you know of?"

"I don't know." Meredith shrugged. "I don't remember her too well. My father ran off when I was a baby. Mama's sister, my Aunt Rosemary raised me." Meredith rolled her eyes. "She tossed me out when I turned eighteen."

"That sucks." Claire made a face. "Why?"

"She never really wanted me anyway." Meredith shook her head. "She only took me so people wouldn't talk. If she'd had it her way, I'd have been handed over to child services as soon as Mama died. Doesn't matter anyway. I hated Rosemary like crazy. It wasn't a big deal being on my own. I'd been working since I was fifteen. By the time I was eighteen, I'd saved enough money to get a place of my own, and I continued to support myself just fine. I met Nathan a year later and then you came along." Meredith dug through a box and found a picture, smiling. She handed the photograph to Claire. "This is a picture of us. It was our first date."

"Oh my God!" Claire's eyes widened as she took the picture. "You were both so baby-faced." She set the picture down. "How did you two meet?"

"I was waiting tables at this little restaurant near the base where Nathan was stationed. He had leave one weekend and visited the bar." Meredith smiled softly. "He was so handsome in his uniform. Every girl in that place was trying so hard to get his attention. He noticed me out of all of them."

"And then?" Claire asked.

"And then he pestered me all night long for my phone number. I was trying to play it cool, even though I was drooling over him just like all of the other girls were. Finally, when my shift was over, I gave him my number and left. He called me the next day and we went out the next weekend."

"Where did you go?"

Meredith shrugged again. "Oh, just out to some little restaurant, and then back to my place." She blushed. "I was sort of easy back then, at least I was with him."

"Was he your first?"

"My second." Meredith laughed softly. "My first was with some pimply-faced kid that I went to my junior prom with. Jeff Mitchell, that was his name."

"What was it like?" Claire chewed on a fingernail as Meredith turned to her, frowning.

"What? Why are you asking me this, young lady?"

"Dunno." Claire shrugged. "Just wondering, that's all." She stared at the floor nervously. "I don't know you very well and-"

"Claire Hayden Bennet, what are you really getting at?" Meredith crossed her arms in front of her chest and leaned back in her chair. "Have you and Nikolai-?"

"-NO!" Claire's eyes widened. "No, we haven't done that yet."

"But you're thinking about it." Meredith nodded.

"I was just wondering, if you could go back and do it all over again, would you have lost your virginity to what's his name, Jeff Mitchell?"

"No, I wouldn't have." Meredith shook her head. "I'd have waited a couple of years and lost it to your father."

"Because you loved him."

Meredith smiled. "Because I loved him, yes." She sighed. "Have you and Sandra had 'the talk' yet?"

"Are you kidding me?" Claire laughed softly. "We've talked plenty of times. I've even asked her about her first time."

"And now you're asking me." Meredith sighed as she leaned forward and tucked a golden curl behind Claire's ear. "Just out of curiosity, or because you're thinking about having sex with Nikolai?" She smiled softly as Claire looked away, blushing. "That's what I thought."

"What do you think?" Claire looked back at her mother. "Should I?"

Meredith shook her head and shrugged. "Sweetie, I really don't know. I don't even know if I should be discussing this with you. I'm not your Mom."

"But you ARE my mother, and you have been in love." Claire chewed on her fingernail again. "When do you know when it's right? When do I know when I should do this?"

Meredith shook her head again. "I don't know. Do you love him?"

Claire smiled and nodded. "Yeah. I really do think I love him."

"Then YOU will know when you should take that next step and YOU will know when it's right." Meredith laughed. "Just make sure to use protection, okay? I don't feel like becoming a grandmother before I'm forty."

Claire giggled. "Mom dragged me to the doctor and had me put on The Pill after Christmas."

"Why after Christmas?" Meredith frowned. "She catch you two doing something?"

"Not really." Claire shrugged. "WE weren't doing anything, but we were alone in the apartment when she came home and I think she got a little worried, that's all." She checked her watch and sighed. "Gotta get back home. Mom's making tacos tonight."

"Sounds good." Meredith smiled.

Claire cocked her head to the side. "You know, Mom and Dad have been talking lately about wanting you to come for dinner, now that I've finally started speaking to you. You should come."

"Oh, I don't know." Meredith shook her head.

Claire stood up. "Dinner's at seven, if you decide to come. They've really been wanting to talk to you and get to know you too. I know you're kind of twitchy around Dad, since he was the one you were trying to get away from when you set the apartment on fire, but he's not a bad person."

"I know." Meredith shrugged. "He's done right by you, but I just don't know if I'm ready to meet with them, yet." She sighed. "I'll think about it, okay?"

"Okay." Claire kissed her cheek before she headed for the door. "I'd really like for all of my parents to get to know each other, adoptive and bio. I want all of you in my life, you know."

"I know." Meredith nodded. "I'll try, okay?"

"Thanks." Claire grinned as she walked out of the trailer.

Meredith closed the door and sat down at the table, chewing on a fingernail. "Dinner with the Bennets?" She shook her head. "I can't. I'm not ready yet."

* * *

Late that night, Ombassa arrived in Las Vegas. He nodded to the driver picking him up and gave the address to the apartment building. Stepping out of the car, he studied the outside of the building before looking around. Smiling, he took a deep breath and turned into a calico kitten. He ran quickly across the street and crawled under the fence to the back area near the pool. Jumping onto a lounge chair, he curled up and went to sleep.

The next morning, Claire headed for the pool with Molly, Lyle, Nikolai and Micah. As she set her towel down on a chair, she heard Molly gasp and squeal with delight. Turning, she spotted her foster sister bend down and pick something up from a chair. "What is it?"

Molly turned to her, cradling a calico kitten in her arms. "Oh Claire, he's so precious and cute!"

Claire smiled as the kitten purred in Molly's arms. She reached out and scratched him under his chin. "He is pretty adorable. Where did you find him?"

"On the chair." Molly pointed to a lounge chair. She looked back down at the kitten. "He doesn't have a collar or tag. You think he's a stray?" She gasped, looking up at Claire. "Oh! Do you think I can keep him?"

Claire laughed softly. "You'll have to ask Mom about that."

Lyle snorted. "MOM? You'll have to ask her, Dad AND Mr. Muggles if you can keep a cat around! You know that dog will go NUTS when he sees a kitten taking over in the house."

"Can we go ask her?" Molly looked sadly up at Claire. "He's so tiny. We can't just leave him out here alone."

Claire sighed. "Let's go talk to Mom. If we can't keep him, I'm sure someone in the building would love a kitten."

"I hope we can keep him." Molly smiled down at him as Claire led her upstairs. "I want to name him Patches."

"Patches, huh?" Claire laughed. "God help us all, you've already named him." As she passed Meredith's trailer, she smiled as her mother stepped out. "Hey!"

"Hey!" Meredith smiled softly. "Sorry I couldn't make it last night."

"It's okay." Claire nodded. "It's going to take some time, right?"

"I'll get there soon though, don't worry." Meredith watched as her daughter and foster sister walked away.

* * *

Gabriel walked out of the apartment as Claire and Molly stepped off the elevator. "I thought you two just went down to the pool?"

Claire nodded. "Oh we did, but Molly found something."

"A kitten." Molly ducked her head down shyly, as she always did around Gabriel. "We think he's a stray."

"A kitten?" Gabriel smiled at her. "Thinking about keeping him?"

"If Mama Bennet lets me." Molly stared at the floor.

"Well, I hope she does. Every little girl should have a pet. Olivia used to have a dog when she was girl. She loves talking about her. Her name was Daisy."

Molly finally lifted her head to look up at him. "Did YOU have a pet growing up?"

Gabriel shook his head. "Nope. They weren't allowed in our building. That, and my mother hated indoor pets. She said they were messy and a nuisance." He rolled his eyes. "Good luck with the kitten."

Molly nodded. "Thanks."

Gabriel headed to the elevator, glancing over his shoulder at the kitten in Molly's arms. The kitten stared back at him over Molly's shoulder, it's yellow eyes narrowing as it stared at Gabriel. He frowned as the elevator doors closed. "I'll be damned if that little bastard wasn't glaring at me." He whispered to himself. He shook his head. "A cat glaring at me, what will I come up with next?" He laughed softly as he headed downstairs.

Late that night as Molly slept peacefully in her room, her new pet sat up at the foot of her bed and looked around. Making sure she was asleep, he headed towards an electrical socket and with a zap of electricity, was absorbed into it. He reappeared in the lobby and began to explore the first floor before entering another socket and arriving on the second floor. Throughout the night, Ombassa, disguised as a cat, explored every floor of the building, sometimes entering apartments and studying who was living where. A few hours later, he reappeared in Molly's room and curled up at her feet, purring contentedly as he dozed off.


	80. Chapter 80

Chapter Eighty: Kitten Recon

Mohinder studied the blood samples in the lab as Meredith, Nathan and Claire stood by. After a few minutes, he turned to them. "I think my theory is correct."

Claire grinned. "So now I'm a bigger fireball than Meredith-"

"-And a faster and better flier than me." Nathan chuckled softly.

Mohinder nodded. "Her DNA has adapted to express both of your powers even more strongly than the two of you do so basically, yes. She's a bigger fireball than Meredith and a faster flier than you are, Nathan. She's able to control both abilities and use them with more dexterity than the two of you." He smiled. "I love it when a theory of mine is proven."

"It's pretty cool." Claire giggled.

"It's very cool." Mohinder studied his notes. "Now I just have to study Olivia's blood samples and compare them to Angela's and Daniel Linderman's."

"So she should be able to swap bodies back and forth faster and easier than Mom does." Nathan nodded.

"Exactly." Mohinder glanced over at Nathan. "As well as use Linderman's power with a bit more force than he did."

Meredith frowned. "I know I'm out of the loop somewhat, and it's totally my fault for being a bit anti-social, but what exactly WAS Linderman's power?"

"Healing." Claire turned to her mother. "But it's different from mine. I can heal myself. He could heal others with a touch of his hand."

"That's how Heidi ended up being able to walk again after the accident." Nathan sighed. "Only good thing the bastard with his life basically, besides conceiving Olivia."

Meredith's eyes widened. "So Olivia can basically be a super-healer?"

Mohinder nodded. "Yes. Linderman could only heal someone if they were alive."

Nathan took a deep breath and slowly let it out. "Wait, are you saying that Olivia could-"

"-Possibly heal someone after they died." Mohinder frowned. "We haven't tested that theory. We'd rather not, actually."

"Why?" Meredith shook her head. "I mean, if she could bring someone back to life-"

"-The question is, what would she bring back?" Mohinder sighed. "Gabriel recently discovered my theory. Apparently he's been on a tear about wanting Olivia to resurrect Tatiana because of it. She and Peter have both tried explaining to him that as long as Tatiana's been gone, there's a possibility that, even if she COULD resurrect the child, she might resurrect something inhuman, something without a soul." Mohinder looked pointedly at Claire. "I'd prefer it if you not bring this up with Claude and Nikolai, or Hana for that matter."

"They already know." Claire nodded. "Gabriel discussed it with them after he first found out. Claude and Hana are against it."

"And Nikolai?" Nathan asked.

Claire shrugged. "Nikolai's on the fence, basically. He worries about what would be resurrected exactly, but he feels the same way that Gabriel does, basically. She was his sister, she's the last biological family member he had left." She stared at the floor. "Olivia and Peter have kept Gabriel reined in for the most part, and I've kept Nikolai from dwelling on it, but I know it's in the back of both of their minds. They both loved Tatiana so much."

"We all did." Nathan nodded. "But the idea that-" he shook his head "-if Tatiana came back wrong, they'd have to destroy her. They'd have to-"

"-Kill her again." Mohinder stared at the floor. "It wouldn't be right to bring her body back if her soul wasn't intact."

"Killing her again would destroy Gabriel and Nikolai." Claire whispered. "I keep telling Nik that. He agrees, but he still wonders 'what if?'. I think he's always going to wonder."

"Poor guys." Meredith shook her head. "I remember that kid. She was so precious and sweet. The night she died was a pretty awful one for everyone. I certainly don't want to relive it."

Mohinder shuffled his papers around nervously. "I'd prefer it if we tabled this discussion. I have Peter and Nikolai on their way here soon to run some tests on them."

Claire frowned. "What kind of tests?"

Mohinder smiled. "Candice told me what happened with the force field they generated the night they went to Linderman's to pull their little taunting stunt. I'd like to test it that force field here in the lab. I have a theory about that as well."

"What kind of theory?" Meredith asked. "And why haven't we ALL gotten this force field yet?"

"Well, first of all, Peter has the blood samples to imbue everyone with the field, but he doesn't want anyone getting it until right before we have to go into battle. He doesn't want to run the risk of Linderman getting his hands on it. It's our 'secret weapon' so to speak."

"Except it's not so secret anymore." Nathan rolled his eyes. "Gabriel slipped up the night Tatiana died and he attacked Linderman. Linderman read his mind and found out about the force field power. It's Faith's power, actually. When Future Hiro visited Peter with a teenaged Faith, she gave him samples of her blood. Linderman wants either the samples she gave up then, or Faith's blood now. That's why he had Olivia attacked in the doctor's office last month. Faith's power has already manifested, actually. Little prodigy threw out a force field in utero to stop Linderman's people from performing an amniocentesis on Olivia."

"Whoa." Meredith whispered. "So THAT'S why Peter's freaking out about having to deliver Faith in the apartment instead of a hospital. Damn."

"That's why." Nathan nodded.

"I figured Olivia wanted to deliver at home as part of her whole kumbaya hippie crap, but now I see that she has a valid reason for not wanting to have the baby in a hospital. Anyone could get in there to get that baby's blood." Meredith shuddered.

"Anyway, we're not getting imbued with the power until right before battle, to keep it safe. If Linderman gets his hands on it, everyone would have a force field. You would pay hell attacking his people." Mohinder sighed. "And now on to my theory. Candice told me that Peter's force field was strong, but it got stronger when Nikolai used the power as well."

"It did." Claire grinned. "It was pretty cool. Not only did it get stronger, it got bigger as well."

"My theory is this, if everyone has the force field, when Linderman tries to go nuclear on everyone, as Peter foresaw in a dream, you would all be able to activate at once and stop everyone from getting nuked." Mohinder raised an eyebrow. "Even save Linderman's people as well. Perhaps if they saw him attacking them as well as all of you, they'd finally come over to our side."

"And then Linderman wouldn't have an army anymore." Nathan grinned. "Wicked plan."

"And then all we'd have to do is all charge the old bastard together and bring him down." Claire smiled. "You think it would work?"

"That's why I'm having Peter and Nikolai come in for further testing, but yes I think it would work." Mohinder nodded.

"Hell of a secret weapon." Meredith mused.

Mohinder smiled at her and Claire. "Care to stick around and test it out with the boys?"

* * *

"Paaaatches!" Molly wandered around the apartment, her brow furrowing. "Patches? Here kitty, kitty!" 

"What's going on?" Sandra stepped into the living room as Molly looked under the sofa.

"I can't find Patches." Molly frowned. "He was curled up on my bed a moment ago, but now-" behind her and Sandra's backs, the cat flew out of the electrical outlet and settled on the ground under a chair. Mr. Muggles noticed the sudden appearance and ran towards the kitten, barking his head off. The cat hissed and backed away from the dog, swiping at him with his claws. Molly turned and giggled. "There you are!" She scooped the kitten up in her arms and walked towards her bedroom. "Let's go play, okay?"

Sandra laughed softly. "You and Patches are playing?"

Molly nodded. "He's my baby, so I put him in a bonnet and stroller, of course."

"Well of course." Sandra scooped up Mr. Muggles as he hopped back and forth on the ground, growling and barking at the 'cat'. "What's with YOU, huh? I know there's a new baby in the house, but you'll always be my sweetie, isn't that right, Mr. Muggles?" Sandra cradled the dog as she watched her foster daughter walk back to her bedroom, the 'cat' glaring balefully at them over her shoulder. "That cat has the strangest expressions." She mused. She turned as the doorbell rang and opened it, smiling at Peter. "Well hello you! How have you been?"

"Great!" Peter grinned.

At the sound of Peter's voice, 'Patches' leaped out of Molly's arms and headed for her door. "Where are YOU going?" She chased the kitten and pulled him back into her arms. "Silly baby!"

Peter glanced down the hall. "There's a silly baby in here? I thought the silly baby was next door with his pregnant wife."

Sandra chuckled. "Molly found a stray kitten last week. She's named it Patches."

"Cute." Peter laughed. "How's Mr. Muggles taking the interloper?"

"He's been barking at that kitten and growling like crazy." Sandra stroked her dog's fur. "So possessive of his people, aren't you, Mr. Muggles? He doesn't like having a new baby around the house." She shrugged. "He'll get over it eventually though. Molly's so cute with that kitten, too. She babies it and sleeps with it."

"She's found her own Muggles, huh?" Peter grinned.

"It looks that way." Sandra sighed. "So what brings you by here?"

"I came to pick up a package of liver?" Peter wiggled his eyebrows.

Sandra nodded. "I see."

"Yeah. I'm going to keep it in my freezer for the next couple of months until it's time to imbue everyone. Thanks for hanging onto it for the last year or so." Peter smiled.

"Not a problem!" Sandra opened the freezer and found the package. "And no one even came CLOSE to opening it." She laughed as she handed it to Peter.

"Well, it was marked 'liver'. How many kids do you know will willingly open a package of THAT?" He nodded to Sandra. "Thanks again."

"My pleasure!" She let Peter out before walking down the hall to Molly's room. Molly was sitting in the swing in the middle of her room, swinging back and forth with 'Patches' in her lap. The kitten looked miserable dressed in a dress and bonnet as he rested in Molly's lap. "You two playing nice in here?"

Molly nodded as she stopped swinging and cuddled the kitten. "He's my best friend."

"That's nice." Sandra stared at the cat again as he seemed to glare angrily up at her. "Strange looking thing." She whispered to herself as she left the room.

* * *

Sherry and Tulia looked up from the couch as Peter entered the apartment, the package under his arm. "What'cha got there, Handsome?" Sherry asked, grinning.

"Just something I asked Sandra to watch over last year." Peter held it up. "Anyone want some liver?"

"EW!" Sherry made a face. "You're putting THAT back in our freezer?"

"What is it?" Tulia asked.

"Liver." Sherry looked away. "It's kind of gross, really."

"Liver's not so bad." Tulia shrugged. "I could make some one night."

"Oh, that's okay." Sherry shook her head. "I don't eat liver." She stood up and followed Peter into the kitchen. "Thanks for making me lie to my favorite sister-in-law, asshat."

"The fewer people know what's really in here, the better." Peter glanced at the doorway to the kitchen. "You don't think Tulia's going to actually open this, do you?"

"I hope not, she'll be in for a shock if she does." Sherry shrugged. "She'll probably think we're seriously sick if she does." She stared at the package. "Our secret weapon."

"Yep." Peter kissed her. "Listen, what's something that Tulia hates to eat?"

Sherry shrugged. "Pork chops?"

"Good one." Peter unwrapped the tubes of blood from the butcher paper and re-wrapped them, writing 'pork chops' on the package before placing it in their freezer. He placed it far in the back, covering it with other packages. "Think she'll find it now?"

"Hopefully not." Sherry wrapped her arms around Peter's waist and began to kiss him. "What have you got planned today, Mr. Petrelli?"

"Well, Soon-To-Be Mrs. Petrelli, I've got to head over to the lab with Nikolai in a while. He's got a theory about our little secret weapon and he wants to test it out. Why?" He wiggled his eyebrows. "Did you have something else in mind?"

"Maybe." Sherry shrugged. "I can put it on hold for a while. Tulia and I have a few irons in the fire that can occupy my time until then."

"What kind of irons?" Peter nuzzled her neck.

"Planning our wedding and planning a little shower for Kimiko." Sherry sighed. "She and Ando set a date."

"You're kidding!" Peter laughed. "So Ando's actually going to take the plunge, huh?"

"Kaito sort of pushed them along, and I do mean pushed! They're getting married a month before we are!" Sherry giggled. "They're getting married on November first, and he's paid for them to have a two-week honeymoon in Thailand."

"Ooooh!" Peter snorted. "Kaito's playing dirty, I see. Kimiko was so hell-bent on getting imbued and joining on us all on the battlefield."

"Yep!" Sherry nodded, smirking. "He told her that November first was the best day for them and Ando agreed. She pitched a fit about it, but Kaito, Ando and Hiro finally talked her down. I don't think Ando wants her fighting with us any more than Kaito does."

"He's in love with her, why would he want the woman he loves endangering herself to fight Linderman's army." Peter kissed her. "If I had it my way-"

"-you don't-"

"-you wouldn't be there either." Peter sighed. "And I'll bet Gabriel would tie up and toss Olivia in whatever bunker I'd throw you in too, rather than let her step onto that field."

"And we'd find a way to get out and beat BOTH of your asses on that field when the war was over." Sherry mock-glared at Peter. "So you and your brother-in-law don't need to be getting any ideas, got it?"

Peter nodded. "Got it." He cuddled Sherry. "So Kimiko and Ando are getting hitched on November first, and we've set the date as well."

Sherry nodded. "I can't wait for December sixth to get here. I want you to be all mine, legally."

"Me too." Peter smiled. "If you can make it down the aisle without waddling." His expression turned serious. "You know, it's July."

"I know." Sherry lowered her eyes.

"The battle I witnessed took place in November. You appeared to be about five months along then, which means-"

"-I haven't taken any tests." Sherry frowned. "I'm kind of scared to."

"Are you late?" Peter tilted her chin up to make her meet his eyes. "You're blocking your thoughts from me. Sherry, are you-?"

"-I don't know." Sherry stepped away from Peter as she hugged her arms. "And stop snooping in my head, okay?"

"Okay." Peter smiled softly. "But you think you might be-?"

"-I don't know, okay?" Sherry shook her head. "I've always been irregular. I don't get a period half of the time anyway, so skipping one isn't such a big deal for me. I'm on The Pill-"

"-But you were probably on The Pill in Future Hiro's time too."

"I don't want to know yet." Sherry looked up at Peter. "I'm not ready to find out. And don't you start activating any super-hearing to try and see if you can hear any extra heartbeats, got it? I'll find out when I'm ready and I should be the first to know, don't you agree?"

Peter nodded. "I agree." He pulled her into his arms and kissed her. "But if you are-"

"-I'm still fighting." Sherry snuggled up to him. "You won't use that as an excuse to keep me off the battlefield and we're NOT telling anyone until after the battle, including your mother. She made me swear that I wouldn't fight if I were pregnant."

Peter smiled at her. "Like even my mother could keep you away. I will remind you though, in the battle I saw, you couldn't exactly hide your condition. You were showing."

Sherry sighed. "I believe you."

"Take a test." Peter kissed her cheek. "Stop worrying about it, okay?"

"I'll think about it." Sherry swatted playfully at Peter's arm. "Don't you have a force field you need to test?"

"Yeah, I do." Peter kissed her again. "I love you like crazy, Sherry Bombano."

"Not as crazy I love you, Peter Petrelli." Sherry smiled as he walked out of the kitchen. As soon as he left, her smile faded as she touched her stomach. "Anybody in there?" She whispered softly.

* * *

Molly sat on her swing, watching Patches play on the floor, batting a ball around wearily. Finally the kitten sat down and scanned the room. "What'cha looking at, Kitty?" She smiled. The cat noticed a panic button on the wall, then began to bat the ball around, this time with more vigor. Suddenly, he turned and jumped on a chair before swatting at the panic button with his paw, quickly leaping back down as an alarm began to sound throughout the apartment, and quickly, the entire building. 

Sandra ran down the hall, a gun in her hand as Molly scooped up the kitten and opened her bedroom door. "Molly?"

Molly grinned sheepishly. "False alarm." Her eyes widened as Gabriel and Olivia both phased through the wall of her bedroom from their apartment, both with guns drawn and ready. "Wow!" She looked around. "It was a false alarm. Patches was playing and went nuts. He hit the panic button on the wall."

Sandra slumped against a wall with relief as Gabriel and Olivia did the same, all three of them lowering their guns as the kitten observed all, his tail twitching with interest. Gabriel pulled out a phone and dialed it quickly. "Hey Kaito? I didn't know it was your day to watch the security system. Sound an 'all clear', it was a false alarm. Yeah, Molly's new kitten went haywire and smacked the panic button in her room." As he hung up, others phased through the walls of the apartment, toting guns. Gabriel held up his hands. "Just the cat! False alarm, people!" He grinned as Parkman, D.L. and Niki among others shook their heads with relief as their phones beeped with text messages and the alarm cut off. Gabriel looked at his. "Kaito's sounded the all clear, but damn do you guys move fast!" He laughed softly. "God help anyone who actually attacks us, huh?"

"Pretty wild kitten you've got there." Olivia walked over to Molly and gasped as the kitten jumped down and began to wind around her ankles, purring. "Cute, though."

"Yeah, he's going to be a handful." Gabriel chuckled as he knelt down in front of the kitten. "Are you the little guy who started all this fuss?" He reached out his hand to pet the kitten and yelped as it hissed and swatted at his hand with it's paw, scratching the top of his hand. "YIKES!" He stood up. "Okay, apparently cats hate me."

"Sorry." Molly scooped up the kitten. "He's kind of cranky sometimes."

Gabriel nodded as he stared at the claw marks on the top of his hand. He lifted his head, meeting the kitten's steely gaze as he glared up at Gabriel from Molly's arms. "He's definitely got that 'go to hell' look that cats get down."

D.L. nodded. "Yeah. That's why I'm not down with cats. They seem so superior." He sighed as he turned to Niki and the rest of the people who had appeared in the apartment. "At least we know that the security system works!" He nodded to Sandra, laughing softly as everyone left the apartment.

Olivia took a deep breath. "Okay, that was my excitement for the day. Faith's kicking like crazy now." Gabriel frowned as Olivia rubbed her belly, and then turned again, noticing the way the kitten gazed at her. "Ready to go?"

"Huh?" Gabriel turned to Olivia.

"I asked if you were ready to go back to our place." Olivia gasped. "Faith wasn't too thrilled with the excitement. She's bouncing around in there like a jumping bean and you were in the middle of rubbing my feet."

"Oh, yeah." Gabriel took Olivia's hand and began to head for the door with Sandra, giving the kitten one last confused look over his shoulder. His eyes widened as he noticed the cat raise a paw, one claw sticking out. "What the hell?"

"What?" Olivia asked wearily.

Gabriel leaned towards her as Sandra walked with the towards the door. "If I didn't know better, I'd swear that fucking thing just flipped me off."

Olivia giggled. "A kitten flipping you off? Okay, that's a new one, even for you!"

"Sorry about all of the excitement." Sandra sighed.

"Oh, I needed a dose of adrenaline for the day." Olivia rubbed her belly. "Faith doesn't agree though."

"How's it going?" Sandra smiled at her. "Entering the home stretch. Just a few more weeks left. You excited?"

"Yep!" Olivia grinned. "And I'm just ready to get this kid out. We went to the doctor last week and had one of those 4-D ultrasounds. You could see the hair on her head and everything. It made me want to reach in, pull her out and cuddle her."

"Oh, give her a few more weeks to finish cooking in there." Sandra patted Olivia's tummy. "You'll have plenty of time to cuddle with her soon enough."

"Come on August third!" Olivia hugged Sandra. "If you guys need anything."

"I'll call you right away." Sandra laughed. "That kitten. Ever since he got here, he's just caused an uproar. Muggles hates him and that cat is always hissing at Noah. He seems to only like me, Claire and Molly for the most part. He's always disappearing, too."

"Disappearing?" Gabriel's brow furrowed. "Disappearing how?"

"Oh, he's just such a tiny thing, he's always wandering off and ending up in the weirdest places. He went missing for an hour or two yesterday and we finally found him in my bathroom of all places. You know how cats are, they get into everything. So sneaky."

"Yeah." Gabriel sighed and shook his head. "Maybe he won't go smacking any more panic buttons."

"I hope so." Sandra let them out, smiling at them as they left.

* * *

"Okay, activate your force fields separately first." Mohinder filmed Peter and Nikolai as they stood in the testing lab. They both concentrated as a red glow emanated from both of them. Mohinder walked over to them, reaching out his hands and smiling as it was pushed away. "It appears that when each person activates the force fields separately, it has a radius of five feet around the individual." Okay, lower them for a moment. The glows dissipated. "Stand together. I want one of you to touch the other's shoulder and then re-activate the fields." Peter placed a hand on Nikolai's shoulders as the red glow emanated again, this time glowing brighter and extending further. "The fields appear to be stronger as both subjects touch and combine the power, with the radius extending out at least fifteen feet." Mohinder pulled out a gun, firing it. He smiled as the bullet bounced away. As Peter and Nikolai's eyes widened, Meredith stepped into the room with Claire. Mohinder nodded to them. "Do your worst." 

"Uh, Mohinder? What are you doing?" Peter asked as Meredith and Claire stood in front of them.

"Just testing a theory, that's all." Mohinder darted out of the room to the safety of the observation booth with his camera. "Still filming! Go for it, ladies!"

"Wait, maybe we should talk about this first!" Peter looked at Claire and Meredith nervously as they began to smile at them. "MOHINDER!"

"Just relax and concentrate on the force field." Nikolai smiled. "We can regenerate if it fails, but I don't feel like having my clothes burned off in front of my girlfriend, don't you agree?"

"Shit!" Peter moaned as Meredith and Claire held out their hands. A fireball burst from Meredith's hands as an even larger one burst from Claire's. The men were engulfed in flames as Mohinder watched in shock. "THAT"S GOOD! THAT'S ENOUGH! UNCLE!" Peter yelled. Moments later, Mohinder yelped and backed away as the glass separating him from the observation booth began to bubble.

Meredith lowered her hands and elbowed Claire. "That's enough, Honey."

Claire lowered her hands as the flames quickly subsided. "Whoa!" She smiled at Peter and Nikolai as they lowered the force field, both of them unscathed. "Pretty wicked power you guys have acquired."

Peter took a deep breath, beads of sweat dripping from his forehead. "I could say the same for you." He looked up at the now-warped glass of the observation booth. "Mohinder? You still alive in there?" He turned as Mohinder burst through the doors of the testing lab, yelping as his hands touched the glowing metal of the doors. "Got kind of hot in here."

"I can see." Mohinder shook his hands, wincing as blisters appeared on his palms. "You warped the glass in the booth and superheated the metal on the doors. The thermometer outside of the room, that recorded the temperature in here is broken."

"Wow. Sorry." Claire whispered as Peter stepped forward and took Mohinder's hands in his own. The blisters quickly healed as Peter touched him.

"Thanks." Mohinder nodded. He turned to Claire. "Don't apologize. Before it broke, the thermometer read a temperature of over 2000 degrees Fahrenheit. Any hotter, and the two of you would have literally melted this building."

"Damn." Meredith stared at Claire. "It was mostly you, Sweetie. I was going full blast and I could still feel the heat radiating off of you big time.

"I was barely using the power." Claire blushed. "I was worried about blowing up the building."

"Good thing you thought of that." Mohinder nodded. "You probably could have reduced this place to ash, if you were barely using it then."

"Talk about a firestarter." Peter grinned at Claire. "And now we know that the force field can withstand at least 2000 Fahrenheit."

"Do you think it could withstand a nuclear blast?" Nikolai asked.

Peter shrugged. "With our entire army generating one at once? Probably." He turned to Mohinder. "How much of this did you get on tape?"

Mohinder grinned. "All of it."

* * *

Late that night as Molly slept, the kitten leaped off of her bed and quickly ran to an electrical outlet. He jumped into it, quickly disappearing. Moments later, he appeared through an outlet in the lobby, checked to make sure that the cameras were panning away from him, and phased through the doors, strolling towards the street. Checking the traffic, the kitten quickly dashed across the street into an alley towards a parked car. The kitten quickly morphed into Ombassa as the car door opened. Gota stepped out, handing him a change of clothes. "Thanks." He whispered, dressing quickly. 

"Well?" She asked, glancing towards the building. "What have you discovered?"

"Quite a lot!" Ombassa stared at her. "Please tell me you brought food! I've been eating canned tuna for a week. It was disgusting!" He sighed happily as she handed him a bag of fast food. "Oh thank GOD!" He started eating the hamburger inside, sighing happily with each bite. "A week of turning my nose up at cat food, only to be fed tuna while the rest of that family eats actual people food has been driving me nuts!" He gulped down the burger and fries. "Please tell me that I don't have to go back there."

"Depends on what you've discovered." Gota raised an eyebrow. "Well?"

"There's quite a solid security system. Cameras are on every floor and there are panic buttons in every room of every apartment." Ombassa glared at the building. "I've spent a week being dragged around, put in bonnets and baby clothes, put in strollers, cooed over, chased by that fucking dog. Do you have any idea how huge a Pomeranian is when you're a one-pound kitten?"

"Back to the security system, please!" Gota snapped.

"There's a central hub on the first floor of the building, in what would be the manager's office. They take shifts daily to watch the cameras and monitor the system. Every eight hours, they switch off. Also, they're pretty well trained when it comes to the panic button. When one is hit, an alarm sounds throughout the entire building and they all get text messages on their phones telling them where exactly the alarm has been sounded. The lot of them can phase and fly. Within ten seconds of that alarm going off, Mrs. Bennet was in the room with a gun and the Grays phased through the wall to the room, equally armed. Within twenty seconds the apartment was filled with people who had phased and flown into the area, all armed and dangerous."

"I see." Gota nodded. "And the living arrangements?"

"Olivia and Gabriel are on the twenty-second floor. The apartments on the twenty-first and twenty-second have been modified, turned into two huge suites. Angela Petrelli and Kaito Nakamura live next door to Nathan's family on the twenty-first. Olivia and Gabriel live next door to the Bennet family on the twenty-second."

"Laurent?" Gota glared.

"He's on the fifteenth floor, apartment 1505. He lives with a psychiatrist who can search memories. There is another person who lives there as well, I'm not sure who." Ombassa nodded. He turned in the alley and began to dig through a pile of rubble. "I left a notebook here with a pen. At night I'd cross the street and write down the living arrangements of each person." He smiled as he found the notebook. "I had to be quick about it. Didn't want to be missed by the brat, she's a light sleeper." He handed the notebook to Gota. "Every person is listed here, and I've listed who lives where."

Gota smiled as she took the book. "Anyone suspect anything?"

"I think Gabriel Gray is onto me. He's been looking at me rather suspiciously lately. Also, Noah Bennett has been glaring at me a bit as well."

"And Dr. Gray? How is her pregnancy progressing?"

"Very well." Ombassa beamed. "She's dropped. She's due on August eighth, but I'd be shocked to see her go that long. What's today's date?"

Gota smiled. "July seventeenth."

"If she makes it to her due date, I would be extremely surprised. He could raid that building tonight and take the baby without any harm coming to her."

"I'll be sure to tell Daniel." Gota sighed.

"WE'LL be sure to tell Daniel." Ombassa glared. "If you think I'm going back into that place after everything I've gathered, you must be mistaken. I've given you the information we need!"

"And what of the blood samples that Peter Petrelli has been hiding? He has samples of Daniel's granddaughter's blood."

"I heard Petrelli come by today. Unfortunately the child was in the middle of dressing me as a fucking baby, so I couldn't listen in on the conversation. I did hear the freezer door open. I assume that he had been keeping the samples safe in the Bennet house and had come to collect them. They could be anywhere in the building or laboratory now." Ombassa sighed. "What do you need the blood samples for anyway? Once we get our hands on Daniel's granddaughter, we'll have her blood to use ourselves."

"Linderman doesn't want them to have the capabilities to generate a force field at all." Gota sneered. "It would be useless for us to be able to generate one and have them do the same. We'd be at a stalemate in a battle with them."

"We'll find it when we raid the building. We'll read Sandra Bennet's mind, or Petrelli's or his fiancée's. Surely he would know where the blood was stored, yes?"

"Perhaps." Gota nodded.

"So may I return with you now?" Ombassa turned back to the building. "I do not want to return there."

"Very well." Gota smirked. "You don't want to nuzzle Molly goodbye?"

"Screw her!" Ombassa climbed into the car. "I'm sick of dealing with that brat!" Gota laughed as she got behind the wheel of the car and drove away with him.

* * *

quick note: I've decided that since it's canon now, Linderman will be referred to as Daniel sometimes as well. I've still gone off the canon reservation though in one respect: Hana's still alive! ;-P Hope you guys enjoyed this latest installment! I've got to get ready to go watch my FAVE show! 


	81. Chapter 81

Chapter Eighty-One: Over-Protective Big Brother

"Molly! Breakfast!" Sandra called down the hall as she served the rest of the family their breakfast. "Molly?" She sighed and walked down the hall to Molly's room. "Molly honey?" Molly was scampering around her room, searching under furniture and clothes with tears in her eyes. "What's wrong?"

"Patches isn't here!" Molly hiccupped as she sobbed. "I woke up and he was gone!"

"That's odd!" Sandra walked into the room and closed the door. "Was your door open last night when you went to bed?"

"No!" Molly's chin trembled. "I started shutting it because he'd wander off in the middle of the night."

"Maybe if you got up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom or something-"

"-I didn't!" Molly shook her head. "I didn't have to go!"

"Then he should be here in your room." Sandra hugged the child. "I'll help you look for him." She knelt on the floor beside Molly, checking under the bed and checking the bed clothes.

A few minutes later, Noah opened Molly's bedroom door and frowned to see them searching the room. "Is everything okay?"

"The cat's missing." Sandra shook her head. "I swear, I have never seen an animal that could just disappear like that one does. You'd think he could walk through walls or something." She looked up as Noah's eyes widened in horror. "What?"

"Hang on." He pulled out his cell phone as he turned back to Sandra. "Molly's sure that there's no way that kitten could have gotten out of her room during the night?"

Sandra shook her head again. "She kept her door shut all night, never got up for anything. When I checked on her before I went to bed, she was fast asleep with the kitten at the foot of her bed. What's going on?"

Noah held up a finger for a moment as he walked out of Molly's room into the hallway, closing the door behind him. Sandra quickly followed him into the hallway. "Kaito? Quick question. That man that worked for Linderman, the one that Hiro fought in India, he could turn into a tiger, correct?" He nodded. "Thank you." He hung up his phone and dialed another number. "Laurent? I have a question for you. The man that you were partnered with in India who could turn into tigers, Ombassa yes. Is there any way he could have turned into another animal, say something small like a puppy or a kitten?" He closed his eyes and slumped against a wall. "I see. Before you turned on Linderman, I have to ask you something else, did Linderman ever dose this Ombassa with the power to phase through walls, or-" He sighed. "I see. Thank you." He hung up the phone as Sandra stared at him, wide-eyed. "Shit." He whispered.

Sandra leaned towards him. "What did you find out? Was Molly's kitten-?"

"-a murderous henchman of Linderman's? Yeah." Noah nodded. "It looks that way."

"But why was he here?"

"I don't know, but I'm going to call everyone together and see what they think." Sighing, he opened his phone again and sent out a text message.

"And Molly?" Sandra looked towards the little girl's door sadly. "What do I tell her?"

"The truth. Tell her that someone with an ability to turn themselves into animals came here, preyed on her kind heart and goodwill and used all of us. We were all fooled, Sandra. Molly's the biggest victim though. She was crazy about that kitten."

"Maybe when she's feeling better, we'll get her a real one." Sandra nodded.

"Maybe." Noah frowned as he walked away.

* * *

In the training room, Gabriel sighed and shook his head as Noah finished telling the group his suspicions about Molly's "kitten". "I knew there was something hinkey about that cat." He turned to Olivia. "I told you that little bastard flipped me off!"

"So why was he here?" Peter frowned.

"Spying." Candice leaned back and nodded. "He was sent here to spy on us."

"For what reason?" Matt stared at everyone. "What information could a kitten have gotten?"

"Whatever he wanted." Angela snapped. "Who would notice something as innocuous as a kitten roaming the damn halls."

"Fucking bastard." Nathan muttered.

Peter's eyes widened. "He wanted to know how we're vulnerable here." He whispered.

"What?" Gabriel turned to him.

Peter nodded. "One of the dream walks I had with Sanjog, he showed me how the battle began. I told Olivia not to trust Linderman when he asked to have a peace talk with her on the battlefield, before the fighting began. I reminded her that Linderman tried to kidnap her the day that Faith was born."

"You think he went through all this trouble to find a way to kidnap me?" Olivia frowned.

"Not just you, but Faith." Peter turned to her. "It makes sense. He knows that we're going to take extra precautions to protect you both, he's going to try and kidnap you the day that Faith is born."

"On August third." Olivia rubbed her temples. "So he's going to come here in a little over two weeks to try and kidnap me and Faith."

"I think so, yeah." Peter nodded.

"He seems to forget a few things." Gabriel glared. "We're not going to let her go anywhere without putting up one hell of a fight."

Peter sighed. "And you and I are going to die fighting." As Gabriel turned to him Peter raised his eyebrows. "Remember what Mama Alice said? She said that the day your daughter is born, we both die. What if we die trying to defend Olivia from Linderman?"

Gabriel started to speak as Olivia took his hand and squeezed it. "That is what she said." Olivia whispered. "He sent someone here to see where our weaknesses were. The cat tested the panic button, remember?"

"I remember." Gabriel nodded.

"He probably found a way to find where each of us live in the building." Olivia sighed. "No one lives above us, Gabriel. It would be easy as hell for someone to land on the roof and phase through the floors until they're right on top of us before we know it."

"But the panic buttons-" Gabriel started to speak.

"-could easily be disabled from the security room." Olivia nodded. "He was here for over a week, probably slipping out of Molly's room whenever she was asleep or out at the pool. He could have found out everything about the living arrangements and security of this building."

"So what do we do?" Gabriel asked her.

"Find a way around the security system for starters."

Peter cleared his throat. "Maybe you and Gabriel should head out to Tybee Island on August first. I'll come along to help you deliver Faith when you go into labor two days later."

"I'll be going too." Angela turned to Olivia. "Don't even THINK about me not being there. This is my first granddaughter, I WILL be there when she's born!"

"Maybe I went into labor on August third in Future Hiro's time because they attacked us." Olivia shrugged. "I'm technically not due until August eighth."

"Maybe." Peter shrugged. "But you've dropped and you already told me this morning that you had a few contractions-"

"-WHAT?" Gabriel spun around on Olivia. "Why didn't you tell me?"

Olivia turned to Peter. "Thanks, Bro." She sighed as she turned to her husband. "They were false labor contractions, Braxton-Hicks."

"And you know this because?" Gabriel glared at her.

"Because I'm a doctor?" Olivia glared back up at him.

"A surgeon, not an obstetrician, and you haven't practiced surgery in almost two years, Darling."

"I think I can still tell the difference between regular contractions and false ones, DARLING!" Olivia turned away from him, fuming.

Peter cleared his throat. "What I'm saying is that you're probably due to give birth any day now. I don't think you're going to make it to August eighth. Maybe we should go ahead and induce. That way-"

"-That way when Linderman shows up, he'll have an actual tiny, defenseless baby to kidnap instead of a fetus still inside of her mother." Nathan snapped.

"She's not exactly defenseless." Peter shook his head. He sighed. "Arguing about this isn't going to help matters, okay? We know that Linderman had a spy in here under our noses. We know he wants Faith. We also know that in an alternate reality, he tried to kidnap Faith on the day she was born, August third. We can assume that the spy was here to check out any kinks in our security system that they can use against us. We can also assume that the spy was here to see who was living in which apartment, specifically Olivia and Gabriel."

"The way that cat kept staring at Olivia." Gabriel ground his teeth. "He was seeing how far along she was, seeing if it was safe to take the baby."

"So the first thing we need to do is re-route the security system, right?" D.L. looked around the room. "Suggestions?"

"Leave the regular security room as-is." Gabriel began to pace the floor. "Let it be a decoy. Set up a new security room elsewhere and re-route everything there."

"Send Olivia to Tybee Island." Angela nodded as she patted her daughter's hand. "If Faith was due to be born August third, we'll move Olivia on the second, preferably late at night. If I know Linderman, if he still attacks on August third, it would be early in the morning, while everyone's still asleep in bed. No one would suspect an early morning attack, or so he thinks. If Olivia was teleported to Tybee right before midnight on the third, Linderman won't have enough time to redirect his attack there and we could ride out the pregnancy at the island."

"That or we could just continue to move me around the world until I gave birth." Olivia nodded. "Solid plan."

"And it might save an attack on the building here." Angela raised an eyebrow. "He'll sense that you've gone, using Molly's powers, but won't be able to follow us for a few hours. By then, we could teleport you anywhere in the world to keep him at bay."

"And we'll what, Mom?" Nathan groaned. "Just continue to move Olivia and Faith and Gabriel all over the world every day until November, like Kaito did with Kimiko?"

"If we have to!" Angela sighed. "I'll do anything to keep my daughter and granddaughter safe."

Gabriel looked around the room. "Suddenly, I just got a really horrible idea."

"What?" Angela turned to him.

* * *

"So the security system works through panic buttons that alert everyone to whichever floor is in danger." Linderman paced the floor of his office as Ombassa and Gota sat in front of him. "That'll be easy enough to fix. We'll have someone phase into the security room and disconnect the system. If there's someone in there watching the monitors, they'll die."

"Wonderful plan, Daniel." Gota smiled sweetly up at him.

"And Olivia and Gabriel live in a suite on the twenty-second floor." He chuckled. "I wonder whose idea it was to do that? Probably Gabriel's. Olivia was raised with wealth and luxury, but she's always turned her nose up at the finer things. Do you know she actually LIKED living in a studio apartment in the Bronx while she was in medical school? It was a hovel. No, Gabriel probably planned out the suite. He was raised in a lower-middle class existence, things like status and luxury appeal to him more than they would to Livvie. No one lives above them, yes?"

"No one." Ombassa smiled.

"And the Bennets are next door. They'll be easy enough to contend with." Linderman sat down. "She's due August eighth, but appears to be a tad further along according to you, yes?" Ombassa nodded. "Hmmm. We'll enter the building at four a.m. on August third. She'll be close enough to her due date to keep herself and the baby from any complications if she's induced. We'll meet on the roof and phase through until we reach their apartment, take out Gray and ride out the labor in the apartment. Simple as pie." He turned to Gota. "You will go to the security room to cut off the system, yes?"

"Of course, Darling."

"After you've done that, you will find a way to the fifteenth floor to kill Laurent. I don't want him sticking his nose into our business and negating our powers. For now, I want you to assemble a team of twenty. I want the most violent, most dangerous, most rabid people here to come with us. Make sure they all have the power of flight and phasing." He raised a finger. "And make sure that Michael Burke is one of the people you put in the team. His power will most definitely come in handy." He sighed. "On August first, I want you and Mina to return to Las Vegas a few hours ahead of us. There's someone there I want the two of you to acquire, someone whose power will be most helpful."

"I won't let you down." Gota smiled at him as she stood. "Anything else?"

"Make sure that we have plenty of ammunition as well as the medical supplies we'll need to deliver my granddaughter." He laughed softly. "If we meet with too much resistance, I'll just reach into my daughter's belly and take the child out myself to save time." He sighed. "Hopefully it won't come to that, though."

* * *

"Hell of a meeting, huh?" Olivia sat up on her bed and looked up to see Sherry standing in her bedroom doorway. She twisted her fingers nervously as she looked around the room. Olivia noticed a plastic bag hanging off of an arm. "Gabriel around?"

Olivia shook her head. "No. He's with Peter and the rest of the guys, setting up a new security center. They're going to put it down in the basement."

"Won't they get suspicious if they show up to find the room unmanned?"

Olivia grinned. "A few of them are being imbued with Candice's power. On August second and third, they're going to take turns in the basement, 'broadcasting' an image to the security room above to make it look like someone's there."

"Good one." Sherry bit her lip nervously as Olivia watched her.

"What's going on, Sherry?"

"I need someone to hold my hand while I do something."

"What?"

"Pee on a stick?" Sherry opened the bag, dumping out a series of home pregnancy tests. "I took one this morning, but I want a second opinion."

Olivia smiled as she studied the boxes. "And a third, and a fourth, and a fifth."

"If need be." Sherry shrugged.

"What did the first test say?"

"I'll tell you if the second, third, fourth and fifth tests say the same thing." Sherry chewed on her bottom lip as Olivia slowly climbed out of bed.

"Come on, let's go take these tests." She took Sherry's hand and led her into the bathroom.

* * *

Gabriel helped set up the security system as he avoided the glares he got from Nathan. Peter caught onto the angry looks and finally elbowed his older brother. "Lay off of him, will you?"

"Lay off?" Nathan ground his teeth. "He's putting our sister and her daughter in direct danger."

"She's his wife and it's a solid plan. He's got just as much to lose if it doesn't go according to plan, more to lose, actually. He'll potentially lose a wife and daughter if it doesn't work." Peter shook his head. "Cut him a break."

"Why should I? You're cutting him enough breaks for the two of us." Nathan glared at Peter. "The minute he came up with that piece of shit idea, you just went along with it like you didn't have a care in the world, or a sister and niece to lose."

"Olivia went along with it too."

"Of course she did. She thinks Gabriel's so brilliant."

"Mom doesn't think he's so great, and she liked the plan too." Peter sighed. "In fact, you and Noah were the only two that got pissy about it."

"Because we both know that if this plan doesn't work, Olivia and Faith will be in Linderman's hands and he'll be able to fight us a lot easier when we're ready to go after him." Nathan threw down a pile of wires. "It's a STUPID plan, PETER!"

"NO IT'S NOT!" Peter yelled. "It's better than dragging her and the baby all over the world until Linderman finally catches them! If it works out right, we'll have Linderman in our sights! We can kill him when he tries to take Olivia and Faith! We can stop this stupid war before it finally comes to a head with his people trying to kill ours!"

"And trying to kill Sherry, right?" Nathan smirked. "That's what this is all about, isn't it, your girlfriend? You had that stupid dream about our battle, where Sherry died in front of you and ever since then, you've been hell bent on finding a way to save her from that fate!"

"First of all, she's my fiancée now! Second of all yeah, the idea of watching her die in battle, pregnant with my children scares the shit out of me, but according to Anthony, she's not going to meet that fate now. It's not just the prospect of losing HER that scares me, Nate! In case you've forgotten, I didn't just see HER die, I saw you die. I saw Mom die. I saw Claire, and Olivia, and Kaito, and Angelica, and D.L., and Niki, and Matt, and Claude and Hana, and Nikolai, and Meredith die, just to name a few. If I can keep that battle from happening, if I can save all of our lives by going along with Gabriel's plan and making sure it works, then I say risk Olivia and risk Faith and fight like hell to keep them from being taken! His plan could work! We could all be saved from fighting!"

"If it works, which I still doubt!" Nathan glared at him. "If it doesn't, and Linderman takes OUR sister and OUR niece, he'll not only have two people that mean a lot to me at least, but he'll also have access to a power that could get every one of us killed!"

"You don't think that Olivia and Faith mean something to ME?" Peter shook his head, tears brimming in his eyes. "She's my sister. I met her before you did and I believed in her before you did. I met Faith, a future version of her. She was so wonderful and smart. I loved her the moment I laid eyes on her. I'm trying to SAVE them, you ass!"

"By putting them in harm's way-deliberately!" Nathan stomped towards him. "You're being selfish!"

"I'M being selfish?" Peter snorted. "That's rich, coming from the guy who almost let New York get blown to bits almost two years ago! Good thing Claire guilt-tripped you into doing the right thing and helping me!"

"You little SHIT!" Nathan swung out and punched Peter, knocking him to the floor.

"ENOUGH!" Gabriel ran towards Nathan, pushing him away from Peter as Nikolai and Claude helped him up. "Stop it, okay?"

"Oh, you're next! How could you even suggest something like you suggested, huh? You're talking about your wife and daughter! You're using them as BAIT!" Nathan struggled against Gabriel.

"It's the best way to end this for once and for all." Gabriel sighed.

"Or it's the best way for all of us to get killed."

"What's wrong with YOU?" Claude stomped towards Nathan. "You really think we'd let some rotten bastard like Linderman actually get his claws into Olivia? Sure, she's going to be used as bait and it could put her in harm's way, but you keep forgetting that we're all going to be in the very next apartment, waiting to pounce on that fucker the moment he steps foot in Gabriel and Olivia's home. We'll all be waiting to kill him and anyone who shows up with him. You don't have enough faith in all of us, as a team, as an ARMY to pull that off?"

Nathan shook his head. "This isn't about having faith, this is about being scared for my sister."

"And I'm not scared?" Peter stared at him. "You don't think that the thought of anything happening to either one of them because of this doesn't petrify me?"

"OR ME?" Gabriel let Nathan go as he stepped away from him. "She's my WIFE! You don't think I would rather anyone else pull this off?"

"Some of us are already being imbued with Candice's power." Nathan glared at them. "Why can't someone else take Olivia's place, pretending to be her, huh? Hell, I'LL do it!"

"Linderman has Molly's power. You don't think he'll search for Olivia and me first before he enters the apartment? You don't think he's going to make SURE that whoever is in there is really her? He knows we have Candice and he's got to know that we're going to try and protect Olivia even more as her due date approaches. All of you will be in the Bennet's apartment with Laurent, blocking his ability to see inside of that place. All he'll see when he searches for people on the twenty-second floor will be me and Olivia and he's GOT to know for certain that it's really us and that we're alone before he walks into the trap." Gabriel nodded as Nathan's shoulders slumped. "I promise you now, I will defend my wife and daughter to my death if I have to. Linderman's not going to get one finger on them."

"He'd better not." Nathan headed for the door. "If he does, I'll never forgive any of you for going along with this." Walking out of the room, he slammed the door behind him.

* * *

"Well?" Sherry sat on the edge of the bathtub as Olivia checked the test results. Four different pregnancy tests were lined up on the counter. Olivia checked each test as Sherry gnawed on her fingernails. "What do the results say?"

Olivia walked over to Sherry and sat beside her. "Welcome to the Mommy Club."

"I'm pregnant?" Sherry's eyes widened as Olivia nodded. "You're SURE?"

"All five tests were positive so yeah, I'm sure." Olivia watched as Sherry burst into tears. "And this isn't a good thing?"

"It's a good thing." Sherry took a deep breath. "No really, it's a good thing."

"Yeah, I can tell." Olivia quipped as she raised her eyebrows at her future sister-in-law. "What's wrong?"

"I was hoping that maybe, with Peter and the rest of us working to change the future, that this would change too. It's not that I don't want to have a baby with him, or two, if Anthony's little prediction is correct, I would have just liked to have waited until after this huge battle and after we were married. I was hoping that maybe this would be put on hold for about six months." Sherry took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "I'm in that stupid less than one percent of women that get pregnant on birth control pills." She turned to Olivia as she wiped away her tears. "I do want this baby, or babies as it were, but I'm scared, too. I promised your mother that I wouldn't even dare try to fight alongside the rest of you if I were pregnant. I'm going to have to break that promise. I'm not letting Peter go off to fight without me. I couldn't bear the idea of him getting into trouble without me there to back him up."

"Well, didn't Anthony already say that your future has changed?" Olivia tucked a strand of honey-streaked hair behind Sherry's ear. "Didn't he say that he no longer saw you dying in the battle, that you lived to not only have the twins that you're probably carrying now, but also to have more children down the road? You're going to survive the battle, Sherry. You're going to survive, and marry my brother, and have his children and live a long life with him."

Sherry smiled softly. "You think?"

"I know." Olivia hugged her as Gabriel walked into the apartment and strolled into the bathroom.

"You know, I've had naughty dreams about this, but both of you were wearing much less clothes." He winked.

Olivia let go of Sherry, mock-glaring at her husband. "And I probably wasn't fifty months pregnant at the time, either."

"Actually, in some of them you were." Gabriel grinned. "What can I say? I'm a freak who thinks my wife is hot, even hugely pregnant."

"You're a pervert." Sherry stood up and walked past Gabriel, bumping shoulders with him playfully.

"But you know if Peter weren't around, you'd totally be intrigued!" Gabriel laughed as Sherry flipped him off. "OOOOOH! Is that an offer?"

"No, not even close." Sherry walked out of the bedroom. "Thanks Olivia!" She called behind her as she left.

"Not a problem!" Olivia rocked back and forth to get momentum before she launched herself into a standing position. Rubbing her back as she winced, she shook her head. "Come on, August third!"

"Or a day or two after that." Gabriel walked to her and hugged her. "You're SURE you're okay with my plan?"

Olivia nodded. "If I wasn't okay with it, I wouldn't be going along with it. I trust you and every one else to charge into this place like the cavalry the minute Linderman shows up." She frowned. "Why are you asking?"

Gabriel shrugged. "Nathan and Peter got into a fight about it downstairs. Nathan's totally against the plan, he thinks I'm an idiot for coming up with it and that the rest of us are morons for going along with it. He and Peter said some pretty shitty things to each other and came to blows."

"Oh no." Olivia sighed. "Think it'll blow over between them soon?"

"Yeah, after August third, if this plan works. He said that if anything happens to you or Faith, he's never going to forgive any of us."

"You know, from the first moment I met him, he became my over-protective big brother. He's just flexing that muscle now too." She rubbed her belly. "He'll be okay. We all will be."

"Yeah, you will." Gabriel pulled her into his arms. "I swear, I'll die before I let anything, and I do mean ANYTHING happen to you or Faith."

Olivia closed her eyes, remembering Mama Alice's predictions. She took a deep breath, pushing away the fear that was making her blood suddenly run cold as she thought of the old woman's words. "I know you will." She whispered.

"So." Gabriel grinned as he let his wife go and stepped past her. "When's Sherry going to tell Peter that she's preggo?" As Olivia began to open her mouth, he laughed. "Before you ask how I knew, first of all, I overheard you tell her that she was pregnant-"

"-You and your damn super hearing-"

"-second of all, there are four positive pregnancy tests lined up on the counter here." Gabriel shrugged. "So either Sherry's pregnant, or you're taking the tests again for shits and giggles and finally, I heard a couple of extra heartbeats when Sherry walked past me." He started laughing. "Someone's having twi-ins!" He said in a sing-song voice. "Boy, when Peter knocks someone up, he REALLY knocks them up!"

"Don't go blabbing to him or anyone else!" Olivia swatted at his arm. "Sherry will make the announcement when she's ready."

"Yeah, she's kind of freaked out right now, huh?" Gabriel sighed. "I overheard that too. She's going to be fine. She could be as big as you are and she'd still beat the crap out of anyone who came near her without breaking a sweat. Girl's tiny, but she's tough."

"I know." Olivia smiled. "More babies."

"More babies." Gabriel grinned. "I can't wait until Sherry hits the bitchy stage."

"I can't wait until she hits the horny stage!" Olivia laughed. "Let's see THEM get screamed at by Mother for not having any self control!"

* * *

Peter strolled into his apartment an hour later and made his way to his bedroom. "Stupid-ass Nathan." He grumbled as he stretched out on the bed.

"That you, Babe?" Sherry called from the bathroom.

"Yeah." Peter sulked as he lay on the bed. He could hear a hair dryer running in the bathroom. "What'cha doing?"

"You'll see." He listened as the hair dryer turned off. He turned his head towards the bathroom door, his eyes widening as Sherry stepped out. Her hair had been dyed dark brown. "You like?"

Peter slowly sat up as he stared at her, suddenly remembering the battle that Sanjog had shown him in his dream. Sherry's hair had been dark brown then too. He rubbed his eyes as he willed that memory away and studied her again. "It's nice."

"You hate it." Sherry frowned. "It's my natural hair-color, Pete."

"Okay." Peter blinked as he stared at her.

"You hate it, don't you?" Sherry sighed and shook her head.

"No, it's pretty." He nodded. "It just surprised me, that's all."

"Well, get used to it, because it's going to be my hair color for the next eight months at least." Sherry smiled at him.

"Why are you going back to your natural hair color for the next eight months?"

"Because it's not a good idea for pregnant women to dye their hair." Sherry nodded as Peter's eyes widened. "I took a test, five to be exact. I took the last four with Olivia. I'm pregnant."

"Really?" Peter beamed as he stood up and whooped. He grabbed her, lifting her up and spinning her around before he set her back down. "You're pregnant?"

"Yeah!" Sherry laughed. Peter grabbed her again and hugged her. Sherry giggled and hugged him back. "I'm going to have to take back that wedding dress your mother talked me into getting. It's going to be waaaaaay too tight by December!"

"We're having a baby!" Peter grinned. He concentrated for a moment, his eyes widening. "We're having two of them."

"You can hear them?" Sherry stared at him.

"Yeah." Peter nodded. "Man, their little hearts are beating so fast, but I can hear them. It's definitely twins."

"Family genetics strike again." Sherry smirked. "Shit, I was hoping Anthony would at least be wrong about that!"

"So Olivia knows, which means Gabriel knows-" Peter grabbed Sherry's hand "-Oh, I can't wait to tell Na-" He frowned.

"What?"

Peter shrugged, his face falling as he sat back down on the bed. Sherry sat beside him, holding his hand. "Nathan and I got into a fight today."

"Oh Honey." Sherry rubbed his back. "What about?"

"Gabriel's plan. He hates the idea and thinks we're all stupid for going along with it."

"He's just being a big brother. He's spent his life watching over and protecting you, now he's doing the same with Olivia. If you were potentially putting yourself in harm's way deliberately, he'd be just as protective with you."

"He has been." Peter sighed. "I said some shitty things to him, he said shitty things to me and now he's not talking to me. He stomped out of the room after swearing that he'd never forgive any of us if something happened to Olivia or Faith, but what he truly meant was that he'd never forgive me most of all. He expected me to stand up with him and forbid Olivia to go along with Gabriel's plan."

"Yeah, like that would stop her." Sherry sighed. "Well, if it helps, I think it's a good plan. Nathan will come around."

"Maybe." Peter pouted.

"You should go tell him that I'm pregnant. It could be the thing that helps the two of you make up?" Sherry nodded.

"No, it wouldn't. One of the things he said was that I was willing to put Olivia and Faith in harm's way to protect you. This would just give him more ammunition." He sighed as he wrapped an arm around Sherry. "And he's not completely incorrect in thinking that. I would move heaven and earth to protect you, but I would do the same for my sister and niece as well."

"So when do you want to announce that we're pregnant?" Sherry asked, resting her head on his shoulder.

"Give it a few weeks?" Peter nodded. "Maybe announce it a few days after Faith is born?"

"Okay." Sherry kissed him. "Let's just hope that Gabriel and Olivia can keep their holes shut until then."

"They'd better." Peter kissed her back. "We're going to be parents." He whispered.


	82. Chapter 82

Chapter Eighty-Two: Secrets and Surprises

"One week and counting." Gabriel smiled at Olivia as he helped her climb out of bed.

"One more week of swollen ankles, indigestion, waddling like a duck-"

"-and then six more weeks after that of still not being able to touch you." Gabriel sighed.

"You can touch me, you just can't-"

"-I know." Gabriel nodded. "Trust me, I KNOW. You've been sexually anorexic these last few weeks anyway-"

"-Honey, I told you. I'm just not in a sexy mood." Olivia hugged him. "It's not that I don't want to, it's just," she shrugged "I don't feel up to it. Besides, I've been taking care of you." She winked.

"Yeah, but it's not the same." Gabriel shrugged. "I just keep telling myself that I went much longer with much less not too long ago." He turned away, mock-sadly. "Of course, I was occupied with fulfilling an evolutionary imperative at the time-"

"-meanie!" Olivia swatted at him as she waddled past him. "I do what I can to help my man, I just don't feel like-"

"-having sex, I know." Gabriel smiled at her. "What you do does help though."

"It better. Do you know how hard it is for me to get up after getting on my knees?" Olivia laughed and then stopped. "Dammit." She turned and quickly waddled towards the bathroom while talking to her stomach. "My bladder is NOT a squeeze toy!"

"Problems?" Gabriel laughed.

"Yeah! Is it wrong for me to want to start screaming at my stomach 'get out, Get Out, GET OUT!'?"

"No, I want her out too." Gabriel stood at the bathroom door. "So we can coo over her and baby her and give her to your mother for three a.m. feedings and poopie diaper changes."

"Excuse me?" Gabriel turned to see Angela striding into the room. "What was that about making ME come up here for three a.m. feedings and changing diapers?"

"Well, why else are you just one floor away?" Gabriel frowned. "And why aren't you still just one floor away? How in the hell do you keep popping in here? Do you have a key?"

Angela smirked. "Darling, when are you going to figure out that, like most of the denizens of this building, I have been imbued with certain powers, including phasing?"

"Stupid imbuing." Gabriel muttered. "You're like Endora, popping in all the time when you're not welcome."

"If I were Endora, I'd call you names like Gavin or Garrett instead of Gabriel." Angela sighed gustily as Olivia waddled slowly back into the bedroom. "How are you doing, Dear?"

"Fine." Olivia mumbled.

"You don't look fine." She glared at Gabriel. "You're not taking care of her!"

"I AM!" Gabriel nodded. "She looks fine, what's wrong with you?"

"She looks tired." Angela walked over to her daughter, studying her. "And peaked."

"I'm hugely pregnant, lugging around an extra thirty pounds, and every time I try to sleep my daughter kicks me in the bladder and makes me make a mad dash for the bathroom so yes, I'm a little tired." Olivia shrugged. "What's up, Mother?"

"Peter and I have a little surprise for you." Angela wrapped an arm around Olivia's shoulders and led her into the living room. "Are you feeling up to seeing it?"

"Does it involve putting on clothes instead of pajamas?"

"Not at all." Angela glanced at Gabriel over her shoulder. "You can come see the surprise too, I suppose."

"Gee, thanks Mom!" Gabriel rolled his eyes. "You make me feel so welcome in this family, I have to tell you."

"Good, I try to be accommodating." Angela quipped as she opened the front door and gently brought Olivia to the elevator. "Peter's going to meet us downstairs in his apartment."

"And he couldn't come up here?" Olivia asked, her voice mirroring the exhaustion in her face.

"You really are tired, aren't you?" Angela brushed a strand of hair back from Olivia's face. "Poor baby." She glared at Gabriel. "You should do more around the house so she can rest."

"I clean, I occasionally attempt to cook, I order take-out, what more can I do, carry her to the bathroom?" Gabriel sighed.

"You could swap with her so she can get some rest." Angela nodded.

"SWAP?" Gabriel stared at her. "It's not Olivia's consciousness that's tired, Angela, it's her body. I don't see how swapping bodies with her will help her get rest."

"Will you two STOP?" Olivia groaned. "I'll try and get some sleep later, okay?" She rubbed her stomach. "If Niblet in there will let me, that is."

"Maybe you should try calming her." Angela nodded. "You do have the power to do that, you know."

"Gee, why didn't I think of that?" Olivia smirked as they stepped out onto Peter's floor. "How's Kimiko liking our old home?" She asked Angela.

"She and Ando are enjoying it." Angela smiled. "They're planning their wedding and living in absolute bliss. Kaito couldn't be happier either. Kimiko even asked me to help her pick out a wedding dress." She patted Olivia's hand gently. "This building is filled with so much happiness right now, I swear. You and Gabriel are about to give me a granddaughter soon, Peter and Sherry are getting married and I'm helping with the planning of that wedding and my stepdaughter's-"

"-Wait." Olivia stopped, staring at Angela. "WHAT did you just call Kimiko?"

Angela's eyes widened as she shrugged. "I called her Kaito's daughter."

Gabriel giggled. "No you didn't! You called her your stepdaughter! Did you and old man Nakamura get hitched?"

"NO!" Angela turned and hurried down the hallway as Olivia and Gabriel tried to keep up with her. She arrived at Peter's door and knocked.

"Oh sure, you'll KNOCK on their door!" Gabriel grinned. "Do you knock on Kimiko's door too, or Hiro's, since they're your kids now too?"

"WE'RE NOT MARRIED!" Angela looked away.

Olivia started laughing. "You couldn't block your thoughts fast enough, Mother. You are too!" Angela looked away, blushing. "When did THIS happen?"

"I'm not discussing it right now." Angela hissed. "Your brothers don't know, and neither do Kaito's children. Now, shut up unless you don't want your surprise!"

"Oh, I think I've already gotten my surprise!" Olivia laughed harder.

"Hot DAMN!" Gabriel laughed. "More in-laws to fuck with!"

"SHUT UP!" Angela spat at them as Peter answered the door, smiling at his mother.

"Good morning Mom, or should I call you 'Mrs. Nakamura'?" He shook his head as Angela's eyes nearly bugged out of her head. "Super hearing, got it from Gabriel, remember?"

"Damn you all!" Angela swept into the room as Peter joined Olivia and Gabriel in laughing at her. "Keep it to yourselves for now! Nathan, Hiro and Kimiko don't know and we haven't figured out how to tell them yet!"

"What's to tell?" Gabriel shrugged. "They're all adults. Just sit them down and tell them that there will be more people included in the yearly family bitch-fest known as the holidays."

"What I want to know is WHEN this happened!" Olivia shook her head as she turned to Gabriel. "Just how long HAVE I been hibernating like a fat bear upstairs?"

Angela sighed. "It happened in March." As Gabriel, Olivia and Peter gasped, Angela shrugged and looked away. "A week after Peter and Sherry's engagement party."

"FOUR MONTHS AGO?" Olivia gaped at her mother. "You've been keeping this secret for four months?"

"Kaito, Hiro, Leilani and I went out with Kimiko and Ando to celebrate their engagement." Angela stared at the floor. "We had too much too drink and after Kimiko, Ando, Hiro and Leilani left the bar, we continued to drink. There was a wedding chapel next door. We woke up the next morning with a marriage license, a video of the wedding and wearing wedding rings on our fingers. Apparently Elvis gave me away." She glared at her children as they started laughing at her. "WHAT?"

"Did you pay extra for that?" Gabriel giggled. "Was it fat Vegas Elvis, or young Jailhouse Rock Elvis?"

"I'd pay extra for '68 Comeback Special Elvis, myself." Peter nodded.

"Seriously?" Olivia shook her head. "I could see Mother paying extra for a Sinatra impersonator, but Elvis? How drunk WERE you?"

"The three of you can hush now!" She turned to Peter. "Are we going to take these two to Tybee or not?"

"Tybee Island?" Olivia groaned. "What's a surprise doing for me there?"

"You'll have to find out when we get there." Peter grasped her shoulder as Gabriel took her hand. "Okay Mom, you coming with us, or do you have to get back to Kaito, your hunka-hunka burnin' love?"

"You're not going to let me live this down anytime soon, are you?" Angela glared at him.

"Oh HELL no!" Peter grinned as he grasped his mother's shoulder and teleported them to Olivia's home on Tybee Island.

As soon as they arrived in the living room, Olivia turned to Angela. "So can we start calling Kaito 'Daddy'?"

"Yeah, can we?" Peter laughed.

"Stop it!" Angela hissed.

"What about 'Big Daddy'?" Olivia grinned.

"Nah! That's probably ANGELA'S nickname for him!" Gabriel laughed.

"Okay, that's a mental image I don't want or need." Peter shook his head.

"Will the three of you STOP this?" Angela sighed. "We'll discuss everything later, okay?" She held out her arms. "We're here, now it's time for Olivia's surprise, if the three of you can get your minds off of my marriage for a moment."

"Fine." Olivia nodded. "But we ARE discussing this further VERY soon." She looked around at the house. "What's the surprise? It looks the same as it always does."

"It's upstairs." Angela nodded towards the stairs curving in the foyer.

Olivia sighed. "Stairs. Great. Like I don't have enough problems walking as it is, now I have to climb stairs."

"Exercise is good for you." Angela took her arm. "That may be half your problem. You need to get some exercise. It'll give you energy and get you ready for the labor you'll be going through soon."

"Yay." Olivia muttered as Angela slowly led her up the stairs, with Peter and Gabriel following them.

"So what have you and the Bride of Kaito been putting together, anyway?" Gabriel asked.

Peter smiled. "You'll see." They followed the women into a guest bedroom and stood back as Olivia stared at the sight in front of her. The bed in the room had been pushed into a corner, making room for a hospital bed. "It's a birthing room."

Olivia turned to Peter. "A birthing room?"

Peter nodded. "When you go into labor, we'll bring you here. The lower part of the bed here drops down, so you can labor in here and give birth. Depending on how long you're in labor, Gabriel and whoever else is in here can take quick cat-naps on the bed in between coaching you-"

"-You mean Gabriel and I will take turns between coaching her." Angela interjected.

"Whatever." Peter sighed. "And when you're ready to push, we'll drop the bottom out of the bed so I can sit down and deliver Faith. We've got a bassinette ready for her and we've set up a small table in the corner with a coffee pot and we'll put snacks or something there so we won't have to leave the room while we all sit in here and cheer you on."

"Wow." Olivia stared at the room, dumbstruck.

"This way, Faith will be able to grow up in the same home where she was born. Pretty cool, huh?"

"Plus, if complications arise, there's a hospital nearby where we can take you." Angela smiled. "You can give birth and come back here before Linderman or his people can get to you."

"But only if complications arise." Peter nodded. "Unless you'd rather just have the baby at that hospital. It would still be risky, but not as risky as giving birth in Vegas."

Gabriel smiled. "It sounds good! It would be pretty cool to tell Faith one day that she was born in this room." He put an arm around Olivia's shoulders. "What do you think, Baby?"

Olivia smiled softly. "I think it sounds great. You guys think we'll be able to get here in time after I go into labor?"

Peter snorted. "Hello? Teleporter? You'll all get here before she does."

"Okay." Olivia nodded as her smile broadened. "It sounds good!"

"It'll be great." Peter looked over at Angela. "And now the second part of your surprise."

"There's a second surprise?" Olivia stared at them. "Let me guess, you've found an obstetrician with super powers who's willing to deliver the baby in secret?"

"God, I wish!" Peter led her down the hall. "Mom and I were talking about this house and the room you had here when you were little."

"Yeah, and?" Olivia stared at them.

"I remember that room from the memory Oscar showed us." Gabriel smiled. "It was a pink girl's dream."

"Until I became a teenager and discovered Nirvana and Pearl Jam, then it became covered in posters of Kurt Cobain and Eddie Vedder." Olivia grinned.

"Seriously?" Gabriel turned to her. "I'd have pegged your more as having papered your walls with Justin Timberlake and his group."

"Babe? I'm thirty, okay? Those guys hit when I was in my twenties, not teens." Her eyes widened as Peter opened the door to her old bedroom. "Holy shit." She whispered.

"You can say that again." Gabriel walked into the room. It had been completely redecorated as a nursery, the walls painted in a similar style to the nursery in Las Vegas. "Wow."

Peter grinned. "Mom and I realized that you two probably didn't think about putting together a nursery while you were getting the one in Vegas ready. Faith's only going to live in that room until November, right?"

Olivia nodded as she looked around the room, tears in her eyes. "Right. We're planning on moving here after Linderman's defeated and splitting our time between here and New York."

"Well, wherever you decide to live in New York, you can decorate Faith's room there." Angela smirked. "Peter and I have done enough here, I think."

"More than enough." Olivia whispered. "We forgot all about putting together the nursery here for Faith. We were so busy worrying about the one that she's only going to have for a few months, we completely forgot about the room she'd have for the rest of her life."

"It's beautiful guys, thanks." Gabriel nodded.

"Thank you both." Olivia turned and hugged Peter and Angela. "You two are so great!"

"You have your moments." Gabriel smiled as Olivia let them go. He sighed as Peter walked over to him and nodded, hugging him. "You're not so bad."

"Neither are you, when you're not choking me with TK, or throwing locker doors at me."

"Or flinging us both off of a high school roof." Gabriel laughed as he turned to Angela. "Come here, Mom!"

"Only if you STOP calling me THAT!" She sighed as Gabriel dragged her to him with his TK and hugged her. "Fine, if I must." She hugged him back quickly and let him go. "You know, we wouldn't have had to do this if the two of you would stop screwing long enough to use your brains to realize that Faith would need a nursery here, too!"

"Like I've been doing anything lately but lie around listening to Olivia bitch about Faith kicking her bladder." Gabriel smirked and shook his head. "You're not going to let me thank you for anything, are you?"

Angela raised an eyebrow as she turned to Olivia. "By the way, I noticed a few extra bedrooms in the other wing of the house."

Olivia stared at her mother warily. "Uh yeah. Apparently when Dad's family built this house years ago, they had a lot of guests staying with them, so they built a wing onto the house with guest suites."

"Good." Angela nodded. "Kaito and I will move in there when you two come here to stay."

Olivia's eyes widened. "EXCUSE ME?"

Angela turned to Peter as he covered a grin. "Let's go back to Las Vegas. Your sister seems a bit tired."

"What the hell are you talking about?" Olivia asked as Peter placed a hand on her shoulder before placing a hand on Angela's. Gabriel quickly took her hand. "YOU'RE MOVING IN? HERE? WITH US?"

"We'll discuss it later after you've had a nap Dear. You'll be able to discuss this more rationally then." Angela closed her eyes as Peter began to teleport them back to Las Vegas.

"RATIONALLY?" Olivia shrieked.

"Honestly Dear, do you think the two of you will be able to raise little Faith on your own?"

* * *

Linderman leaned back in his chair, smiling at Gota and Ombassa. "How are the plans coming?"

Gota beamed. "Everything's falling into place. Mina is still balking, but I'll find a way to make her toe the line once we get to Las Vegas next week. Our spies there tell me that Miss De La Vega still likes to visit the casinos quite a bit. It'll be quite easy to nab her and bring her to the hotel we've reserved on the first. Once we have her there, it'll be quite simple to just have all of us line up and take her power through Mina. We'll be able to land on the roof of the building and enter your daughter's home without anyone reading our minds."

"Good." Linderman nodded. "Make sure that Mina imbues everyone on our team with Michael's power. I don't want Gabriel Gray to hear us coming." He frowned. "Or Peter Petrelli, for that matter. I'm sure he's probably picked up his brother-in-law's power of super hearing." He looked around. "And we've got our weapons ready?"

"Everything is ready and loaded." Ombassa nodded.

"And the medical supplies I've requested?"

Gota grinned. "Ready as well. Also, we've loaded a few syringes with the Oxytocin that you've asked for."

"Very good." Linderman grinned. "By this time next week, my granddaughter will begin her new life here with us, instead of with her incompetent parents."

* * *

Olivia woke up a few hours later and stumbled into the living room. Gabriel smiled up at her from the couch. "Hey! How did you sleep?"

"Okay." Olivia shrugged as she sat next to him. "I can't believe she's coming to live with us. Please tell me that I was hallucinating."

"You weren't hallucinating." Gabriel laughed. "I would suggest just telling her 'no', but you and I both know that your mother's not going to take that as an answer."

"I know. " Olivia frowned. "Shit."

"You should really start watching your language." Olivia turned to see Angela standing in the doorway to the kitchen. "You don't want that baby's first words to be 'shit' now do you?"

"I forgot to tell you," Gabriel sighed "she stayed to cook dinner."

"Goody, it starts." Olivia frowned.

"Honey, it started long ago." Gabriel grimaced.

"You've been eating too much take-out." Angela nodded. "You both need a home-cooked meal." She walked into the room and sat across from them. "And while the roast is cooking, we need to talk."

"About you moving in with us in Tybee, right?" Olivia sighed. "Go for it. Why do you think you should live there with us?"

"Because you two are going to need me, that's why." Angela crossed her arms in front of her chest and leaned back. "You're planning on finishing up your residency, correct?"

Olivia nodded. "Yeah. I've already applied for a residency at the hospitals around Savannah. I've been accepted at Memorial University Medical Center, starting next August."

"And that residency will take a few years, right?"

"It will." Olivia sighed.

"And you," Angela turned to Gabriel "will need to go back to school as well. I understand that you've been given a crash course in running the companies that Olivia has inherited, but don't you think a business degree would help that along? You don't strike me as someone who will be happy just sitting back letting others work for you."

"You have a point." Gabriel muttered.

"So while you're burning the candle at both ends to finish your studies to be a surgeon," she pointed to Olivia "and you are studying to actually RUN those companies, just WHO is going to run your home? You're going to need someone to hire a nanny for Faith and anyone else who comes along, someone to clean the house, someone to cook because God knows neither of you can do it. Just WHO do you expect will do all of that?" As Olivia and Gabriel both slumped down on the couch in defeat, Angela nodded. "And that's why you need ME. I've spent years organizing my home, making sure that everything ran properly while that idiot husband of mine worked all hours of the day and night as Daniel's attorney. I've also spent a few years with Nathan and Heidi, helping them run their home and raise their boys. Now, it's time for me to help take care of YOUR home."

"But what about Nathan and Heidi?" Olivia asked. "Won't they miss you?"

"After you finish your residency, you'll be splitting your time between New York and Georgia. When we go to New York, I'll spend time with Nathan and Heidi then." Angela smiled. "I'm sure they won't mind giving me up six months out of the year."

"Oh, I'm sure they won't." Gabriel smirked. "And you said that Kaito will be living with us as well? Has he already been informed of this?"

Angela sighed. "I talked it over with him. He agrees that, out of all of our children, you two will probably be the ones who will need the most help."

"Wow, that makes me feel wonderful." Olivia grumbled.

"Well, Kimiko and Ando will return to Tokyo where they'll run the day-to-day operations with Nakamura Industries. Hiro has already expressed an interest in moving to Hawaii with Leilani. Kaito believes it's time to retire. He's rather excited at the prospect of living by the ocean in Georgia to help me help the two of you raise our granddaughter."

"Oh, so she's HIS granddaughter now too." Olivia shook her head. "Speaking of which, just WHEN were you going to tell us that you and Kaito had gotten hitched?"

"Eventually." Angela shrugged. "Things have just been so hectic in the last few months. Peter and Sherry have been planning their wedding, Kimiko and Ando have been planning theirs as well. I've been busy with you and Gabriel, helping you both prepare for Faith's arrival, Kaito's been busy preparing weapons for everyone. We were going to announce it soon."

"So you weren't planning on getting it annulled, or keeping it secret forever." Olivia nodded.

"Of course not!" Angela huffed. "It didn't go the way we'd planned, but we're happy to be married. We'd already been discussing having a small, intimate affair next year after Peter's wedding, but fate and quite a few shots of sake and whiskey changed the plans just a bit." She smiled. "Maybe we'll renew our vows next year for all of you."

"Okay." Olivia smiled. "So when are you going to tell Hiro and Kimiko that they've got a few new siblings?"

"Not to mention Nathan." Gabriel nodded. "He's already been in a pissy mood ever since we came up with that plan to catch Linderman when he tries to take Faith. I don't even want to know what he's going to say when he finds out that you've been keeping this from him for the last four months."

"Oh, he'll get his panties unbunched soon enough." Angela rolled her eyes. "He's STILL not speaking to ANY of you?"

"Nope." Olivia shook her head. "He's not speaking to Peter because of their fight downstairs. He's not speaking to Gabriel because he's endangering my life and he's not speaking to me because I'm going along with the plan. It's been over a week now. Gabriel's right. He's already pissed about using me as bait with Linderman, when you finally tell him that you and Kaito got hitched four months ago AND that the three of us found out first? He's going to sulk even more than he has been."

"Drama queen." Angela scoffed. "I suppose I need to go downstairs and talk to him."

"Don't tell him that we knew first." Olivia nodded. "Hell, make him feel special. Make him think he's the first to know."

"That's not a bad idea." Angela shrugged. "I suppose I need to head downstairs and tell Kaito that the cat's out of the bag with the three of you. Maybe while he tells Hiro and Kimiko about the wedding, I'll tell Nathan." She smiled at her daughter. "Then tell him that he's the first to know, like you suggested."

"Yeah, before you snatch the rug out from under him and tell him that he and Heidi will be living without you after November." Olivia grinned.

"Please, they'll celebrate." Gabriel muttered.

"I don't think so." Olivia shook her head. "Heidi? Maybe. But I have a feeling that Nathan's going to take Mother moving in with us rather hard."

"Poor baby," Angela nodded "he always has tried so hard to prove himself to me. I think he knows that Peter's my favorite."

"And now he's being dumped for the daughter." Olivia sighed. "I don't think he'll take it as well as you think, Gabriel."

Gabriel turned to Angela. "Then stay there and stroke his ego." He nodded feverishly. "We'll be fine, really."

"Oh, Kaito's already excited about living in Georgia, I wouldn't want to dash his hopes." Angela stood up. "Take that roast out of the oven in an hour. Try not to burn it."

"We won't." Olivia watched as Angela left the apartment. "Maybe having her live with us won't be so bad. She and Kaito will be on a separate wing of the house, after all."

"Yeah, but she'll still be in the damn house." Gabriel sighed. "Kaito won't be a problem. Hell, I've grown to really like the old coot, but Angela? Damn."

"Sorry about my mother." Olivia patted his hand.

"S'okay. She's still better than mine." Gabriel shuddered.

"What was that?" Olivia turned to him, frowning.

"Nothing. I just got a mental image of what it would have been like to have MY mother living with us. It was terrifying." Gabriel grimaced. "I miss her sometimes, and I hate that she died the way she did, but I swear, I'm kind of glad she's not around to muck up things even more than Angela does."

"Our daughter is so screwed, isn't she?"

"You have no idea, Babe." Gabriel shook his head.


	83. Chapter 83

Chapter Eighty-Three: August First

A smiling Gota climbed down from the small jet and stepped onto the runway at the airport in Las Vegas, a pouting Mina in tow. "Come along, Girl." Gota snapped at her, grabbing her arm as they headed towards a car. "Stop dragging your feet!"

Mina glared at the woman angrily. "You're a sick bitch, you know that?" Gota glanced at her and looked away as she shoved the girl towards the car. "I'm not doing this, you know. I don't care what you say, I'm NOT doing it!"

Gota spun Mina around and shoved her against the car, glaring down at the small teenaged girl. "You will do exactly as I say when I say it, do you hear me?" She sneered down as the girl glared at her defiantly. "You can be replaced, you little whelp. All it would take to replace you would be a simple few drops of your blood. Mr. Linderman could give your power to anyone of us, anyone who would willingly do anything he asked."

"Then why doesn't he?" Mina asked.

Gota smiled evilly. "Because Mr. Linderman wants YOU to do it. He's gone out of his way to keep you comfortable and safe these many months and-"

"-COMFORTABLE?" Mina laughed. "Keeping me a prisoner in a room isn't comfortable and I'm certainly not safe! I've heard what those people have been yelling when they come to the compound. I've heard the things they've said. THEY'RE the ones who would protect me and keep me TRULY comfortable and safe if I went to them. They wouldn't keep me locked up and force me to use my powers for their own gain! The only thing Mr. Linderman has done is keep EVERYONE a prisoner and he's using us like cattle! The only reason I haven't been brainwashed like the rest of that Kool-Aid drinking bunch is because my power won't LET me get brainwashed by your stupid ass, no matter how badly Mr. Linderman wants it. He's just as sick and twisted as you are and I hate you BOTH!"

Gota sneered. "You keep talking like that, and I'll personally put a bullet in that stupid, useless little brain of yours. You WILL get in that car, you WILL go into the city with me and you WILL transfer the powers that Mr. Linderman wants you to transfer or you WILL die."

"FUCK YOU!" Mina screamed, then shrieked as Gota slapped her. Gota grabbed her arm and shoved her into the car, climbing in beside you. "I HATE YOU!" She screamed as the car drove away.

Gota glared at the girl sitting next to her. "You will also watch that snotty little mouth." She growled.

* * *

"Claire!" Claire stepped out of her room as Sandra, Noah, Lyle and Molly headed towards the front door with their packed bags. Noah smiled at her and reached out, hugging her tightly. "You know you can come with us if you want."

Claire shrugged and shook her head. "A vacation sounds wonderful, but I think I'm going to be needed here." She nodded her head in the direction of the apartment next door. "Gotta help everybody else protect my new cousin, right?"

Noah sighed. "Be careful."

"I will." She hugged her parents quickly before turning to Lyle and Molly, hugging both of them as well. "You guys be careful too, okay?"

Sandra grinned as she picked up Mr. Muggles. "We'll be fine. We'll be safer exploring New York City than the rest of you guys will be here." She sighed. "When the fireworks start, please remind everyone to try NOT to bring the fight over here, okay? I'd rather not have my house wrecked too much."

"I'm sure the only place that'll end up trashed by our people and Linderman's will be Olivia and Gabriel's apartment." Claire smiled as Peter walked through the front door. "Hey."

"Hey!" Peter grinned at her. "You staying here?"

Claire nodded. "I'm not backing down from this fight if I can help it."

"Just stay close to me when the fighting starts then, okay?" Peter asked.

Claire smirked. "Excuse me, but who kicked WHO'S butt in the training sessions?"

"Point taken." Peter laughed. "I'll stay close to YOU then." He turned to Sandra and Noah. "Everyone ready?"

Sandra nodded. "Please thank Olivia again for me? I know she said that us staying in that penthouse that she and Gabriel had in New York wasn't a problem, but I really do appreciate it."

"I will. I'm sure she's just glad knowing that you guys will be safe and away from the fray when it starts in two days." Peter turned back to Claire. "Last chance to come along."

Claire shook her head. "Told you, I'm staying here."

"Okay." Peter nodded.

"I love you." Noah smiled at her. "Be careful."

"Don't get killed." Lyle smirked at her.

"I won't." Claire laughed softly. "Now shoo! Bring me back an 'I Love NY' tee shirt or something." She watched as her family disappeared from the apartment and sighed before she walked out into the hallway and over to Olivia's. She turned as Sherry stepped out of the elevator and frowned at her. "What brought you up here?"

Sherry shrugged. "Just thought I'd peek in on Olivia and see how she's holding up. It's got to be rough on her, being nine months pregnant, having your batshit crazy father plotting to kidnap you and or your baby while your friends and family are preparing to use you as bait to capture said batshit crazy father."

Claire nodded. "Tell me about it. I know I've got a weird background, having two fathers and three mothers, but at least none of them are swinging from the rafters crazy." She knocked on the door and grinned as Olivia answered it. "Hey. How's it going?"

Olivia nodded and stepped back, letting Claire and Sherry in. "It's okay."

Sherry stared as she and Claire sat down, noticing the way Olivia was pacing the floor and checking her watch. "You having contractions or something?"

"No, why?"

Sherry shrugged. "You keep checking your watch every few minutes, I thought you were timing something."

"No." Olivia sighed. "Gabriel went with Anthony to get groceries."

"I know." Sherry nodded. "They left about an hour ago."

"It's only been an hour?" Olivia sighed as Sherry nodded again. "It seems longer."

"Okay, what's going on?" Claire walked over to Olivia and stopped her pacing. "You're freaked out about this whole using you as bait thing, aren't you?"

"No." Olivia shrugged. "Yeah, sort of, but I know you will all protect me. If Linderman shows up here, he's not going to stand a chance, I get that."

"Okay." Claire looked pointedly at her. "What is it?"

"I keep thinking about Mama Alice's predictions. She told Gabriel he'd die the day Faith was born."

"I know." Claire smiled softly. "I know she predicted that, but it's not going to happen, okay?"

Olivia looked away. "Everything else she's predicted has come true though. Tatiana died, Faith's protected me from Linderman before she's even been born, I've accepted Mother and Linderman's gifts, what if she's right about Gabriel dying in two days?" Olivia blinked back tears. "Peter too. She said he'd die that day too."

"We're all gong to do everything we can to keep that from happening." Claire smiled reassuringly at her aunt.

"But what if you can't? What if the worst happens and Gabriel and Peter are killed?" Olivia slowly sat down. "It terrifies me to know that I may only have two more days with my husband and brother?" She shook her head. "I haven't made love to Gabriel in almost a month."

"Whoa, seriously?" Sherry stared at Olivia in shock. "What's up with that?"

"I've been too tired." Olivia smiled softly at Sherry. "You'll know what I mean soon enough."

Claire turned to Sherry. "What's she talking abou-" she gasped as Sherry looked away "you're PREGNANT?"

Sherry shrugged. "We're not telling anyone until after the first trimester." She giggled as Claire grabbed her and pulled her into a hug. "I take it you're excited?"

"YEAH!" Claire laughed. "More babies in the family!"

"More cousins for you to spoil rotten!" Sherry turned to Olivia. "So that's what's bugging you? You're worried about never getting to play 'hide-the-salami' with Gabriel again?"

"Basically." Olivia nodded. "And I'm worried about never having one of my heart-to-hearts with Peter or Gabriel again. They've both been two of the most important people in my life, my husband and brother." She shrugged. "I'm close with Nathan too, but-"

"-but not as close as you are with Peter." Claire nodded. "I get it. You're scared of losing them."

"If you only had a day left to be with the people you loved, what would you do?" Olivia stared at Claire, her eyes welling with tears again. "If you only had one night with the man you loved, how would you spend it?"

Sherry stared at the floor, her expression suddenly growing somber. "Shit." She whispered. "That's pretty heavy."

"I know." Olivia stood up and began to pace again, checking her watch. "And what if I don't have only two days left? What if Linderman's already here and plotting to take me and Faith, but he wants to get Gabriel out of the way first? He's out, he's getting groceries, it would be the easiest thing for Linderman to just get one of his minions to walk up to him and blow him away." Olivia stopped and closed her eyes. "What if it's happening right now?"

Sherry stood up and grabbed Olivia by the arms. "Okay, you stop that RIGHT NOW!" Olivia opened her eyes as Sherry pulled her into her arms and hugged her. "Stop it."

"I can't help it!" Olivia sagged in Sherry's arms and began to cry.

Claire sighed and walked over to them both and joined them in a group hug. "You know that nobody is going to be able to sneak up on Gabriel, Olivia. He'll either hear them coming or hear their thoughts and then God help whoever Linderman sent."

"She's right." Sherry nodded as she patted Olivia's back. "You're just working yourself up over nothing, okay?"

"Okay." Olivia let them go and stepped back, sniffling as she wiped away tears. "But-"

"-no buts." Sherry mock-glared at her. "I know you're scared, I know you're worried about yourself and Faith and Gabriel, but it's going to be okay. You know it's going to be okay, right?"

"Right." Olivia whispered.

"So if you're that worried about how you'd spend your last night with Gabriel, maybe you should sit down and think about what WOULD you do." She smiled at her. "So, what would you do if you and Gabriel had one night left?"

"I'd spend it in bed with him." Olivia smiled softly.

"Then do it. You know and I know that tonight and tomorrow night aren't going to be the last nights you'll spend with him, but go ahead and do it anyway. Remind yourself how important he is to you and how much you love him."

"But I don't feel sexy and I'm tired and-"

"-Just do it." Sherry nodded. "Just pretend that tonight IS your last night and spend it the way you'd want. Get some rest, take a nap and then enjoy yourself with him tonight."

"You think so?" Olivia asked.

"I know so." Sherry smiled. "It can't be any more tiring than pacing back and forth and working yourself into a frenzy."

"True." Olivia nodded. "You should do it too."

Sherry winked. "Honey, I treat every night with Peter like it's my last. How the hell do you think I got knocked up in the first place?"

Olivia laughed softly. "Okay. I'll do it." She hugged Sherry and Claire again. "Thanks."

"You're welcome!" Sherry turned to Claire. "Hey, did the family head out already?"

"Yeah." Claire smiled. "Peter sent them off to the Big Apple." She turned to Olivia. "Mom wanted me to thank you again for letting them use that penthouse, by the way."

"As long as they don't mind crashing where Gabriel and I first-"

"-don't finish that sentence." Claire giggled.

"Okay. They're more than welcome to stay at the penthouse." Olivia nodded. "I'd rather them be there and out of the line of fire, than here where there might be a superhero smack down in a couple of days."

"Very true." Sherry glanced at Claire. "So you and Nikolai have plans tonight?"

Claire shrugged. "Just a movie and take-out." She checked her watch. "Which I need to get ready for." She hugged Olivia again. "Just chill out and get some rest like Sherry said, okay?"

"I will. Have a good time tonight." Olivia walked Sherry and Claire to the door and watched them leave. She checked her watch again and sighed. "Hurry home, Babe." She whispered to herself.

* * *

Gota smiled as she walked into the hotel room, shoving Mina ahead of her as she spotted their newest captive. "So predictable." Gota purred. "I knew our men would be able to grab you in one of the casinos."

Katharina glared at Gota as two of Linderman's men stood beside her with their guns drawn. Her eyes widened as she spotted Mina. "You. I saw you once before."

"I know." Mina whispered as she looked down. "I can borrow someone's powers, transfer them to others. They made me touch you and transfer your powers to someone else." She glared up at Gota as the woman prodded her. "NO! I'm not doing it again!"

"You'll do this the easy way, or we'll do it the hard way." Gota nodded to the men. Mina cried out as they cocked their guns and pointed them at Katharina's head. "You can take her power and transfer it to everyone and let her live, or we can kill her here, take her blood and imbue everyone back at the compound, which will it be?"

Katharina glared at Gota. "You used my powers to attack Dr. Gray in her doctor's office, didn't you? That's how they didn't hear her thoughts."

Gota nodded. "And we'll be using them again. We'll keep you here for the next few days until we get what we want, then you'll be free to go." She smirked. "We won't care soon just HOW many people they have or we have. We'll be able to defeat thousands of them if we have to."

"With Faith's force field." Katharina smirked and looked away. "That's what you think."

"What do you mean?" Gota walked towards her, trying to read the woman's mind. "Tell me what you know!" She glared at her for a moment. "Stupid woman! We WILL get that child VERY soon!" Her glare turned to an expression of rage as Katharina laughed softly and shook her head. "WHAT?"

Katharina smirked at her. "You really think they DON'T know that you and your band of idiots are going to try SOMETHING?"

Gota studied her and nodded her head. "Of course. Daniel found out through Collette that Olivia had been given a birth certificate from the future with Faith's birthday on it. Perhaps-" Her voice trailed off as she pulled out her cell phone and dialed it. "Darling. When Collette told you about Faith's birth certificate, when did she tell you was the baby's date of birth, according to that document?" She grinned. "THAT'S why you wanted to attack that morning?" Gota's smile broadened as Katharina's faded. "I've been having a chat with our captive here. I think they're onto us." She nodded. "I see Darling. We'll await your arrival." She turned off her phone and turned to Mina. "They're coming soon and we're attacking late tonight instead of tomorrow. You've got your work cut out for you when they get here. Don't disappoint us and start with the men that are already here. Give them Ms. De La Vega's power first and when Michael arrives with Daniel, Ombassa and the rest of the men, you'll give them her power and then Michael's, understand?" Mina looked away, whimpering as Gota grabbed her chin, her nails digging into the teenager's face. "I said 'DO YOU UNDERSTAND?'!"

"Yes." Mina whispered.

* * *

Gabriel smiled as he walked into the apartment, carrying an armload of groceries. Olivia lay stretched out on the couch asleep. Gabriel set the groceries down on the counter, quickly putting the perishables away in the refrigerator before returning to the living room. Kneeling in front of his wife, he pulled at a dark curl, smiling as he stretched it out and let it go, watching it bounce back into place. Olivia slowly opened her eyes and smiled at him. "You're home."

"I'm home." Gabriel nodded.

"I'm glad. I was worried." Olivia sat up.

"Worried about what?" Gabriel read her mind and nodded. "Oh, I see." He kissed her cheek. "I'm going to beat that silly prophecy of Mama Alice's, you'll see."

"You sure?" Olivia wrapped her arms around his neck, pressing her forehead against his.

"I'm positive." Gabriel smiled at her. "I'm going to live to watch our daughter enter this world and I'm going to live to watch her grow up."

"You'd better." Olivia kissed him, gently at first, then with more passion.

Gabriel pulled his head back for a moment and smiled as Olivia grinned at him. "You sure about this?"

Olivia nodded. "Yes, I am."

"You're just doing it because you're scared you'll never get a chance to do it again with me, aren't you?"

Olivia shrugged. "Maybe. Is that a problem?"

Gabriel laughed as he stood up, taking Olivia's hand to help her off of the couch. "Baby, you could be planning on killing me yourself afterwards and I still won't turn you down!" He kissed her again as he led her to the bedroom. "It's been a VERY long month!" He shrugged as Olivia laughed softly. "Oh, you think I'm kidding? We're out of lotion and I've got carpal tunnel syndrome now, thank you very much."

"Oh you POOOOR baby!" Olivia giggled.

* * *

Sherry looked up from the stove as Peter appeared in the kitchen. "You know how cute it is when you do that?"

"Do what?" Peter leaned against the counter, watching as Sherry made dinner.

"Just appear out of nowhere." Sherry grinned at him. "It's very sexy."

"Really?" Peter smiled at Sherry. "So is watching you cook."

"Thank you." Sherry stirred a pot of pasta. "I visited Olivia today."

"How's she doing?"

"She's a little freaked out." Sherry turned to Peter. "And now I'm a little freaked out too."

Peter frowned. "Freaked out about what?"

"Mama Alice's prophecy, where she stated that you and Gabriel both die on the day that Faith is born." Sherry turned off the stove and crossed her arms in front of her chest. "What if she's telling the truth? What if you and Gabriel die in less than two days?"

Peter walked over to Sherry and wrapped his arms around her. "It's not going to happen." He whispered.

"How do you know?" Sherry hugged Peter back as she placed her head against his chest, listening to his heartbeat. "How do you know you won't get killed?"

"Sherry, I have Claire's power. I can't die."

"Yes you CAN!" Sherry stepped away from Peter, tears springing into her eyes. "You could get decapitated or shot in the head and that would be IT! Then I'd be alone, with two babies and-" she struggled to breathe "-I'd be alone, without you."

Peter stepped towards Sherry and tilted her chin up to him, meeting her eyes with his own. "I'm never going to leave you alone, Sherry. I'm not going to die."

"Promise me. Promise me you won't die."

Peter smiled. "I promise I won't die and leave you alone." He leaned down and kissed her softly. "Okay?"

"Okay." Sherry stared at the dinner on the stove. "You hungry?"

Peter shook his head. "Not for food."

"Anthony and Tulia can eat it later." Sherry took his hand and led him towards their bedroom. "If we only have a couple of days left together, I don't want to spend it in the kitchen."

* * *

Linderman arrived at the hotel with a group of men. He quickly made his way to Gota's room and entered it, glaring at Katharina. "Has she said anything?"

"No." Gota rolled her eyes. "She just smirks. I think they're going to be expecting us on August third."

"Then we'll simply bump our attack up by one day, like I told you on the phone." Linderman snapped his fingers as his men gathered around. "The first thing I want everyone to do is get imbued with Miss De La Vega's power so no one will hear our thoughts as we approach the building. Then we'll be imbued with Mr. Burke's powers." He nodded to a red-haired man standing beside him. "That way, we can block the sound of our approach. Mr. Gray has super hearing, but even HE won't be able to hear us land on the roof and make our way down to his apartment. We will fly to the building and arrive on the roof at four a.m. After we arrive on the roof, we phase through the floors until we reach Olivia's apartment. DO NOT go into the hallway until Gota gives us the all clear. There are security cameras there. She is going to go to the security office on the first floor, take out the person assigned to monitor the cameras and system and then disable the alarms. We'll arrive in Olivia's apartment and wait for her to wake up. My daughter has always been an early riser, so she'll likely awaken first. That's when I'll inject her with the Pitocin to start her contractions. Then, Mr. Burke, using another aspect of his sound-altering capabilities will call to Mr. Gray using my daughter's voice. The moment he steps into sight, I want him killed, is that clear? He has telekinesis along with many other talents plus he's been trained in self defense and how to use a sword. Do not hesitate do not give him a chance to fight back. Kill him before he even knows that we're there, do you understand?" Everyone nodded. "Once Mr. Gray has been taken care of and Gota gives the all-clear with the security system, you will break into groups and systematically go to each floor, killing every person you see. I want clean head shots, do you understand? Nothing else will kill them permanently. Start on the fifteenth floor and take out Laurent first. I don't want him compromising this by blocking any powers. By the time my daughter gives birth, there will be no one left to save her. I'll then give her a choice to join us and raise her daughter with me or die beside her husband." He smirked. "I'm kind of hoping she'll choose the latter, myself. Everyone clear on what's to take place?" He clapped his hands together as his group nodded. "Good. Now, line up and get Ms. De La Vega's powers through young Mina there and then get powers from Mr. Burke."

* * *

Nikolai's eyes widened as Claire answered the door to her apartment. Walking inside, he noticed the candles lit around the living room. Setting down the pizza in his hands, he turned to Claire. "What's the occasion?"

Claire answered him by throwing her arms around his neck and kissing him passionately. "Nikolai, we've known each other for almost two years."

"Yes." He nodded.

"And we've been dating for over a year."

"Yes." He began to blush.

"And I love you and you love me."

"Of course I do." Nikolai looked around the room again, realization dawning on his face. "Claire, wait-"

"-I don't want to wait, not anymore." Claire laughed happily. "I'm eighteen, you're almost nineteen. We're in love and I don't want to wait anymore." She began to kiss him again and smiled. "Do you want to wait anymore?"

Nikolai began to stammer. "What, what-" he shrugged "-what m-made you decide-" he sighed "-NOW?"

Claire sighed. "Olivia threw a little wobbler today and Sherry and I had to basically talk her down from whatever crazy tree she'd climbed up, but she said something, something that really made an impact on me. If I only had one night left with the man I loved, what would I do with him that night? I know we're going to have many, many nights together, but I want to treat tonight like it's our last night on earth. I want to spend it with you, together. I want to make love with you, Nikolai." She waited as Nikolai looked around the room again, his face turning red. After a few moments, she shrugged. "WELL?"

Nikolai looked at her, smiling softly as he leaned down and kissed her. "Yes." He took her hand and led her out of the living room, stopping to blow all of the candles out with one breath from the doorway. "Fire hazard." He whispered.

Claire giggled. "Where did you pick THAT trick up?"

"Helios Niarchos on the sixteenth floor. Super breath." He laughed as he began to kiss Claire again before he picked her up and carried her to her bedroom.

* * *

"Wow!" Gabriel lay on the bed, struggling to catch his breath as Olivia rolled over and lay beside him. "Just. WOW!"

Olivia grinned. "Wow, huh? It's been a while since I got a 'wow' out of you."

"A month at least." Gabriel rolled over to face her, smiling. "God was that worth the wait."

"Wait no more because when you're ready to go again, so am I."

"Faith's not-" he frowned "-she doesn't know-"

Olivia shook her head "-she's asleep, I think. She has no idea what Mommy and Daddy are doing."

"Good." Gabriel pulled her close, kissing her passionately. "I don't want to give her a complex before she's even born."

"I doubt you will." Olivia started to kiss Gabriel and frowned as he pulled away and lifted his head. "What?"

"Why that little-" Gabriel sat up, glaring at the bedroom wall. "That little sneak niece of ours!"

"What's she doing?" Olivia sat up beside him.

"I believe the nice way to describe it is she's cashing in her V card with Nikolai. They're cashing it in together."

"Wait, what?" Olivia started laughing. "You mean Claire and Nikolai are-"

"-Getting laid, popping each other's cherries, hitting the sheets, making the beast with two backs-" He threw back the covers. "-Oh, I am SO putting a stop to that!"

"OH NO YOU DON'T!" Olivia reached for him and pulled him back into their bed. "You're staying right here, Mister!"

"But they're-" Gabriel gestured towards the wall. "-I can HEAR them!" He grimaced. "And it sounds like they're rather enjoying it."

"They're young and in love. Let them enjoy it." Olivia rested her chin on Gabriel's shoulder. "I think it's sweet."

"SWEET? Our niece is having SEX in the next apartment!"

"Let her parents worry about it, all five of them." Olivia laughed. "Are you going to go stomping into her room naked and tell them to cut it out? That would be an interesting story to tell the kids one day."

Gabriel sighed. "I think they just finished anyway."

"Whoa, that was fast." Olivia shrugged.

"Tell me about it." Gabriel chuckled. "I can last longer than that, even during a quickie."

"They're newbies, they'll get the hang of the whole marathon concept." Olivia nuzzled her husband's neck. "Speaking of marathons-"

Gabriel turned to her. "You really expect me to do that again with our niece doing it where I can hear her?"

Olivia frowned. "I notice that you can turn it on and off when it's convenient to you. Why don't you try turning that super hearing off now please? Better get it now while you can before I go into labor and then you don't get anymore for another six weeks."

Gabriel nodded as he turned to Olivia. "When you're right, you're right." Laughing he tackled his wife and began to kiss her as they lay back on the bed together.

* * *

Nikolai woke up and rolled over, staring at the clock beside Claire's bed. Claire murmured sleepily beside him and snuggled closer to him. He kissed her forehead and smiled down at her before glancing at the clock again. It was almost four in the morning. Frowning, he looked around, unable to get the sudden feeling of impending danger out of his head. Using the super hearing he'd picked up from Gabriel, he scanned the building, listening for a sign of anything awry. Finally, he reached out with his mind using Olivia's telepathy to contact Peter. _"Peter, are you there? It's Nikolai, something's wrong."_

"_Damn right something's wrong! You just banged my niece, you little shit! I counted three times at least! If Sherry hadn't physically stopped me-"_

"_-I love her so shut the hell up. It wasn't dirty, it was love-" _

"-it had better be, because if you hurt MY NIECE-"

"-will you just shut up for a moment? I'm using Natalia's power. I'm sensing danger, serious danger. Do you detect anything? Have you heard anything out of the ordinary?"

"Just you screwing Claire."

"We were making love."

"Tomato, to-mah-toe." 

"_Are you sensing anything?" _Nikolai waited for a moment. _"Peter?"_

"_Yeah. Now that you mention it, I am sensing something. I'll keep scanning for sound. I need you to scan visual, okay? Use your mother's power to see through walls and find out what's going on." _

"Sure." Nikolai climbed out of bed and pulled on the clothes that he and Claire had quickly tossed aside in their mad frenzy earlier to get into bed together. He turned as Claire began to stir and leaned down, quickly placing a finger on her lips. _"Stay quiet. Something's not right." _Claire nodded and slowly climbed out of bed, pulling her clothes on as well. 

In his bedroom, Peter climbed out of bed and dressed. Sherry sat up and stared at him. "What's going on?"

Peter shook his head as he opened the nightstand and pulled out a gun, checking to make sure it was loaded. "Something's off. Nikolai sensed it first and woke me." He looked around nervously. "Something's really not right." He frowned as Sherry climbed out of bed, grabbing clothes and dressing before pulling out her own gun. "And what are you doing?"

"You're not going anywhere without me, Buster!" She held up her gun and glared at Peter defiantly. "TELL ME I'm staying here."

Peter sighed. "Be careful, Baby." He closed his eyes and reached out to Anthony in the next room. _"Anthony, get dressed and get your gun. Something's up."_ Opening his eyes, he turned to Sherry. "I just woke Anthony."

"Okay." Sherry followed Peter into the living room and waited for Anthony to join them.

Anthony stared at them sleepily as he held up his gun. "What's up?"

Peter shook his head. "I don't know yet."

Gota carefully walked to the building, looking around before she phased through the wall into the first floor security office. Looking around at the empty room, she pursed her lips. "Shit." She whispered.

* * *

Olivia rolled over and stared at the clock beside her bed. It was four a.m. Rubbing her belly as she felt the vigorous kicks, she smiled. "Someone's a VERY early bird." She whispered. She rolled over and kissed Gabriel on the cheek before climbing out of bed. As he murmured and began to stir, she shushed him. "I'm just going to get a drink of water. Our daughter is kicking like crazy."

"Tell her to cut it out." He muttered. "She's not supposed to wake us up this early until she's born."

Laughing, Olivia pulled on a robe and walked out of the bedroom towards the kitchen.

In the basement security room, Bridget rubbed her eyes sleepily. Suddenly she spotted movement in the first floor security room and sat up straight, her sleepiness suddenly dissipating as she recognized the woman in the cameras. "Oh CRAP!"

Linderman and his men landed silently on the roof, grinning at each other as they began to sink through the floors of the building. In Claire's bedroom, Nikolai's eyes widened as he spotted Linderman and his men arriving in Olivia's apartment. _"PETER! IT'S LINDERMAN! HE'S IN OLIVIA'S APARTMENT! HE'S STRIKING A DAY EARLY!"_ He turned and reached for the panic button in Claire's bedroom.

Peter closed his eyes. "SHIT!" He ran out of the apartment towards the stairs with Sherry and Anthony hot on his heels.

Bridget hit the panic button for the first floor, covering her ears as alarms began to sound. An electronic voice began to ring through the building.

"**INTRUDER ALERT! FIRST FLOOR SECURITY ROOM! INTRUDER ALERT! FIRST FLOOR SECURITY ROOM!"**

In Olivia's apartment, Linderman rolled his eyes as the alarm began to sound. "Ineffectual idiots. I'm surrounded by them."

The security alarm for the first floor stopped, suddenly replaced by another alarm as Nikolai hit the panic button in Claire's room.

**INTRUDER ALERT! TWENTY-SECOND FLOOR! INTRUDER ALERT! TWENTY-SECOND FLOOR!**

Olivia gasped and walked out of the kitchen, yelping as Linderman grabbed her and injected her in the hip with the Pitocin.

"OLIVIA!" Olivia struggled against her father and his men as Gabriel's voice rang out from the bedroom. "OLIVIA WHERE ARE YOU?"

Olivia's eyes widened as a red-haired man opened his mouth, her voice emanating from him. "I'm in the living room, Baby! What's going on?"

"I don't know!" Gabriel began to run towards the living room, a gun in his hand.

"GABRIEL NO!" Nikolai started to run towards their apartment as Claire screamed.

"Nik! What's going on?"

Nikolai turned to her. "The guns, where are they?" He ran with Claire towards her parents' bedroom to gather arms.

As Gabriel ran into the living room, he stopped, his eyes widening as he spotted Linderman holding Olivia. Before he could react, Ombassa stepped silently out of the shadows behind him and quickly shot two bullets into the back of Gabriel's head. Olivia began to scream as Gabriel collapsed onto the floor dead, blood streaming from the exit wounds in his forehead.

"I told you I'd see you dead first." Linderman sneered. He turned to his men. "Get into the hallways, shoot anyone that tries to get up here. Break off into two groups and go next door as well. Kill the Bennets." As his men ran out of the apartment, Linderman turned to Olivia. "And you?" Olivia pulled away from her father and ran to her husband, screaming his name as she turned him over and cradled what was left of his head in her lap. "You don't have time to mourn my Dear." He smiled as she suddenly winced in pain, her face turning pale as she doubled over. "You're going into labor. Worry about your dead husband later, worry about delivering my granddaughter to me now."

Olivia turned to her father, tears streaming down her cheeks as she stroked her husband's face. "I HATE YOU!" She screamed.

"I really don't give a damn." He smirked.

Peter shook his head as he ran up the stairs to the twenty-second floor and stopped, shaking his head. "Catch up with me in a minute, okay?"

"What's that supposed to mean?" Sherry gasped as Peter began to fly, phasing through the stairs. "DAMMIT PETER!"

Peter landed on the twenty-second floor stairwell landing and opened the door, his gun drawn. As he opened the door, he spotted Michael Burke and pointed his weapon at him. Michael already had his drawn. Peter jerked as the gun was emptied into him, the final shot going into his head. As Sherry and Anthony reached him, Peter's bloody body slumped to the ground and rolled down the stairs at Sherry's feet. "PETER!" Sherry knelt beside him and pulled him into her arms, sobbing. "Oh God NO!"

Anthony knelt beside his sister, shaking his head. "He's dead, Honey."

"No." Sherry shook her head. "He promised me." She looked down into Peter's face, tears streaming down her cheeks as she looked into his glazed over eyes. "YOU PROMISED ME!"


	84. Chapter 84

Chapter Eighty-Four: Accepting Her Gifts

Angela, Kaito and Nathan dashed up the stairs from their floor and stopped as they spotted Sherry and Anthony kneeling on the stairs. "What-" Angela's voice trailed off as she saw Peter's body cradled in Sherry's arms. "NO!" She ran to her son and knelt beside him, her eyes widening with horror as she realized he was gone.

"MA?" Nathan slowly approached her as she began to wail. He slumped against the wall as he saw his brother's body and sank to the floor. He closed his eyes, his body wracking with sobs. "No." He whispered. "God no."

"MY BOY!" Angela wailed as Sherry turned and hugged her. She clung to her son's fiancée, keening. "MY BEAUTIFUL BOY!"

Kaito closed his eyes and turned away, shuddering as Hiro, Kimiko, Ando, Matt, Candice, Claude and Hana reached them. "Peter is dead. Linderman is upstairs, probably attacking Olivia and Gabriel."

Claude's eyes widened. "Nikolai's up there! He's with Claire next door."

Nathan rubbed his eyes and looked up. "Nikolai's with Claire?" He looked away, realization dawning. He shook his head as he stood up and walked to Angela and Sherry, joining them with Anthony as they cried over Peter. "And Linderman did this." Struggling to keep his composure, he glared up at the door to the twenty-second floor. "And he has my sister too." He stood and slowly made his way down the stairs to the twenty-first floor.

"Where are you going?" Angela asked.

"To protect my sister and avenge my brother." Nathan turned to look at everyone. "I'll be sending Hana instructions on what to do next."

Michael Burke heard the wails from the stairwell. Pulling his gun, he stepped towards the door and yelped as he was struck with a bolt of electricity. Turning, he whipped his gun around as Nikolai half-phased through the door of the Bennet apartment, his gun already trained on the man. Nikolai sneered angrily as he quickly pumped two bullets into the man's brain before phasing back into the apartment. He turned to Claire. "Claire, you must leave."

Claire shook her head, tears streaming down her cheeks. "Not without you!" She wailed.

Nikolai kissed her forehead. "You have to. I can protect myself, but I don't know if I can protect you too. If something happened to you-" He quickly pointed his gun as someone phased into the room through the floor and sighed with relief as he realized it was D.L. and Niki. "Good, you are here."

"What the hell's going on?" D.L. asked.

"Linderman and his people are attacking a day early." Nikolai turned to the wall to see into Olivia's apartment. He turned away, grimacing. "Olivia's in there with Linderman and two others."

"And Gabriel?" Niki asked. She stifled a sob as Nikolai shook his head sadly.

"He's dead." Nikolai whispered. He turned to Claire again. "Phase down to your grandmother's apartment. Stay there."

"NO!" Claire glared at him. "I'm NOT leaving you!" She gasped as Nathan phased into the apartment through the floor. "Nathan! What's going on?"

Nathan blinked back tears. "Peter's dead." He struggled to keep his composure as Claire cried out and sagged against Nikolai, sobbing. He turned to Nikolai. "How many people are in there with Olivia?"

"Linderman and two others. They have guns trained on her." Nikolai looked at Nathan sadly. "Gabriel is dead too."

Nathan closed his eyes for a moment then turned to Claire. "Sweetie, I need you to phase downstairs-" he held up a finger as Claire started to protest "-and protect Heidi, Simon and Monty. Janice, Matthew, Micah, Mohinder and Shanti are down there too with Heidi. Please, do it for me. Help keep them safe."

"Okay." Claire sighed as she turned to Nikolai. She kissed him passionately and touched his cheek. "Stay alive."

"You too." Nikolai smiled softly. "Go. Go, my love." He watched as Claire backed away and quickly sank through the floor. Nikolai turned to Nathan. "I suppose you're wondering what I'm doing up here at four in the morning?"

Nathan glared at him. "Not now. Right now I'm thankful you were here to protect her and sound the alarm. Right now I want to save my sister. We'll discuss the rest later." He turned towards the wall. "Guns on Olivia and Gabriel dead." He sighed. "Hiro can't teleport in and grab her without risking them being shot." He closed his eyes as he concentrated on his telepathy. Moments later he opened his eyes again. "Hiro, Claude, Matt, Anthony, Geoffrey, Ando and Kaito are going to the other stairwell to try and get in that way. Sherry, Mom, Meredith, Candice and Hana are going to wait until they're in position, then they're both going to storm the hallway at the same time to try and take out the men in the hallway. We'll wait here to see when we can get a break to get Olivia. Linderman and his men have to lower their guard at some point, he's a cocky little bastard. Four of us in here against the three of them might work." He turned with Niki and D.L. as six men began to phase through the walls towards them. "Nikolai!"

"Stay close!" Nikolai quickly activated a force field as the men opened fire. Nikolai glanced at Nathan. _"You're seriously pissed about me being up here with Claire, aren't you?"_

"_Not now. We're not discussing this NOW!"_ Nathan glared at him. _"So what do we do?" _

"We wait for them to reload, I drop the field and we open fire. There are four of us and six of them. We take head shots of everyone. Tell D.L. and Niki to get ready for my signal." 

Nathan glanced over at Nikolai, a look of appreciation and pride crossing his face. _"I don't like what you and my daughter did tonight, but I'm glad you're here and that you have a level head."_

Nikolai gave Nathan a wry smile. _"Does it help any that I love her?"_

"_A little." _

"_Ready? NOW!" _Nikolai dropped his shield as Nathan sent a telepathic message to Niki and D.L. They quickly opened fire on the men surrounding them, dropping all of them quickly, with Niki getting three in a row.

"DAMN BABY!" D.L. glanced at her. "A little bit of Jessica coming out, huh?"

"You could say that." Niki winked. "What do you say to all of us phasing into that apartment and shooting the shit out of Linderman?"

"Wait." Nikolai shook his head. "Olivia's there and she could get caught in a cross fire. Wait for them to lower their guard a bit."

* * *

In the apartment, Olivia struggled to keep her composure as another wave of pain washed over her, her contractions becoming stronger. Looking down at her husband's face, she choked back a sob. Linderman laughed softly as he stood over her. "Poor man. If he'd just listened to reason when I offered the two of you a chance to rule beside me, he might have been able to watch his daughter grow up."

"Shut up." Olivia shook her head.

"And now here he is, lying dead with what's left of his head bleeding in your lap while you try not to cry out in pain with your contractions." Linderman sneered. "I can still tell that you're having them. Your body tenses every few minutes. Has your water broken yet?"

"SHUT UP!" Olivia glared up at him as he casually sat down on the couch. "You may have killed my husband, but you'll never take me OR my daughter! He swore to fight to the death to keep us out of your hands-"

"-AND HE FAILED!" Linderman smirked. "He's dead and you're both here, under my control." He glanced towards the door. "You need to go ahead and try to hurry those contractions along before I get tired of this and just phase my hands into your swollen belly and drag that baby out of there."

Olivia looked away, tears streaming down her cheeks as another contraction began. Breathing slowly, she concentrated on the pain, trying not to cry out. As she looked down at her husband's face again, stroking his cheek with her hands, she spotted the gun that he'd carried into the room under his shoulder. She glanced over at Linderman and blocked her thoughts from him as she looked at the gun again, a plan forming. "And if I agree to go with you now and let you take Faith, will you let everyone else here live? Will you save the rest of my friends and family?"

Linderman stared at her, surprised. "Perhaps."

"Good." She doubled over, screaming for a moment as she quickly grabbed the gun, hiding it in the pocket of her robe. "OH GOD THE PAIN!"

"We can give you painkillers at the compound." Linderman smiled. "You're finally coming to reason?"

"Yes." Olivia panted as she faked the contraction again. She bent forward again and kissed Gabriel's lips, a sob escaping as she sat up. "I love you." She whispered.

"And if he were alive I'm sure he'd say that he loved you too, blah-blah, yadda-yadda." Linderman stood up. "We can leave now. I can fly you to the compound where Faith can be delivered with little fuss. You can have all the painkillers and epidurals you want, my Dear."

"You promise?" Olivia blinked back tears as she looked up at him.

"I promise." Linderman nodded. He pointed to one of the men that stood beside her as Ombassa walked to the balcony and opened the doors. "Help her stand."

Olivia smirked as the man helped her to stand up. As soon as she was on her feet, she quickly pulled out the gun and shot him in the temple. Turning, she pointed the gun at Linderman. "You had my husband murdered."

Linderman glared at her. "So I did."

"You're going to pay for that, you son of a bitch."

* * *

In the Bennet apartment, Nikolai gasped. "Olivia got the drop on Linderman. She shot one of his men and she's got the gun pointed at him now."

Nathan pumped his fist in the air. "GOOD GIRL!" He closed his eyes and sent a message. "Everyone's in place, they're attacking now."

D.L. and Niki heard shouts and gunfire as the group began to attack Linderman's men in the hallway from both ends. D.L. nodded. "Olivia still got the drop on Linderman?"

"For the moment." Nikolai's eyes widened. "There's another man on the balcony, he's pulling a gun."

"Let's get the fuck in there, NOW!" D.L. started towards the wall with Nathan, Niki and Nikolai hot on his heels.

"Hell Yeah!" Nathan pointed his gun at the wall as they marched towards it.

* * *

Olivia's hand shook with pain and fury as she pointed the gun at her father. "I want you to suffer. I want you to feel the pain I'm feeling right now. I know you can't feel emotional pain, you have to have a heart for that, but I'll settle with giving you physical pain first."

Linderman smirked. "You realize you can't kill me, right?"

"Not unless I shoot you in the head, which I will, LAST." Linderman gasped as Olivia shot him in both kneecaps. He fell to the floor in pain as Olivia stood over him. She closed her eyes as she heard a gun click beside her head and turned, spotting Ombassa as he pointed his gun at her head. Linderman stood up, smirking at her as his knees healed.

"Ombassa please don't point a gun at my traitorous daughter." He pointed a gun at her as Ombassa smiled and lowered his gun. "That's my job." He shook his head. "I can take my granddaughter with you dead just as easily as I can with you alive, easier in fact. Should have done that to begin with."

In the split second before he pulled the trigger, Olivia felt a familiar mind touch hers, a mind that didn't know words, but knew danger and the images of it, her daughter's. As Linderman pulled the trigger, Olivia felt her daughter acknowledge the danger and felt a power grow within her. Blue light flashed from her belly, encasing her in a force field as Linderman shot at her. In that split second, Nathan, Nikolai, Niki and D.L. entered the apartment from the Bennets as the rest of the group entered from the hallway. The moment they saw that Olivia was protected with a force field, they opened fire.

"BOSS!" Ombassa grabbed Linderman as bullets began to fly through the air, grabbing him and dragging him towards the balcony as they began to get hit. They fell off of the balcony together, falling towards the ground. Nathan ran towards the balcony with Niki and D.L. as Angela and Sherry lowered their guns and slumped against the wall, their burst of energy spent as they sank to the floor with grief over Peter and Gabriel and relief that Olivia was safe.

"SHIT!" Nathan stomped back into the living room. "Bastards flew away like fucking bats!" He turned to Olivia as she stood in the middle of the room, the force field still encasing her. "Liv?" Olivia's eyes were closed, he listened to her thoughts and heard her trying to calm her daughter down, encouraging her to lower the field. "Sis?" He reached out to catch her as she doubled over in pain, the force field dropping as Faith was distracted in her mother's womb with the contraction that Olivia was experiencing. Nathan pulled Olivia into his arms and hugged her. "It's over, Honey."

"Gabriel's dead and Linderman injected me with something to induce labor. It was Pitocin, I think." Olivia began to sob as she clung to her brother. "Gabriel's dead, Nathan."

Nathan closed his eyes. "Peter's dead too." He whispered. Olivia lifted her head, her eyes filled with shock as he nodded. "I'm sorry."

Olivia stepped away from Nathan, shaking her head as Matt and D.L. left the room. Moments later they returned with Peter's body cradled in their arms in a fireman's carry. Olivia moaned as they lay his body on the couch, walking to her brother and touching his arm. "Noooooo." She sobbed. She gasped and winced, grabbing her belly. "I can't do this without them, Nathan."

"Yes you can." Angela slowly stood up and wiped away tears. "I helped Peter study up on how to deliver Faith and I've given birth to three children myself. This isn't the greatest moment for Faith to choose to arrive, but it's coming nevertheless." She walked to Peter's body and stroked his hair. "He would want us to deliver Faith and protect you. Gabriel would want it too."

Nathan reached out and gently took Peter's hand. "I've wasted so much time these last couple of weeks not speaking to you or Gabriel, not wanting to hear your side. I wish I could have that time back. You were my baby brother, I wanted to protect you from everything." Nathan's chin trembled. "I guess I couldn't."

Olivia turned and knelt beside Gabriel, taking his hand in hers. She stared at the wedding ring she'd lovingly placed on his hand the day they married, the hand that she'd held and kissed daily for nearly two years. "I can't let you go, either of you." She whispered. She glanced up and saw Sherry sitting on the floor, her face buried in her knees as her body shook with sobs. Anthony knelt beside her and held her, his eyes filling with tears. Olivia shook her head as she glanced at Peter. "I can't let your children grow up without a father."

Nathan frowned. "Who? Peter?" His and Angela's eyes widened as they turned to stare at Sherry. "She's-?" His mouth hung open in surprise.

Olivia closed her eyes and remembered Mama Alice's words. "You were right," she whispered "my husband is my soul and he's dead. My soul is dead." She opened her eyes as she grasped Gabriel's hand in hers. "But my soul can be reborn if I accept it, if I accept the gift that my father gave me unwillingly." She smiled softly and closed her eyes again, bowing her head in concentration.

"Olivia?" Nathan walked towards her. "Olivia, what are you doing?" He gasped as Olivia's hand shot out, grasping his ankle as she clutched Gabriel's hand with the other. He sank to the floor, suddenly feeling exhausted as a warm yellow glow filled her hands, flowing through her from Nathan to Gabriel. "Olivia?" Nathan whispered. His eyes widened as the injuries in Gabriel's head began to heal, the blood on the floor running back into his skull before the skin closed up around the wounds. Nathan snatched his ankle from Olivia's grasp as her hand loosened from him and scooted away from her, watching as Gabriel began to breathe again, his eyes fluttering open. "Holy shit." He breathed.

Olivia slowly turned, her face filled with the exhaustion that Nathan was feeling as she quickly turned to Peter and took his hand. She turned to Angela, extending her other hand towards her. "Mother?" Angela beamed and held her hand out to her daughter, gasping as her life's energy began to flow out of her body and into Peter through Olivia.

D.L.'s eyes widened as he watched Peter's wounds heal. He turned and saw Gabriel sit up, looking around the room with a confused expression on his face. "Are you seeing what I'm seeing, or have I taken some crazy pills?" He asked Niki.

Niki shook her head. "I'm seeing the same thing."

"They were DEAD!" D.L. hissed.

"Not anymore." Niki nodded towards Peter and watched as Olivia let go of Angela's hand and held onto Peter for another moment. The bullet in Peter's head fell from the back of his head, tinkling as it hit the floor. Gabriel's eyes widened as he watched the wound in Peter's head close up. Moments later, Peter gasped for air as Olivia let him go, his eyes fluttering open.

"You did it." Angela smiled at her. "Oh Sweetie."

"I'm so tired." Olivia tried to stand and stumbled.

D.L. quickly reached out and grabbed her as she slumped against him, her eyes struggling to stay awake. Gabriel quickly stood and ran to her, touching her face. "Baby, what the hell just happened?"

"I brought you back." She whispered. "Both of you. I loved you both too much to let you stay dead." She closed her eyes and passed out in D.L.'s arms as Peter moaned and slowly sat up.

Sherry stood, her eyes wide as Peter turned to her. "Honey?" She began to sob as Peter smiled at her and walked to her, taking her into his arms. "Oh GOD!" She sagged against him, sobbing louder as Peter hugged her tightly. "You DIED! You were dead in my arms and-"

"-I told you I wasn't going to leave you. I promised you." Peter kissed her gently. "You think I'm going to let you have those babies alone?"

"Babies?" Angela raised an eyebrow, trying not to smile. "You're pregnant."

Sherry shrugged sheepishly. "We weren't going to tell until after the first trimester, but yes, I'm pregnant."

"There's another pregnant one here who may be in trouble!" D.L. hoisted an unconscious Olivia in his arms. "She passed out after bringing Peter back."

"What HAPPENED?" Gabriel looked around the room at everyone, his expression filling with shock. "Did we DIE? Did Peter and I DIE?"

"Yes! You died! You broke everyone's heart and Olivia tapped into her father's power to bring you both back!" Angela ran to Olivia with Peter and touched her daughter's face. "Peter?"

"She's unconscious." He closed his eyes and listened to the heartbeats. "But her heart is strong and so is Faith's."

Nathan stood and wrapped an arm around Peter as he looked down at Olivia. "When she grabbed my ankle while she was bringing back Gabriel, I had this sick feeling. It was like I was being-"

"-Drained." Angela nodded. "She drained us both of some energy to jump-start Peter and Gabriel. That's how she brought them back." She stroked her daughter's cheek. "And exhausted herself in the process."

"I think she's just sleeping." Peter smiled softly. "Wore herself out."

"But she's in LABOR!" Nathan shook his head. "Linderman injected her with something to induce her."

"Then we need to get her to Tybee Island before Linderman regroups and tries a second attempt." Peter nodded. "We'll let her rest while I hook her to a monitor and wake her up when the contractions start coming stronger."

"You go." Nathan smiled at him. "I've got something to do here."

"What?" Peter frowned.

"There are a few dead bodies around here." He looked around the room. "Anyone up for a fly-by mission?" He asked, grinning mischievously.

* * *

Gota arrived back at the hotel, her face a storm cloud of fury. "One fucking job he gave me!" She stomped into her hotel room. "And I screwed it up!"

Katharina watched with amusement as Gota kicked a wall in anger. "What's wrong? Did someone forget to tell you that we moved our security office?"

"THAT'S IT!" Gota whipped out a gun and pointed it at Katharina. "I have had enough of you!" She jerked before she could pull the trigger and slumped to the floor. Mina stood behind her, holding a lamp in her hand. As the guard watching Katharina stepped forward, Mina threw the lamp at him. While he ducked, Mina scrambled to get Gota's gun and aimed at him, firing twice and hitting him in the chest. Her hands shaking, she ran to Katharina and began to loosen the binds that tied her to the chair.

"Can I come with you? I can't stay here anymore, they're gonna kill me for this." She glanced nervously over her shoulder as Gota began to twitch.

Katharina smiled at the young girl as she stood, rubbing her wrists. "You're welcome to stay with us as long as you need." Taking the girl's hand, they quickly darted out of room and ran out of the hotel. They looked around nervously and ran down the street towards the apartments.

* * *

Peter appeared at the house in Tybee Island, his hands on Angela and Gabriel. Olivia rested in Gabriel's arms as he carried her up the stairs to the room they'd prepared for Faith's birth. "You sure she's just resting?" Gabriel asked, his face filled with worry as he gently placed Olivia on the bed.

"Yeah." Peter smiled softly at his sister. "I think it took a lot out of her to resurrect us."

"She brought us back from the dead." Gabriel caressed his wife's face while Peter placed a monitor on her belly. "God, I didn't think I could love her more."

"And now she's getting ready to have your daughter." Peter pulled on a pair of gloves after he extended a pair of stirrups from the bed. Gently placing Olivia's feet in them, he grimaced. "Let's see how the labor's going." Gabriel watched as Peter checked her cervix. "She's only dilated about two centimeters."

"She's gotta be ten, right?" Gabriel sighed as Peter nodded.

"And her water hasn't broken yet either."

"So we're going to be in for a long day." Gabriel pulled up a chair and sat next to his wife as Peter carefully removed her feet from the stirrups. They looked up as Angela walked into the room, carrying coffee cups. Gabriel smiled kindly at her. "It's going to be a while."

"Of course it is, it's her first baby." Angela sighed as she walked to the break table and began to brew coffee. She turned as Hiro teleported into the room with Kaito, Kimiko, Ando and Claire. "It's going to be quite a while before Faith arrives, I'm afraid."

"We can wait." Kaito nodded.

Claire squealed and ran to Peter, hugging him tightly. "Oh my GOD! When I found out that you were killed-" she giggled as Peter hugged her back. "-I can't believe that Olivia brought you back!"

"What am I, chopped liver?" Gabriel teased as Claire turned to him. She walked to him and hugged him quickly.

"I'm glad you're okay too."

"Even if I could easily kill Nikolai now?" Gabriel raised his eyebrows as Claire blushed.

"You know."

"I have super hearing, Genius. I heard everything." Gabriel chided as Claire's blush deepened.

"We both heard." Peter nodded.

"Does it help that I love him?" Claire asked them.

Gabriel sighed. "You're eighteen years old and you're with someone you love. I'm not your father or your dad, just your uncle by marriage who once tried to take your brain. It's really not my place to give you hell about what happened with Nikolai last night. I will tell you this though, first of all, I wish I could have lost my virginity to someone I actually loved instead of someone I only thought I cared about. Second of all, if Nikolai ever hurts you, he won't live to see another day, got it?"

Claire smiled softly. "Got it." She walked to Olivia and gently took her hand. "Hey there. I know you're getting some much-needed rest, but I have to say, you seriously rock."

"She knows." Gabriel threw an arm around Claire's shoulder, hugging her again quickly. "I'm going to be a daddy soon."

"Yeah! You are! To a girl! Like me!" Claire beamed.

Gabriel's smile faded. "Oh God help me."

* * *

Linderman and Ombassa arrived at the hotel and angrily stomped into the hotel room. Linderman frowned as Gota greeted him with her head lowered. He looked around the room. "Where are Mina and Miss De La Vega?"

"They attacked me, shot Brian and left." Gota refused to meet Linderman's eyes. "They've already arrived back at the hotel."

"And what happened with the security office?" Linderman's eyes narrowed. "You were SUPPOSED to turn off the alarms."

"They apparently moved the security office to another location." Gota shook her head. "The only thing in the room when I walked in was a camera. I was spotted before I could do anything else, so I left before the others could arrive and kill me." She slowly lifted her head. "The baby?"

"I couldn't retrieve her." Linderman snarled. "At least I know I killed that idiot son-in-law of mine." He sighed. "Or at least I thought he was dead. I just tracked Olivia using young Miss Walker's power. She's in Tybee Island, Georgia. Gabriel and Peter Petrelli are with her. Somehow they've survived."

"I see." Gota pulled back her shoulders. "We'll fly there and attack."

"We can't." Linderman shook his head. "We don't have time to get another group together fast enough and they'll be expecting us. I'll have to think of something else, and soon."

"I'm sorry I screwed up." Gota lowered her head again. "I'll move out of the suite when we return."

"Don't bother." Linderman sighed as he sat down. "You're my right hand, I need you by my side." He looked up at Gota as she stared down at him gratefully, tears in her eyes. He reached out and took her hand, patting it gently. "How could you know they had moved the security office?"

* * *

Hiro teleported others to the house in Tybee Island while Peter, Gabriel and Angela took care of Olivia upstairs. Candice and Mohinder sat on the couch with baby Shanti in Candice's lap as Heidi paced the floor of the living room. Janice sat in a chair, watching as Matthew toddled around the room, babbling happily. Simon, Monty and Micah sat in front of a television, watching cartoons as Claire bounced down the stairs with Kaito, Ando and Kimiko behind her. Holding up her hands, she smiled. "It's going to be quite a while until Faith shows up. Olivia's still out, but they're monitoring her contractions. They've started leveling off and they're not as erratic as they were when she first got here. They've spaced out evenly now, about fifteen minutes apart. She's only two centimeters dilated and her water hasn't broken yet."

Candice nodded. "Yep, it's going to be a while indeed." She sighed and stood up, handing Shanti to Mohinder. "Mind watching the kiddies with Kaito and Ando while the girls and I dig through the kitchen to find breakfast foods?"

"I don't think they're going to have anything." Claire frowned. "But there's a store about a mile down the road and Peter said there was a car in the garage."

"That'll work." Candice kissed Mohinder and their daughter. "We'll be back soon." She followed Claire, Heidi, Kimiko and Janice towards the garage as Hiro arrived with Meredith, Sherry and Tulia.

Sherry beamed as Matthew squealed and ran to her. "Come here you little squirt!" As she bent to pick up the child, Kaito stopped her. "What?"

Kaito winked and lifted up Matthew. "I will carry him for you. You shouldn't be lifting anything."

Sherry sighed gustily as she sat on the couch. "And it begins."

"Yes, it does." Kaito grinned at her as he tickled Matthew under the chin.

* * *

Nathan and Nikolai led a team including D.L., Niki, Claude, Hana, Matt and Anthony, among others as they flew towards the compound in the Beartooth Mountain range, each of them toting a dead body over their shoulders. As they approached the compound, Nathan smirked. "BOMBS AWAY!" He yelled as he threw the body he was carrying towards the ground. Everyone followed suit. Nathan turned in the sky, hovering as he gave his friends a wicked grin. "Gee, what do you think Linderman will say when he sees THAT?"

"Who gives a bloody shit! Bastard deserves it!" Claude smirked as they all turned around and headed back towards Las Vegas.

As they flew back towards their home, Nikolai glanced over at Nathan. "So when are you going to kill me?"

"For deflowering my daughter?" Nathan snorted. "I should just kick your ass out of the sky now."

"I love her, Mr. Petrelli." Nikolai nodded. "I intend on spending the rest of my life with her."

Nathan glanced at him, noticing the earnest expression on the boy's face. "You really mean that, don't you?" Nikolai nodded and Nathan smiled softly. "You'd better."

"I knew I loved her the moment I laid eyes on her, Sir. What we did last night, this morning, it wasn't wrong."

Nathan sighed. "Yeah, don't worry about me, okay?" He grinned. "Worry about NOAH!"

Nikolai nodded. "Oh, I do." He shrugged. "Claire went to Georgia with the rest of the family to wait for Faith's arrival?"

"That she did. I'll be heading there myself after we get back to Vegas. Hiro's going to be quite busy today, I think."

"I'll help with the teleporting, if I'm needed." Nikolai smiled. "To give Hiro a break."

"I think he'll probably appreciate that."

* * *

Gabriel sat up as Olivia began to stir. "Livvie?" Gabriel stood beside his wife, stroking her hair as her eyes opened. "Hey Baby! Welcome back."

"You too." Olivia smiled at him. "Oh God, when you died-"

"-Shhhh!" Gabriel kissed her lips softly. "Don't worry about that right now."

"Peter?" She turned as Peter walked over to her, taking her hand. "Oh thank God!"

"No, thank you." Peter smiled at her. "Pretty wicked trick you pulled there, Sissy."

"Tell me about it." Olivia sighed. "Wore my ass out. I'm never doing that again." She looked around the room. "What am I doing here?"

"Getting ready to give birth to your daughter, that's what." Peter patted her hand. "Your contractions have evened out, they're fifteen minutes apart and your water hasn't broken yet. You're in this for the long haul. You ready?"

Olivia nodded. She turned to Gabriel. "Remember our deal?"

"Of course." Gabriel kissed her again. "I'm only allowed to ask you if you want drugs three times. If you deny me the third time-"

"-No matter how much pain I seem to be in-"

"-I'm not allowed to ask again." Gabriel sighed. "You sure you want to try this naturally?"

"Sure, I'll give anything a shot once." Olivia winked at him. "I gave you one, didn't I?"

"More than once, and I thank God every day for it." Gabriel stroked her hair as she winced. "Contraction?" She nodded as she breathed slowly. "Is it bad?"

"No, it's like a party in my uterus." She quipped. "It's not too bad though, so don't waste your first question yet."

"Not gonna." Gabriel held her hand and reassured her as she breathed through the contraction, kissing her as it subsided. "One down, many more to go."

"I should have stayed unconscious." Olivia chuckled.


	85. Chapter 85

Chapter Eighty-Five: A Little Faith

Everyone in the living room looked up as Nathan, Claude, Hana and Nikolai appeared. Hiro looked up at Nathan, smiling. "I could have brought you."

"S'okay, Nik here can teleport." Nathan clapped Nikolai on his back. "But Matt, Niki and D.L. were making noises about wanting to pop in to visit. You might get a call from them soon." He looked around the room, grinning. "So, have we got a baby yet?"

Candice snorted. "You're kidding me, right?"

Nathan frowned. "But it's" he checked his watch "two in the afternoon. I figured Olivia would have pushed Faith out and all of you would be passing her around the room by now. What's the hold-up?"

"It's her first baby for one." Candice shrugged. "And apparently Faith's being a tad stubborn."

"Hmmm." Nathan turned and headed up the stairs to the birthing room. As he lifted his hand to knock, his eyes widened to hear moans coming from the room. Shrugging, he gently knocked and grinned as an exasperated Angela flung open the door.

"WHAT?" She snapped, blowing a strand of hair out of her eyes.

"I just wanted to see my sister, God!" Nathan stepped into the room, his eyebrows rising to see Olivia pacing the room, wearing a pink hospital gown. "Where'd you get that?" Olivia glared at him as Gabriel shook his head and slowly backed over to Nathan.

"You might want to drop your eyes and slowly leave the room. Save yourself." He whispered.

Nathan ignored Gabriel as he walked to Olivia and rubbed her shoulder. "How's it going?"

"Okay." Olivia nodded. "The contractions are closer together."

"Ten minutes instead of fifteen." Gabriel muttered.

"THAT'S CLOSER ISN'T IT?" Olivia glared at her husband. She slowly began to pace the room again, her hands pressed against her back. "Maybe if I keep walking, they'll get closer still. I can just let gravity do its work, right? They say that walking helps move labor along."

"It helped Heidi." Nathan smiled softly at her. "You're doing fine."

"Her water hasn't broken yet and she's still only two centimeters dilated." Gabriel whispered to Nathan. "Hell, I'M dilated two centimeters, for Chrissakes!"

"You're NOT helping!" Olivia growled.

"What do you want me to do, huh?" Gabriel shrugged at his wife. "You're not progressing, you're not letting Peter give you ANYTHING for the pain, you're moaning and yelling every time you have a contraction and NOTHING'S happening! What CAN I do? You're in pain and you won't let me or anyone else help!"

"I can do this without the drugs." Olivia nodded as Nathan began to rub the small of her back. "And if you wanted to help, you COULD do what my brother's doing. HE hasn't complained or questioned since he came in here. He's been reassuring me and rubbing my back." She closed her eyes. "God that feels good, by the way."

"I was in the delivery room with Heidi when Monty was born. Her back was killing her with each contraction, so I massaged her." Nathan smiled at his sister. "Have I apologized for not speaking to you these last few weeks yet?"

"No." Olivia smiled softly. "No need to, though. You were worried about me and Faith."

"I was an asshole about it. I could have been a little better."

"You haven't apologized to me either, by the way." Gabriel whispered.

Nathan rolled his eyes as he continued to knead the muscles in the small of his sister's back. "Where's Peter?"

"He stepped out for air." Angela leaned against the wall. "Someone yelled at him. I wonder who?"

"His hands were cold and I got tired of him constantly checking my cervix." Olivia grumbled.

"Oh, like it's a day at the park for him to BE checking that!" Angela snapped. "You wanted him to help deliver your daughter, you should let him do his damn job."

"NOT NOW, MOTHER!" Olivia moaned and doubled over as Nathan supported her.

"Easy, easy, just breathe through it, okay?" Nathan began to breathe with Olivia, helping her take deep breaths. "You're doing good."

Gabriel checked his watch and nodded. "Up to eight minutes apart. Good job."

"Oh shut up." Olivia muttered.

Gabriel sighed. "I'm just telling you that you're doing a good job, okay? What do you WANT from me?"

Nathan turned to him. "You could try being a little more supportive and helpful instead of bitching about how long this is taking and constantly reminding her how far apart her contractions are." Nathan gently patted Olivia's shoulder as she straightened up. "Better?"

"Yeah." Olivia took a deep breath. "Heidi must have really loved having you in the delivery room."

"Actually, she grabbed my hair, screamed and swore that Monty would be the last after her epidural didn't take." Nathan rubbed his scalp. "I had a bald spot for a month afterwards." He turned to Gabriel. "Mind coming over here and helping your wife?"

"Is she going to pull my hair out?" Gabriel stared at her.

Olivia glared at him. "No, but I could kill you again and NOT bring you back this time."

"Come on." Nathan waved Gabriel over and gently placed his hand on the small of Olivia's back. "Just massage her, reassure her and stop reminding her how long this is taking okay?"

"Fine." Gabriel began to massage Olivia, smiling at her. "The day's finally here. We're having a baby, isn't that great?"

"WE'RE having a baby?" Olivia leaned against him. "I don't see you trying to blow a St. Bernard out of your ass."

Gabriel sighed. "You know, I'm trying here, Babe."

Olivia nodded and leaned against him, kissing his cheek. "I know. I love you and I'm sorry for being a bitch."

"And I'm sorry that it took Captain Jackass over there to remind me what I'm supposed to be doing in here." Gabriel smiled at her. "If it takes all night, I won't remind you again how long this is taking, deal?"

"Deal."

"Thank God." Angela sighed. "Now maybe you can start trying to HAVE this baby instead of wasting time whining and sniping!"

Nathan turned to Angela. "Maybe WE should go find Peter and get some air with him."

"My daughter needs me in here." Angela sniffed. "Don't you, Olivia?"

Olivia turned to Angela. "Mother, I say this will all love and respect, but could you, for a little while, please get the fuck out before I kill you?"

Angela pulled her shoulders back, her lips pressing into a thin line. "Fine. I'll stay out for now, but I know you'll be asking for me soon." She turned and walked out of the room haughtily as Nathan chuckled.

"Good one. I haven't seen Mom that pissed in quite a while!"

"Glad to be of some service." Olivia nodded as she began to pace the room again, with Gabriel walking beside her, still kneading the muscles in her back.

Nathan followed Angela out of the room. "You could help a little more in there too, rather than just bitching and being snarky with her."

"She's not letting anyone help." Angela rolled her eyes as she headed towards the master bedroom. "I even offered to swap out with her for a while to endure a few of the contractions for her, but she refused."

"Well, that could be because she would actually like to give birth to her daughter HERSELF!" Nathan sighed.

"I've had more experience in the matter." Angela snapped. "She's just pacing around, not letting Peter give her any painkillers. She might as well be having that child in a field somewhere-"

"-Let her do it her way. This IS her baby, after all."

"And just WHAT is THAT supposed to mean?" Angela turned to Nathan, glaring at him.

"What it means Mom, is that you're trying to run the show with Olivia the same way you've always tried to run it with me and Heidi. We had to get the doctor to physically remove you from the delivery room when Monty was born because you kept trying to be 'helpful' when you just kept getting in the way."

"I was NOT getting in the way!" Angela snapped.

"You kept telling the doctor to give Heidi an episiotomy, even though she didn't need one, you kept telling her that she was breathing wrong and pushing wrong and you even demanded that the doctor show you his credentials because you didn't think he knew what he was doing!"

"He acted like a buffoon!"

"He was the top OB/GYN in Manhattan! He had twenty years worth of experience and you treated him like a toady!" Nathan shook his head. "Unless you want to get tossed out of the room with Olivia, you might want to start holding your tongue and being a bit more supportive with Olivia."

"What do you know?" Angela turned and stomped away from him. "I've ALWAYS been supportive with Olivia. I've been supportive with ALL of you?"

"Oh REALLY?" Nathan grabbed her arm. "Let's talk about the support you've given us over the years, huh? You tried to convince me to let Manhattan AND my brother blow up-"

"-to get you into the White House-"

"-you tried to stop Olivia's wedding to Gabriel-"

"-he's a SERIAL KILLER!"

"You kept Claire from me. You knew she was alive and living with the Bennets and you made me think for YEARS that she was dead-"

"-and because of that you married Heidi and had two beautiful sons, you're welcome for that by the way-"

"-Like Heidi wouldn't have accepted Claire? She accepted her after she found out about her, didn't she?"

"Only because the two of you were already married. If you had met Heidi and told her that you had an illegitimate daughter, do you honestly think she would have married you and helped raise that girl?"

Yes, I do!" Nathan glared at her. "You have done nothing but meddle in our lives from the very beginning-"

"-And look what all of you have become-"

"-And now you're trying to horn in on what is supposed to be one of the most memorable and special days of Olivia and Gabriel's lives-"

"-Just to help. She has NO idea what she's doing in there!"

"She's a DOCTOR! She's doing what women have been doing since the dawn of man, okay? She doesn't need you standing over her, telling her what she's doing wrong. She needs you supporting her and letting her know that everything's going fine and that she's doing a good job. You also need to back off and let Gabriel and Olivia do this their way and stop trying to insert yourself into everything. Let THEM have this child together. Let the two of them have a private, intimate moment together, one of the most intimate they're going to have, without butting in."

As Angela opened her mouth to speak, Peter stepped out of the master bedroom and nodded. "He's right, Mom. You're not helping in there. You're just making Olivia and Gabriel hostile. Do you want Faith born in the middle of hostility? No wonder that kid doesn't want to come out. Hell, I wouldn't either!"

Angela pursed her lips together, her face turning red with anger. "Obviously it's my turn to be everyone's whipping boy today. The two of you here and the two of them in there have been nothing but rude and disrespectful to me throughout this whole ordeal today. I'm not going back into THAT room until ALL of you apologize to me for the way you've been speaking to me! I have NEVER been treated so terribly in my life."

"I really doubt that, Ma." Nathan sighed. "We'll miss you in the delivery room when Faith's born." He turned and walked into the master bedroom, with Peter following behind him. Angela glared at their retreating backs for a moment, her nostrils flaring angrily.

"UN-GRATEFUL!" She yelled before turning and stomping down the stairs.

Everyone in the living room leaned towards the door, watching as Angela stormed past them in the foyer. They all jumped as the front door slammed. Heidi leaned back in her chair, taking a deep breath. "Did everyone else hear the ass-chewing Nathan just gave her?"

"I didn't know he had it in him." Sherry grinned. "I'm kind of proud of him right now."

"I'm wishing we were extremely alone right now." Heidi smiled.

Kaito sighed and shook his head. "Excuse me."

"Where are you going, Father?" Hiro asked.

"To calm my wife." Kaito walked slowly towards the foyer. "And to probably yell at her a bit myself."

Hiro shook his head. "And Father is married to her."

Kimiko nodded. "Think it's too late to convince him to get an annulment?"

"I think so." Hiro shrugged. "Besides, we might get a scary stepmother out of it, but the stepsiblings are okay."

"I guess so."

* * *

Nathan and Peter walked to the balcony off of the master bedroom and stood outside, taking deep breaths of the ocean air. "Hell of a view." Peter whispered. 

"Yeah, it is." Nathan smiled. "It must have been pretty cool, growing up here." He leaned on the railing of the balcony. "I don't know if Mom ever told you, but she brought us here once when you were a baby."

"Really?" Peter turned to him.

"Yeah." Nathan nodded. "I was twelve. You were almost a year old. Mom brought us here to stay at a beach house that was next door." He pointed to an empty lot a few hundred yards down the beach. "I guess it's been torn down now. Mom only said that we were going to stay at the beach near where some friends of hers lived. We met Olivia then."

"We did?" Peter's eyes widened.

"Yeah." Nathan grinned. "I didn't remember it until I came up here with you guys on New Year's Eve. I asked Mom about it later. She admitted that she'd been having the Greenes followed and investigated to make sure that Olivia was being raised properly. She had a really hard time letting go of Olivia. Anyway, she brought us here for a week during the summer. Olivia was three, I think. I remember keeping an eye on both of you while you played in the sand. You were just starting to walk. I carried both of you out into the shallow part of the ocean there, just a few feet from the beach. I remember how much you squealed and squirmed to get into the water. Olivia was very laid-back about it. She pretty much spent every day in the water, so she was used to it, but you were so excited by the waves and the water and the splashing. I almost dropped you, actually. I had no idea that I was holding not only my brother, but my sister too." Nathan blinked back tears. "I'm sorry that we've spent these last few weeks fighting. I'm sorry about hitting you and-"

Peter wrapped an arm around Nathan's neck and pulled him close to him, their foreheads touching. "-You were freaked out, wanting to protect our sister. I get it."

"When I ran up those stairs this morning and saw you dead-" Nathan broke down and started crying as Peter hugged him tighter. "-You'd think by now I'd get used to finding you dead, but this time, I thought it was the last. I thought you were gone forever. I said it before and I'll say it again, I don't know who I am without you. You're my conscience, Pete. You're the best part of all of us and you're the one who holds all of us together. You're our center. Without you, we'd spin out of control. Don't ever die on me again, you got it?"

"I've got it." Peter smiled as Nathan's arms wrapped around him and tightened. "Hey, I'm not going anywhere any time soon. I've got a niece to deliver, I've got a girl I need to marry and two babies on the way."

Nathan laughed and stepped away, wiping tears. "Boy, when you knock someone up, you really don't do it halfway do you? Twins? You're sure?"

"Yeah, I'm sure." Peter smiled. "We found out the same day you and I got into the fight." He shrugged. "You were the first person I wanted to tell, actually."

"Well, why didn't you, huh?"

"I didn't know what kind of reaction I'd get from you if I knocked on your door. After the fight we'd just had, I figured you'd knock my lights out before I got a chance to say anything. That, or you'd just tell me that, with two babies on the way, I'd be even more justified in endangering Olivia just to keep Sherry safe."

"I had no right to say that, I was angry." Nathan shook his head. "I know you're just as protective of our sister as I am. I know you wouldn't put her in harm's way." He smiled. "And if Linderman had shown up on the day he was supposed to instead of bumping his attack up a day, Gabriel's plan that you supported would have worked!"

Peter smiled. "I heard you came up with a pretty good attack plan yourself, and without much time to get it together."

"Hana helped." Nathan nodded. "I was hell-bent on avenging your death and keeping Olivia safe."

"And you did." Peter sighed. "And speaking of our sister, I guess I need to get back into the delivery room to check on her. Wanna come with me?"

"Sure. I put out a fire in there earlier. We ought to get back before Gabriel sticks his foot in his mouth again and Olivia kills him."

"Hey, maybe by now, she's two and a HALF centimeters dilated!" Peter laughed.

"That kid's really taking her sweet time getting here, isn't she?"

"Tell me about it." Peter shook his head as they walked out of the bedroom. He grinned as Sherry and Heidi met them, climbing the stairs.

"How's she doing?" Sherry asked as she hugged Peter, kissing him.

"I'm about to see now." Peter wrapped an arm around her. "You coming in?"

"Yeah. I think Olivia needs a few women in there with her, now that Angela's outside ranting and raving. I just heard her yelling at Kaito. Apparently he's trying to talk some sense into her."

"He's got his work cut out for him." Nathan muttered as he kissed Heidi. "You coming in too?"

"Yeah. I've had a couple of babies around your mother, I know how she's feeling." Heidi shook her head. "Hiro and Nikolai just brought Niki, D.L., Matt and Micah here. They're going to take the kids out to the beach for a while with Candice, Mohinder and Janice."

"Glad that Olivia's labor has turned into a little vacation for everyone." Nathan laughed as they walked into the birthing room. Olivia was bent over the bed, moaning in pain as Gabriel rubbed her back. "How's it going, Honey?"

Gabriel shook his head. "I just asked her if she wants drugs for the third time. She turned me down."

"Oh Olivia, take the drugs." Heidi walked to her and patted her shoulder. "Would you have a tooth drilled without Novocain?"

"I can do this without the drugs." Olivia whispered through gritted teeth.

"Baby, PLEASE!" Gabriel brushed a few sweaty strands of hair out of her eyes. "Take the drugs."

"It'll slow the labor down." Olivia moaned.

"Seriously?" Gabriel kissed her cheek. "How much slower can it go? Take the drugs and relax. You're wearing yourself out, here. At the rate you're going, you'll be too tired to push when it's time unless you can get some rest and you can't do that with the pain you're in." As Olivia moaned and doubled over again, Gabriel rubbed her back, shaking his head. "Please, do it for me, okay? I can't stand seeing you in pain like this." Olivia lifted her head as Gabriel nodded. "Please?"

Olivia nodded, her eyes bleary with pain. "Fine. Drug me."

"Oh thank GOD!" Gabriel nodded to Peter, who quickly walked over to a bag that was sitting on a table. Gabriel began to help Olivia into the bed. "Once you get the drugs, you'll probably be a little too wonky to walk around."

"Not that it was doing much good anyway." Olivia gasped as she started to climb into the bed.

"What?" Gabriel stared at her as she looked at him, her eyes widening.

"My water just broke." She sighed with relief. "FINALLY!" She climbed into the bed and lay back as Peter walked over to her with an I.V. kit. "What are you doing?"

"Starting an I.V. for you so I can give you drugs." Peter grinned and sat beside the bed as he set a syringe down on the bed.

"Oh screw that! I don't have time to wait for that before my next contraction starts!" Olivia grabbed the syringe as Peter wrapped a rubber tourniquet around her arm.

"HEY!" Peter gasped as Olivia slapped at a vein in her arm. He stared as she quickly injected the medication into her arm.

"OLIVIA!" Gabriel's eyes widened in shock.

"Hey Courtney Love, slow down there!" Nathan stepped forward, frowning at his sister as she set the syringe aside and loosened the tourniquet. He and Peter exchanged exasperated looks as Olivia lay back in the bed, her expression softening as she smiled.

"Oh, that's MUCH better!" She sighed. She turned to Peter, smiling dopily. "Go ahead and start the I.V. now. Keep that shit coming."

"Uh yeah, sure." Peter shook his head as he re-wrapped her arm with the tourniquet to start an I.V.

* * *

Angela stomped back towards the house with Kaito following her. "FIRST my children give me hell and now my HUSBAND!" She turned to him, her eyes flashing angrily. "What is it? Is it 'Pick on Angela Nakamura Day' and I didn't get the memo?" 

Kaito crossed his arms in front of his chest, glaring at her. "We're not picking on you! I simply told you that Nathan was right. You have meddled in all of your children's lives since they were born."

"I have NOT!" Angela shook her head. "I have guided them, yes. I have worried for them but it's what any mother would have done for her children." As Kaito stood silently in front of her, Angela stared. "WHAT?"

"You and I both know that you're too involved in their lives. Peter's twenty-eight. Olivia's thirty and Nathan is almost forty years old and yet you still treat them as children most of the time." Kaito lowered his arms and walked to her, gently placing his hands on her shoulders. "You've raised them, well you've raised Peter and Nathan at least, and Sally and Jack raised Olivia. They're all strong, brave, wonderful adults. It's time for you to step back and let them BE the adults that you've raised them to be. It's time to stop thinking that you have to wipe their noses and cut their meat."

"But I don't-"

"-Yes, you do." Kaito sighed as he smiled softly at Angela. "I do the same with Hiro and Kimiko as well, but I still try and step back to let them make their own decisions, to an extent, because I know that they're going to be okay. I understand why you're so protective of them, seeing what we've both seen in this world, but it's time to realize that they CAN take care of themselves. Olivia knows what she's doing. Peter knows what he's doing. Nathan knows what he's doing. They still need you for guidance, but they DON'T need you constantly butting into their lives."

"I HAVE been giving them guidance."

"No, you've been butting in, My Dear." Kaito nodded as Angela's shoulders slumped. "And it's not appreciated. I know why you butt into Olivia's life, especially. I remember when you were pregnant with her. I visited you many times in Paris and let you cry on my shoulder at the idea of giving that baby away, even if it was to two of the best people we knew. I cried with you at the injustice of not being able to raise her. I was there when you went into labor with that sweet girl and I was there when you had to give her away. I helped you hire an investigator to make sure that she was being raised correctly and when she almost died in that terrible accident, Charles and I were both there to help you try to will that girl back to health. In many ways, she's felt like another daughter to me these many years. It hurt me just as much as it hurt you to hand her over to Daniel. I know you worry about her the most of all, because you didn't get to raise her, you didn't get to watch her grow up, but you have to let that go. You have to stop hovering and criticizing before you drive her away."

"I know." Angela shook her head. "Just worry about her so much. She's like Peter, so idealistic and naïve."

"We ALL were like that once upon a time." Kaito smiled as Angela took his arm as they began to walk back towards the house. "It's not a bad thing to be. Perhaps if we'd kept a bit of that idealism and naivety instead of letting it give way to cynicism and greed, our worlds wouldn't be in such turmoil now."

"You're right." Angela nodded as she kissed her husband on his cheek. "I should have had an affair with you instead of Daniel. You wouldn't have stood for Arthur demanding that I give my daughter away."

"No, I wouldn't have." Kaito shook his head. "But then I wouldn't have had Hiro with Ishi."

"True."

Kaito patted her hand. "So we're agreed? Stop butting in, stop criticizing and start supporting. Let our children live their lives their way?"

"Agreed." Angela sighed. "So does this mean you don't want to move here with Olivia and Gabriel when all of this madness is over?"

"Oh hell no!" Kaito laughed. "This place is a palace. They'll rarely know we're here." He turned to her. "But we have to agree now that we're not going to raise Faith unless something happens to Olivia and Gabriel and we're NOT going to tell them how to raise her. We'll be here for support only. We've raised our children."

Angela nodded. "Agreed." She smiled at him. "I'm glad I married you."

"And it only took a few decades to convince you that I was worth marrying." Kaito smiled slyly.

Angela gasped as they entered the house. "You DID have a crush on me back then! I KNEW it!"

"Crush?" Kaito shook his head. "No. I was in love with you, even back then. I was simply too honorable to take you from my friend, that is all." He cleared his throat as Angela started towards the stairs. "Give them a while alone, would you? Let's spend time with the others for a while."

Angela stopped on the stairs and nodded, walking back down them. "Fine. But the first time my daughter yells, I'm running for her."

"I wouldn't expect anything less."

* * *

Peter sat in a chair beside Olivia's bed, his eyes closed as he took a quick nap between contractions. He stirred as soon as she began to pant and moan and sat up, taking her hand. "How's it going?"

"Just ducky." She gritted. "I think the drugs are wearing off."

"It's been a couple of hours since I gave you your last dose, so they should be." He looked at Gabriel who sat on her other side, stroking her arm, his worry mirrored in Gabriel's eyes.

"How long have I been DOING this?" Olivia moaned.

Peter checked his watch. "It's almost midnight, Sweetie."

"I've been in labor for over eighteen hours." Olivia whispered. "I've been in HARD labor for the last eight hours." She shook her head. "I can't do this anymore."

"You're doing good." Gabriel crooned to her. "You're doing such a good job, Honey. Your contractions are three minutes apart and dilated to eight centimeters."

"It took EIGHTEEN hours to get this far!" Olivia wailed as she began to sob. "I can't do this anymore. Just take her, okay? Phase your hands into my stomach and get her out. I can't take this."

Gabriel kissed her cheek as he wet a washcloth and began to wipe her forehead. "Honey, we don't know if that'll work and I'm too afraid to try. You're doing a great job. You've been such a trooper though this. You just have to go a little longer, okay?"

"I'm hungry, thirsty, exhausted-" Olivia cried harder "-I can't DO this!"

"YES YOU CAN!" Gabriel stood up and leaned over her. "Look at me, Baby. You've spent the last nine months putting up with a lot of bullshit with this pregnancy. You've gone through a lot in the past two years and you haven't backed down ONCE! In the last twenty-four hours, you fought off an attack by your father, watched me die, brought me and Peter back to life and you've had to go through difficult labor. You can DO this! You're the strongest person I know, Baby. Stop whining, stop crying and concentrate on bringing our daughter into the world!" Gabriel kissed her. "Fight a little longer. Fight for me and fight for our daughter. You're almost there." He smiled as Olivia began to nod. "Just hang in a little longer."

"Okay." She whispered. She grimaced as another contraction hit her. "OH GOD!" Peter jumped out of his chair and began to check her cervix.

Gabriel climbed onto the bed and scooted behind her as she sat up, doubled over in pain. "Just breathe." He whispered as he massaged her back. "Breathe through the pain, just like we practiced, just like Nathan told you earlier."

"Where IS Nathan?" Olivia wailed.

"He went to sleep down the hall with Heidi and the boys. Everyone else is sacked out in the living room and the guest wing, waiting for Faith." Gabriel kissed her cheek as her contraction subsided. He rubbed her shoulders as she sagged against him. "You're doing so great, Baby. I'm so proud of you."

"Good news." Peter smiled. "You're ten centimeters."

"REALLY?" Olivia began to cry again. "FINALLY!" She doubled over again, screaming as she had another contraction. "WHERE'S MOTHER?"

"I'm here." They turned to see Angela standing in the doorway. "Can I come in?"

Olivia nodded. "Mom, I need you."

"I know." Angela walked over to her and held her hand. "I thought you might." She turned to Peter. "How is she doing?"

"She can start pushing with the next contraction." Peter grinned.

"It's coming now!" Olivia wailed as Gabriel rubbed her shoulders. She sat up and began to push as Gabriel whispered words of encouragement in her ear. Angela patted her hand, smiling at her. After thirty seconds, she sat back, breathing hard. "How many more?"

"I can see the head." Peter blinked away tears as Angela reached for a receiving blanket. "A couple more pushes and she'll be here, just bear down as hard as you can, okay?"

"You can see her head?" Olivia asked. She sobbed as Peter nodded.

Gabriel climbed out of the bed and stood beside Peter as Angela took over his duties, rubbing Olivia's back. "Oh holy SHIT!" He gasped.

Nathan ran into the room, his hair standing on end as he headed towards the bed. "Is she pushing?"

"Yeah." Olivia nodded, wincing as another contraction began to start. "OH CRAP THIS HURTS!"

"Push Honey." Angela was joined by Nathan as they coached Olivia. "Push a little harder, okay?"

"Oh my GOD!" Gabriel gaped over Peter's shoulder.

"WHAT?" Olivia's eyes widened with alarm.

"Nothing, it's just-" Gabriel shook his head "-HOW are you DOING this?"

"You're not helping Baby." Olivia panted as she pushed harder. Finally she lay back, exhausted as Peter sat back, a tiny red infant in his arms. "Is she out?"

"Yeah, she's out." Peter grinned at her.

"It's about damn time." Olivia closed her eyes. "She's not crying."

"You didn't either." Angela stared down at her granddaughter as she squirmed in Peter's arms. "Oh, she's beautiful."

"She is." Peter looked up at Gabriel. "Want to cut the cord?"

Gabriel stared at Peter in shock, then glanced down at the baby. "WHAT?"

"Cut the umbilical cord, so we can clean her off?" He laughed as Gabriel ran his fingers though his hair, then quickly twitched his fingers, cutting the cord with his telekinesis. Peter stood and walked over to a table with Angela, Nathan and Gabriel hovering behind him, watching as he cleaned the baby off.

"How does she look?" Olivia asked from the bed.

Gabriel glanced at her over his shoulder, finally smiling. "She's gorgeous." He turned back as Peter wrapped her in a clean blanket and placed her in his arms. He gasped, staring down at her. "Wow." He turned and carefully walked to Olivia, sitting on the bed with her. "It's our daughter."

Olivia peeked at her over the blanket. "She's so beautiful."

Gabriel nodded, tears streaming down his cheeks. "Our daughter." He smiled as Faith stared up at him, her arms waving around. "Hello Faith. Baby, are you ready to hold-?" He turned to Olivia and shook his head, noticing that she'd dozed off. "That's okay, I'm not really ready to hand her over to anyone yet anyway." He stood with his daughter in his arms and sat in a rocking chair beside the bed, his eyes never leaving his daughter's face as he began to gently rock her. "Let's let Mommy sleep a while, huh?" He nodded. "You were pretty rough on her coming into the world, but I'm glad you finally arrived." He kissed the top of her head and smiled down at her.


	86. Chapter 86

Chapter Eighty-Six: Bonding

Angela rubbed her eyes as she poured soup into a bowl and placed a sandwich on a plate beside it. She placed the food, along with a glass of iced tea on a tray and slowly carried it up the stairs, trying not to yawn as she made her way upstairs. Hearing a noise, she glanced over her shoulder to find Kaito following her. "Is there a baby yet?" He asked, his expression worried. "It's almost one in the morning."

Angela beamed. "Faith Gray was born at one minute past midnight." She held up the tray. "Olivia passed out a few minutes after she was born, but I know she's going to need to eat, and so will the baby. I thought I'd bring her some food and wake her up."

"How are they?" Kaito climbed the stairs beside Angela.

"Olivia's exhausted, but fine. Faith is wonderful. She's so beautiful, Kaito." She smiled. "My daughter now has a daughter of her own."

"How lovely." Kaito nodded. "Who does she look like, Olivia or Gabriel?"

Angela smirked. "Well, Gabriel hasn't really let go of the child since Peter handed her to him after she was born, so I haven't had a chance to get a good enough look. From what I saw though, she looks quite a bit like Claire did, actually." She sighed. "I remember when Claire was born in that little hospital in Texas. Nathan was so excited and I flew down with Arthur to see the baby. It was the first and only time I saw her until she turned up on Peter's doorstep almost two years ago."

"I remember Peter saying that the future Faith that he met looked like Claire. He said he thought that she was Claire, until she stood up and he saw how tall she was and how red her hair was."

"It's SO red, Kaito!" Angela laughed. "That baby has the reddest head of hair I've ever seen." She frowned. "Much like Daniel's was when we were younger, before it turned white."

"Gabriel said that his mother had red hair as well." Kaito sighed. "Let's hope though that red hair is the ONLY thing that child has inherited from her grandfather."

"YOU'RE the only grandfather that child will ever know." Angela raised an eyebrow at him. "DNA means nothing, as far as I'm concerned when it comes to THAT."

Kaito opened the door to the birthing room and followed her in, smiling at the sight in front of him. Gabriel sat in the rocking chair, smiling down at his daughter while Peter and Nathan stood on either side of him, hovering over his shoulders. "I see that young Faith has decided to grace us with her presence?"

Gabriel nodded, his eyes never leaving his daughter's face. "How can someone less than an hour old already have me wrapped around her tiny little finger?" He held out his finger, beaming as her hand grasped it, her fingers curling tightly. "She's got quite a grip."

"How is she doing?" Angela asked, setting the tray down on a table beside Olivia's bed.

"Wonderful." Gabriel whispered.

"We'll take your word for it, since you haven't let us hold her yet." Nathan muttered. "May I PLEASE hold my niece NOW?"

"In a minute." Gabriel nodded dreamily.

"You've been saying that we can hold her in a minute for almost an hour now." Nathan crossed his arms in front of his chest and glared down at him.

Gabriel laughed as Faith stuck her fingers in her mouth and sucked on them for a moment before pulling them out and pursing her lips. "She's making kissy-faces at me. She's been doing that for a while now. She knows her daddy."

Angela glanced over at him. "She's not making kissy-faces, she's smacking her lips and making sucky-faces. She's hungry."

"No, she's blowing me kisses." Gabriel laughed softly. "She's a daddy's girl from the get-go."

"Your daddy's girl is going to be screaming for food before long." Angela sighed. "I'm surprised she hasn't already." She turned to Peter. "How much does she weigh?"

"I wouldn't know. I haven't been able to hold her again since I gave her to Gabriel." Peter shrugged.

"Oh for Heaven's sake!" Angela walked over to Gabriel. "Give her to Peter so she can be weighed and measured. While we're doing that, you can wake up your wife so she can eat. She's going to need to feed herself before Faith starts wanting to be fed."

"In a minute." Gabriel cooed.

"NOW." Angela said firmly. Gabriel looked up at her and frowned. Sighing, he looked down at his daughter again and nodded.

"Fine." He gently handed her over to Angela. "Be careful, she's really small."

"Oh poo! I've held more babies than you have, I'll bet." Angela took Faith from him. "And in case you've forgotten, this baby isn't the only female in this room you claim to love. Why don't you wake up the woman who went through months of discomfort and hours of pain to give you this little miracle so she can eat?"

"Okay." Gabriel craned his neck as Angela turned away with Faith, Peter and Nathan trailing behind her, watching as they began to weigh the baby. He finally turned to Olivia and gently rubbed her shoulder. "Hey Honey, wake up."

"Not now, I'm sleeping." Olivia murmured.

"Honey, you need to wake up and eat. Faith's here, remember?" Gabriel kissed her cheek as he gently shook her. "Wake up for a few minutes to feed yourself and our daughter."

"She's here?" Olivia's eyes fluttered open. "I fell ASLEEP?" She sat up with a start as Gabriel laughed.

"You passed out almost as soon as she was born."

"How long have I been sleeping?" Olivia stared at him, shocked.

"Almost an hour. I'd let you sleep longer because God knows you need it, but you need to eat more, I think." Gabriel set the tray of food on the bed. "Come on, you haven't eaten all day."

"God that smells good." Olivia looked around. "Where's Faith?"

"Right across the room." Gabriel nodded to the huddle that consisted of Angela, Kaito, Nathan and Peter. "They're weighing her now."

"They took this long to weigh her?" Olivia quickly began to eat.

"I sort of wouldn't hand her over to anyone until now." Gabriel brushed a stray curl out of Olivia's face. "She's so beautiful."

"Really?" Olivia asked through a mouthful of food.

"Absolutely breathtaking." Gabriel kissed her cheek. "Thank you so much for her."

"You had a hand in it too, you know." Olivia grinned at him. "So thank you as well."

"She's already got me wrapped around her finger. She's going to be a daddy's girl, wait and see."

Olivia raised an eyebrow. "Daddy's girl? Why isn't she going to be a Mommy's girl?"

"You can have the next one. Maybe it'll be a boy, a Mama's boy. This one's totally mine." He grinned as Olivia's eyes widened. "WHAT?"

"The NEXT ONE?" Olivia stared at him. "You're already talking about the NEXT ONE?"

"Yeah!" Gabriel nodded. "A girl for me, a boy for you. What?"

"I thought you said that Olivia was going to be an only child."

"I changed my mind." Gabriel smiled. "If every baby we have is as gorgeous as Faith, I want a ton of them."

"She's six pounds and five ounces, just like the other Faith's birth certificate said." Peter turned, beaming as he held his niece. "And she's twenty inches long. She's long and skinny." He frowned as the baby began to cry. "Oh fuck me!"

"She wants her father." Gabriel smiled.

"She wants her other uncle, her favorite one." Nathan held out his arms.

Olivia squirmed. "Actually, I think she wants me, or better, I want her." She pushed the tray away as two wet spots began to form on the front of her gown. "And right now I feel like Bessie the cow in serious need of milking."

Angela started laughing. "The baby cries and your body responds. How I remember those days. I don't even want to think about the dry cleaning bills I went through with the shirts I messed up every time Nathan or Peter cried."

"Yeah, very funny. Give her over." Olivia held out the front of her gown away from her chest, grimacing. "This is going to get old very quickly, I think."

"Wait until someone else's child starts crying." Angela chuckled.

"May I have the daughter I haven't had a chance to even HOLD yet, please?" Olivia raised an eyebrow at her brother as he tried to shush her. "She's not going to quit until she's fed."

"You carried her for nine months." Peter sulked. "Give someone else a chance to hold her."

"And I haven't had a chance to hold her yet." Nathan nodded.

"After she's fed and I get a chance to actually BOND with my daughter, you guys can pass her around like a bong at a Phish concert, okay? Until then, I need to FEED her!" Olivia held out her hands as Peter sighed and walked over to her, carefully placing the baby in her arms. Olivia looked down at her, smiling softly. "Hey you. You've saved both of our lives a few times already, haven't you? Thanks for that, by the way. Still, you could have come out with a little less fuss." She nodded as the baby continued to wail, her face turning red as she waved her arms around. "Okay, we'll chat later." She unbuttoned the front of her gown as Kaito quickly turned away and positioned herself and Faith comfortably.

Nathan's eyes widened as he turned away. "Yet another part of my sister's body that I never wanted to see, EVER!"

"Oh hush!" Olivia shrugged. "So now wha-" She gasped as the baby hungrily latched onto her "-ooookay then!"

Gabriel grinned. "Someone was hungry."

"I told you she would be." Angela smiled softly.

"This feels SERIOUSLY weird." Olivia looked down at her daughter, stroking her cheek as she fed. "You're right, she's gorgeous." She touched the curls on the top of the baby's head. "And MAN is that hair RED!"

"Her eyes are so blue, too." Gabriel grinned. "Like yours."

"They'll turn brown." Peter nodded. "The version of Faith that I met had brown eyes." He turned to Gabriel. "They were your eyes, actually."

"She has dimples." Olivia giggled. "She's got my dimples!" She grinned as Faith clutched at her finger with her tiny hand. "She's so tiny."

"Did I hear a baby?" Claire sleepily walked into the room, her eyes widening as she spotted Olivia breast-feeding Faith. "It's about time!"

Olivia smiled wryly. "Tell me about it."

Claire walked over to Olivia and stared down at the baby. "When was she born?"

"An hour ago." Olivia nodded.

Claire spun around on Nathan, her eyes blazing. "And you didn't tell anyone yet because?"

"Because it was after midnight, everyone was asleep, Olivia was so exhausted she passed out as soon as Faith was born-"

"-And because you guys wanted to hog her for yourself." Olivia quipped.

"Not that it did any good since Gabriel basically bogarted her until Mom finally demanded that he hand her over to be weighed."

"Good thing I did. She didn't even have a diaper on yet." Angela frowned at Gabriel. "I'm surprised that she didn't pee all over you."

"She had a blanket." Gabriel shrugged.

"Thanks a lot for getting me, FATHER!" Claire turned back to Olivia. "Man! Her hair is REALLY red!"

"I know." Olivia shook her head. "Gabriel said his mother's hair was red."

"So was your father's." Angela frowned. "Linderman's hair was that color before it turned white."

Olivia raised an eyebrow. "Lovely."

"It is on her." Gabriel stroked the top of his daughter's head. "She's got a head full of curls, that's for sure."

"Explains all of the heartburn I had." Olivia grinned. "Guess that's not just an old wives' tale after all."

"Guess not." Gabriel watched as Faith drifted off to sleep. "I think she's full."

"She needs to be burped or else she'll get colic." Angela called to them. She turned as Kaito cleared his throat behind her and shot her a warning look. "Of course, I'm sure you already knew that." She rolled her eyes.

"I did, thank you Kaito." Olivia adjusted her gown and placed her daughter against her chest, letting her head rest on her shoulder as she rubbed her back. She nodded appreciatively as Faith let out a loud belch. "Oh, she's definitely her father's daughter." Olivia laughed.

"Can I have her back now?" Gabriel asked, squirming in his seat beside Olivia's bed.

"You realize that I haven't held her yet!" Nathan sighed, exasperated.

"I've barely held her." Angela interjected.

"I haven't held her either!" Claire turned to Olivia. "May I?"

Olivia grinned and placed Faith in Claire's arms. "When you're ready, give her to Nathan, then Kaito, then Mother." She turned and swung her feet off of the bed as Gabriel stared at her.

"What are you doing?"

"I think I smell. I'm going to take a quick shower while everyone coos over our daughter and then I'm going to bed to get some sleep before she wakes up for her next feeding." Olivia climbed out of bed as Gabriel stood up beside her. "Is anyone in the master bedroom?"

Peter shook his head. "Everyone's either in the living room or the guest rooms."

"EVERYONE?" Olivia's eyes widened. "Who's here?"

"A lot of people." Peter smiled down at Claire as she cuddled her cousin. "What do you think?"

"She's beautiful."

"Don't get too used to holding a baby, Young Lady." Nathan frowned at her. "And now that you and Nik are-" he sighed "-I don't want any grandchildren any time soon. I'm not even forty yet."

"I'm not going to be having one of these for quite a while." Claire smirked. "I called Mom and Dad earlier and let them know what was going on here. Mom wanted to come right away, but Dad and I convinced her that they should all stay in New York for the rest of the week and enjoy the sights. Dad told Mom that Olivia would probably be overwhelmed with visitors for the first few days anyway."

"He was apparently right." Olivia laughed. "I love your dad to pieces, have I mentioned that lately?" She slowly made her way towards the door with Gabriel following behind her. "Take care of my baby while I'm in the shower."

"I will." Claire smiled and cooed at the baby in her arms. "You're so pretty, yes you are! I'm your cousin Claire!"

"She looks like you when you were born." Nathan smiled at her.

"Really?" Claire grinned.

"Just like you, only your hair was blonde." Nathan sighed. "So when you say you told you parents what was going on here, did you tell them about EVERYTHING that's happened in the last day?"

Claire rolled her eyes. "I haven't mentioned THAT yet, even though I don't think they'll be too surprised when I do tell them. It's more of an in-person thing to discuss, really."

"I would think you'd rather tell Noah about it over the phone at least." Nathan laughed. "It'll be harder for him to strangle Nik when he's in New York, don't you think?"

"Oh for crying out loud! We didn't knock over a convenience store, we just made love." Claire sighed. "You ready to finally hold your niece?"

Nathan grinned as Claire handed Faith to him. "I've been waiting to hold this one for over an hour."

* * *

Gabriel supported Olivia as she slowly walked down the hall, frowning as she stopped and turned around for a moment, her expression anxious. "What is it?"

"Maybe Faith should come with us." She whispered.

"Baby, she's with your family, the people that would die to protect her as quickly as we would, she's fine." Gabriel chuckled.

"Yeah, but-"

"-She's fine and you need to take a shower and get some sleep." Gabriel kissed her cheek and began to lead her back down the hall. "You've had a big day."

"But I haven't even barely had a chance to hold her yet." Olivia's chin quivered as she started to cry. "I just held her long enough to feed her and you got to hold her for a whole hour and babies bond with their mothers in the first few minutes after they're born!" She looked at Gabriel, her eyes widening as tears began to spill out of them. "What if I never bond with my daughter?"

Gabriel hugged her as they walked. "You two will bond just fine. Hell, you bonded with her before she was born, always using telepathy on her to find out how she was doing. That's how she was able to create that force field right before Linderman could shoot you." He nodded as Olivia looked up at him. "During one of the times that Nathan and I stepped out of the room to get air, he told me how you escaped from Linderman and how Faith helped you. She's a special kid."

"Yes, she is." Olivia smiled. "I'd be dead right now if she hadn't created that field."

"We both would be dead and Faith would have been an orphan, if she'd been able to be born at all." Gabriel shook his head. "Trying to kill his own daughter."

"He's shot me before, remember?"

Gabriel glared. "How could I forget? That was the most terrifying moment of my life, when he shot you. Linderman will never get Father of the Year, that's for sure."

"No he won't." Olivia smiled at him as they entered the bedroom. "But you seem to be jockeying for that award big time."

"How so?" Gabriel led her into the bathroom and let her sit down while he ran a bath for her. "By the way, I know you wanted a shower, but you're still so tired, I don't think you'll be able to stand up long enough for that."

"You're probably right." Olivia closed her eyes and leaned against the wall as the water began to run in the tub. "You're doing so well with Faith already, cuddling her and talking to her." She smiled softly. "She probably WILL be a Daddy's Girl if you keep that up."

"Yeah, but I can't feed her, yet." Gabriel shrugged. "Until I get Pete to teleport us back to Vegas to get a couple of bottles and a breast pump, that is."

"How long do you intend for us to stay here?" Olivia shrugged off the gown that she'd worn while giving birth and eased into the tub, leaning back as the water continued to rise around her.

"I don't know." Gabriel sat on the edge of the tub and grabbed a wash cloth. Olivia leaned forward to let him wash her back. "A day or two, until you're feeling up to heading home?"

"This is home, really." Olivia smiled. "But I think we could head back to Vegas in a day or two." She turned to Gabriel. "Can you head back there in a little while to get the bag I packed? I have a change of clothes in there for me and an outfit or two for Faith. Neither of us have anything to wear here."

"Sure." Gabriel kissed her cheek. "I'll do that in a while, okay?"

"You should do it now." Gabriel turned and groaned to see Angela standing in the doorway. "Your wife is going to need something to wear to bed and your daughter NEEDS clothes." She walked into the bathroom and patted him on the shoulder. "You did a good job today, coaching your wife."

Gabriel stared up at her, blinking in surprise at the compliment. "Thanks." He looked over at Olivia. "You think you'll be okay for a while?"

"Yeah." Olivia sat back in the bubble-filled water. "Mother's right. I am going to need something to wear to bed."

"Okay." He handed the washcloth to Angela and headed out of the bathroom. "Peter still in the birthing room?"

"Yes." Angela grinned. "Before I came in here, he and Nathan were arguing over who was going to get to hold the baby next. Kaito won." She took Gabriel's place beside the tub, taking Olivia's hand and washing her arm. "You're really worn out, aren't you?"

"It's been a long, exhausting day." Olivia's eyes drooped. "I suppose Faith just needed to be born on August third, no matter what."

"The future may not be written in stone, but there are some things that can't be changed, no matter what." Angela glanced at her daughter. "Not that I think you and Gabriel dying on a battle field can't be changed." She sighed. "At least, I hope that's not true. I want you both to see that baby grow up. You deserve to raise your daughter."

"Thanks." Olivia murmured.

"You're welcome." Angela looked around the bathroom. "Did Jack and Sally remodel before they died?"

"Yeah, actually." Olivia nodded sleepily. "They redid the bathrooms and kitchen about a month before the accident. Everything's still like new here."

"I noticed." Angela nodded. "The kitchen needs to be updated again, but everything else seems to be in mint condition."

"I'll need to redecorate when we move in permanently too. It's too dark, it's always been too dark."

"Jack and Sally always thought that dark colors with the dark wood seemed more elegant and austere. I always thought it was just too-"

"-Depressing?" Olivia nodded. "It was. I'm thinking about keeping the dark wood fixtures throughout the house, but using lighter and brighter colors to brighten everything up. I mean, this is sunny, hot Georgia, and it's by the ocean. It needs to reflect that."

"I agree." Angela smiled at her daughter. "Seems like we'll have a little project together before you re-start your residency."

"Seems like." Olivia frowned as Gabriel walked back into the bathroom, carrying her bag. "That was fast."

"I didn't want to waste time in Vegas. I made Peter teleport us there, I grabbed the bag and came back right away." Gabriel set the bag down. "I'll head back there and clean up a bit tomorrow though. The living room's kind of trashed."

"I'll bet it is." Olivia looked away. "There's probably some of your blood in the carpet-"

"-What didn't get re-absorbed into me? Yeah." Gabriel nodded. "And there's some blood on the couch too, where Peter was placed. I'll clean it up in the morning."

"Okay." Olivia dunked her head under the water and reached for the shampoo. Gabriel handed it to her as Angela stood up, giving Gabriel back his place beside his wife. "You going to wash my hair?"

"Yeah." Gabriel smiled. "Just lie back and relax."

"I think you're going to spoil me as much as you plan on spoiling Faith."

"Count on it."

Angela headed for the door. "I'll have Peter or Nathan bring the bassinette into the bedroom so you two won't have to stumble down the hall tonight when Faith cries, then I'm going to bed. If either of you need me-"

"-We'll find you." Gabriel nodded to her. "Hey Angela? Thanks."

"I'm a mother, it's my job." Angela smiled. She raised her eyebrows at her daughter. "You'll see what I mean soon enough, my Dear."

* * *

Later that night, Olivia and Gabriel lay in bed together, Faith sleeping between the two of them as they stared down at her. "We should put in her in the bassinette before we go to sleep." Olivia yawned.

"I know." Gabriel nodded. "I will soon, don't worry." He sighed. "I just don't want to take my eyes off of her yet. I can't take my eyes off of her. She's so tiny and fragile and beautiful." He laughed softly. "Who knew sex could be so cool?" At Olivia's raised eyebrow, he stammered. "What I meant was, well, I mean it's pretty awesome anyway, but-"

Olivia giggled. "-I know what you mean, Babe. On its own, it's the best thing ever, until you get to see the result of it, then you realize THAT'S the best thing ever." She sighed. "She's really just the most perfect little thing, isn't she?"

"Yeah." Gabriel's voice was choked up as he stroked Faith's cheek. "So we're agreed on her name, right?"

"We agreed to it months ago. Tatiana Faith Gabrielle Gray. She's really going to hate us in Kindergarten when she's taught to write all of that out."

"She'll get over it." Gabriel gently lifted his daughter up, smiling down at her as he rolled over and placed her in her bassinette.

Olivia watched him. "And she's on YOUR side because?"

"Because you need your rest. If she wakes up in a few hours, I'll see to her."

"And YOU don't need to rest?" Olivia sat up on one elbow. "You've had a rough day too, you know."

"I know, but I didn't spend over eighteen hours in agony, I just spent a few minutes lying on the floor, dead."

"When that man shot you-" Olivia began to cry as Gabriel pulled her into his arms. "-I wanted to die too. I didn't want to be in a world without you in it."

"I know." Gabriel stroked her back as she cried. "I don't even want to know what you went through while I was-" he kissed her "-I'm just glad you were able to bring me back."

"You had to be here for our daughter." Olivia shook her head. "I couldn't have done this without you."

"Sure you could have-"

"-No. I really couldn't have." Olivia sobbed against his chest. "I couldn't have gone through that childbirth without you there. I know I was pretty bitchy with you, but you kept me calm and you kept me focused, especially towards the end when I was too tired to do anything else and wanted to give up."

"I wouldn't have been anywhere else in the world but with you today." Gabriel lay back in the bed, holding his wife. "I've been thinking a lot about that future version of Gabriel, the one that deserted HIS Olivia when he found out that she was pregnant. He left her and started killing again. He didn't come back until the battle in the desert and only arrived in time to see his wife die. He died without ever seeing his Faith, without ever holding her or-" Gabriel blinked back tears. "-Is it stupid that I wish I could get Hiro or Peter to teleport me to that reality so I could kick his sorry ass?" He smiled as Olivia started laughing. "I'm serious. He sounds like a sulky baby, leaving because Peter and the others didn't want to play nice, taking it out on his Olivia and never getting to lay eyes on his own daughter. What a son of a bitch!"

"I don't know if that reality exists anymore."

"It might, in another dimension or something." He glanced down as Olivia stared at him. "What? I've read enough sci-fi in my day to know that other time dimensions exist. What if there's still another Gabriel in that dimension, the Gabriel that deserted his Olivia? I'd like to find him and beat the shit out of him, I swear to God. He has no idea what he missed out on."

"I think he did. That's why he came back in the end."

"Yeah, he came back too fucking late to do anything but fight beside Peter and die. That's not happening in this reality. I'm going to live, we both are. We're going to live and give THIS Faith a real childhood, with two parents and brothers and sisters and-" He nodded "-We're going to live for HER."

"Yes we are." Olivia nodded. "So you're serious about wanting more children, even after I behaved like such a lunatic during my pregnancy?"

"Baby, like I said earlier, if every baby we have is as beautiful as Faith, you can be a psycho bitch twenty-four seven for the entire nine months and I won't give a flying shit." Gabriel sighed. "Do YOU want more children?"

"The nine months of bitchiness, nausea, general discomfort and hours of painful labor aside? Yes, I want more children." Olivia closed her eyes. "I don't want to start on the next one tonight, but I do want more soon."

"Me too." Gabriel began to laugh.

"What?" Olivia opened her eyes for a moment to stare at him.

"When he removed your placenta, which was disgusting, by the way, Peter said that all of the rips and tears that you got giving birth to Faith had already healed. I also noticed when you undressed to get into the tub that, aside from the weight you gained, your body's pretty much bounced back already."

"I'm not in the mood, Honey. Sorry." Olivia closed her eyes again.

"I'm really not either. I'm just saying that we probably won't have to wait six weeks." He grinned. "But I'm not going to make the first move. I'm going to leave the tackling to YOU when you're feeling up to it."

"Thank you." Olivia whispered sleepily. "I'll take that under advisement."

"I give you two weeks, tops." Gabriel smirked.

"Six weeks." Olivia whispered.

"Puh-leeeze. You won't be able to stand six weeks, knowing that you've already healed. Two weeks. You'll be all over me within two weeks, I'll bet money on it."

"Uh-huh. Right." Olivia murmured as she dozed off.

"Keep talking, Lady." Gabriel dozed off with his wife in his arms. "Six weeks my ass."


	87. Chapter 87

Chapter Eighty-Seven: Introducing Faith

Olivia slowly opened her eyes as she heard her daughter begin to cry. "Oh my." She whispered, wincing as she sat up, clutching her chest. "She's hungry."

"Yes she is." Gabriel was already holding Faith, cooing at his daughter as he cuddled his daughter. "She started stirring about five minutes ago."

"You should have woken me as soon as she woke up." Olivia held out her arms sleepily as Gabriel handed their daughter to her. "The minute she started crying, I started leaking milk." She lifted up her pajama top, sighing as Faith hungrily began to feed. "What time is it?"

"Five a.m." Gabriel lay next to Olivia as she lay against the pillows, adjusting herself and Faith until they were both resting comfortably. He stroked Faith's cheek as she nursed. "She slept for about three hours."

"And hopefully she'll go right back down after she has her feeding." Olivia yawned. "I'm still exhausted."

"Well, before you conk back out, just pump some milk and I'll feed her the next time she wakes up." Gabriel smiled. "That way you can sleep in."

"You just want to feed her yourself."

"That too." Gabriel laughed.

"You know, I could switch us right now so you can find out what this is like." Olivia grinned as Gabriel shook his head. "What?"

"Thanks, but I'll just use a bottle." He gazed down at their daughter. "Five hours old."

"Five hours old." Olivia nodded. "And hungry as hell! She's got a hell of a grip here. I don't know if I'll have any milk left TO pump when she's done."

"Yeah you will." Gabriel chuckled as Faith dozed off mid-suck. "I think she just wanted a snack."

"She needs to eat more than this." Olivia tickled Faith's feet, laughing softly as the infant's eyes opened, her mouth puckering as she sought out her mother's breast again. "See what I mean? She's hungry, but sleepy too. If we'd put her down after the little bit she'd had, she'd be awake again in an hour, screaming for more."

"You're good at this." Gabriel kissed Olivia's forehead, rubbing her arm. "And your mother thought we'd be totally clueless when it came to taking care of our daughter."

"Well, we still have her diaper to change. Odds are, she's going to need a changing before she goes back to sleep."

"True." Gabriel nodded. "I'll do it while you express some milk for me to feed her with later."

"Deal." Olivia grinned. "I'm going to enjoy this whole 'super daddy' routine of yours now before it gets too boring and you end up ignoring her when she needs a feeding or changing."

"I don't think I'll be ignoring her at all." Gabriel smiled. "Not with those lungs. Besides, I'm too crazy about this little girl to ever ignore her when she wants anything. I'm telling you, I'm going to spoil the hell out of her. She's going to be a definite daddy's girl." He cooed at his daughter, stroking the top of her head while she fed. "Isn't that right, Miss Faith? You're going to worship your daddy from the first day, aren't you?"

Olivia sighed as Faith dozed back off. "Well, you can start by burping her and changing her diaper while I head into the bathroom, okay Super Daddy?"

"Absolutely!" Gabriel cradled his daughter in his arms as Olivia climbed out of bed. "Time to belch and change that didey before you go back to bed, right Princess?"

Olivia turned and watched as Gabriel burped their daughter, smiling as he cuddled her close to him. "You have no idea how sexy you look right now with her."

Gabriel smirked. "Yeah, you're SO not going to last six weeks!"

"Says you!"

"Yeah, says I!" Gabriel laughed softly as he climbed out of bed with Faith. He walked to the bag that he'd brought from their apartment a few hours earlier and pulled out a diaper and baby wipes. Returning to the bed, he spread out a receiving blanket and lay Faith on it as he began to change her diaper. "You've already healed, Mrs. Gray and you're a total nympho when it comes to me. Sooner rather than later, you're going to be sleeping next to me and get a little itch." He looked up at her, winking at her. "And you're going to be begging me to scratch the hell out it."

"You'll be the one begging before I am." Olivia rolled her eyes. "I just gave birth to a baby. I don't care if I seem to have healed already, doctors say a woman who has given birth should wait six weeks. I'm waiting six weeks."

"Yeah." Gabriel nodded. "Doctors also say that after someone is shot in the head and their heart stops beating, they're dead and not coming back and yet here I sit, changing my newborn daughter's first dirty diaper." Gabriel lifted up Faith, smiling at her. "And I did a good job too, didn't I, Princess?" He nodded. "Yes I did!" He cuddled his daughter as Olivia shook her head and walked into the bathroom, closing the door behind her. "Mommy's going to be climbing Daddy like a jungle gym in much less than six weeks, yes she is." He frowned. "Okay, maybe I shouldn't be talking about this with you, what do you think?" He stared down at Faith as she looked up at him, her brows furrowing as she frowned up at him. "You're a serious little thing, aren't you? Gonna give Daddy a smile? I just changed your diaper, you're probably comfortable now, huh? Smile for Daddy, Faith." He grinned as Faith smiled at him, then frowned, sniffing the air. "Oh please tell me that was gas." He checked her diaper and sighed with relief. "Just gas, thank God. I think you and I need to come to an agreement, okay? I'll change you when you've just gone number one and we'll let Mommy change you when you do the other, how's that sound? Don't cry for Daddy when you've put a load in the diaper, that's what Mommy or Grandma Angela will be for." He smiled. "Or Uncle Nathan. I'm sure he understands what it feels like to be full of shit."

"I HEARD THAT!" Olivia's voice rang out from the bathroom. "DON'T SAY THAT WORD AROUND OUR DAUGHTER!"

"Fine, I won't say the word 'Angela' around her, sheesh!" Gabriel laughed and looked back down at his daughter as he lay back on the pillows, Faith cuddled against his chest. He kissed the top of her head as she began to doze, sighing softly. "Getting sleepy again? Mommy's tired too and so is Daddy. We had a long day waiting for you to show up. You were pretty stubborn." He nodded as Faith's eyes opened for a moment, then slowly closed again. "Yes, you were very stubborn indeed." He stroked the red curls on the top of her head. "But you were so worth it, yes you were." He looked up as Olivia walked back into the bedroom, placing a container of milk on the dresser. "Feel better?"

"Yeah." Olivia climbed into bed, her eyes drooping sleepily. "Now you can feed her to your heart's content the next time she wakes up." She rolled over and stroked Faith's cheek. "Little angel."

"I know." Gabriel rested his cheek on the top of his daughter's head. "Sure you don't want to skip the six weeks bit and start on the next one now?"

"I'm sure." Olivia laughed softly. She smiled as Gabriel handed Faith to her and climbed out of bed, grabbing the milk. "Oh, I've got you trained right, already."

Gabriel frowned. "How so?"

"I didn't even have to ask you to put that in the fridge downstairs." Olivia chuckled. "You're good."

"I read your mind. You thought to yourself 'I'm so tired I can't even imagine walking down to the kitchen to put this up, maybe Gabriel will do it if I ask nicely'. I decided to go ahead and do it before you asked."

"Oh." Olivia grinned. "You heard that, huh."

"I also heard you think, 'if he continues to turn me on like that by being that adorable with our daughter, I'm not going to last six days, much less six weeks.' Busted!"

Olivia blushed and turned away from him, playing with Faith's hands as she slept. "I didn't think that."

"Yes you did." Gabriel laughed. "If we weren't both so damn tired, you wouldn't be lasting six hours, Missy." He carried the milk downstairs as Olivia sighed, looking down at Faith.

"Daddy's a nosey cuss, isn't he?" She took Faith's hand, staring at the tiny fingers before she gently kissed it. "God, you're just perfect, aren't you?"

* * *

Gabriel placed the milk in the back of the refrigerator and quickly ran back up the stairs, stopping as he noticed a bedroom door opening. He smirked as Nikolai carefully crept out of it, his shoes in his hand. As the boy turned, Gabriel softly walked up behind him, laughing softly as Nikolai jumped back. "Isn't that my niece's room?" Nikolai blushed and looked away. "I would think listening to my wife scream bloody murder trying to give birth all day would have put you two off of sex. Maybe we should have made the two of you stay in the room for the entire ordeal." Nikolai shrugged nervously, his face turning redder as he stared at his feet. "Here's the thing, Nik. You and Claire are in love, right?" Nikolai nodded slowly. "So what's with the sneaking around? You're both over eighteen, you love each other, Noah's not around yet to pop a cap in your ass for deflowering his daughter, maybe you two should take advantage of that before the rest of the Bennet clan arrive and help the Petrellis fasten a chastity belt on your lady love in there." Nikolai looked up at him, his eyes widening. "This is my house. Well, actually it's my wife's house, but Georgia is a community property state I think, so what's hers is mine." He chuckled. "You two were interrupted last night when Linderman's goons showed up and you sounded the alarm, saving pretty much everyone's lives and bringing the cavalry to our floor to help bring the bastards down. You helped save my wife and daughter and in turn, my wife saved me, so I guess you could say I owe you my life. Here's a piece of advice for you, be a man and own up to how you and Claire feel about each other. Own up to it with me, with the Petrellis and the Bennets, along with the rest of our team here and in Las Vegas. Stand up to Noah, Nathan and everyone else who tries to tell you that what you've been doing together is wrong and fight for Claire. Prove to everyone that your feelings for her are true and right, don't just say it and stop sneaking around like a little thief, it doesn't look good on you. Go back into Claire's room and step out of it again in the light of day if you love her as much as you say you do, don't feel dirty about loving her." Gabriel clapped a hand on Nikolai's shoulder, winking at him. "Life's short, Nikolai. If you can find someone to love you as much as you love them, if you can find someone who makes you feel the way Olivia and I make each other feel, you'll be the luckiest man in the world and you'll want to shout it from the rooftops, not sneak around in the middle of the night, okay?"

"Okay." Nikolai smiled softly at him. He turned back to Claire's bedroom door.

"One thing." Gabriel's eyes narrowed at Nikolai. "You break my niece's heart, I'll rip your dick off repeatedly until it gets tired of growing back and if you knock her up, I'll kick your ass all over the world. Faith's already going to have enough playmates, she doesn't need one from you two, got it?"

"Got it." Nikolai nodded. "We're being careful Sir, I swear."

"You'd better be. I want Faith to baby sit your firstborn with Claire, not play in the sandbox with them. You both need to get your butts in college and make lives for yourselves before you start having children. If you need any reminders of that, I'm sure that Olivia and I will let you two watch Faith a time or two to reinforce it. Hell, we'll let you watch Matthew, Shanti and Faith all at the same time to REALLY let you realize how much work it is."

Nikolai laughed. "We won't be having children any time soon, I promise."

"Good." Gabriel sighed. "I need to get back to my babies. Goodnight, Nik."

Nikolai walked back into Claire's room and undressed. She rolled over as he climbed back into bed with her, staring up at him sleepily. "I thought you said you were going back to the living room." She whispered.

"I changed my mind." Nikolai kissed her softly. "Your uncle's pretty cool, but he's also scary as hell."

"Which one?" Claire frowned.

"All of them." Nikolai pulled her close, kissing her deeply.

* * *

Linderman's nose wrinkled as he watched people in his compound gather the bodies of his team and stack them together in a clearing behind the compound. "They just tossed them from the sky." Linderman sneered. "How disrespectful can you be?"

"They should be ashamed of themselves." Gota glared at the bodies, her arms crossed in front of her chest.

"Well, in all fairness, we did raid their home in the middle of the night." Ombassa nodded. He noticed the glares from Linderman and Gota and shrugged. "But that still doesn't give them the right to toss our comrades from the sky."

"I suppose we should be happy that they at least sent them back to us instead of tossing them in a landfill." Linderman's eyes narrowed. "But this," he lifted his hand towards the pile of bodies as gasoline was poured over them. "throwing them from the sky. It's disrespectful."

"We should retaliate." Gota shook her head angrily as the pile was set on fire. "We should return to that building right now and kill the lot of them!"

"We could." Linderman frowned. "But we wouldn't kill the leaders, they're all in Georgia celebrating the birth of my granddaughter." Linderman's nose wrinkled as the smell from the fire drifted towards them. "Ugh. What a stench."

Gota took his arm and led him towards the compound, Ombassa following behind them. "We could fly to Savannah now and kill them all at the island. It's early here, but it's still early there as well. They're probably all still sleeping after being up to await the birth of your grandchild. We could surprise them all and kill them before they even know what's happening."

"I can't." Linderman sighed sadly. "It's different now, Gota. Faith has been born. She's a defenseless baby, not a fetus protected in her mother. If we stormed the house on Tybee Island or stormed the building in Las Vegas now, the baby could be caught in the crossfire and killed-"

"-Maybe not, you've seen her power, Darling. She's already manifested. You said yourself that you saw her create a force field while still in her mother's womb. You said that was what protected your daughter when you shot at her. If we attacked now, the child could possibly protect herself."

"I can't take that chance." Linderman frowned. "I'm going to have to find another way to get my hands on that child and her wonderful gift without causing bloodshed. I won't risk that baby's life, and the potential her power could give us all." He looked off into the distance. "I wonder what she looks like. I bet she's beautiful. Olivia was a beautiful baby, Faith is surely just as lovely."

Gota glared at him. "She could look like her father, all darkness and glowering. Have you seen his eyebrows? Imagine THOSE on a baby!"

"Oh no, that child is stunning, I just know it." Linderman smiled. "My first granddaughter. I'd really like to see what she looks like."

"I couldn't care less what she LOOKS like." Gota snorted. "I just want her power." She turned to Linderman. "And you want it as well. You should stop thinking like a sentimental old fool, mooning over that baby, and think of a way for us to get our hands on her."

"Oh, I am thinking of that." Linderman smiled at Gota. "And if you ever call me a sentimental old fool again, I'll toss YOU from the sky." He turned away. "Just because I'm curious about the child, because I love her and want to raise her doesn't make me sentimental or a fool. I want that child, Gota. I want to make her into what I SHOULD have been allowed to make her mother, a strong, powerful leader. Raised by Olivia and Gabriel, she'll be an insipid, ineffectual failure. If I raise her, she'll be a force to be reckoned with." He nodded. "I'm going to find a way to get her. I'm going to find a way to take her from her parents and when I do, I'll make her one of the greatest powers this world has ever seen, someone worthy to rule this stinking world by my side, and take it over one day, if I ever choose to step down."

"So what do you want to do to get her back?" Gota asked.

"I'll think of something." Linderman turned to Gota, his eyes glittering dangerously. "I'll let Olivia and Gabriel think they've won for now. I'll let them dote on their daughter, cuddle her, bond with her, lower their guard and grow complacent. The moment that happens, I'll kill them both and take what's mine."

"And then we'll raise her together." Gota smiled softly.

Linderman nodded, smirking. "Oh sure. We'll raise Faith together."

* * *

Gabriel rolled over a couple of hours later, frowning as he heard his daughter whimpering in her bassinette. "You up again?" He climbed out of bed, careful not to awaken his wife as he scooped Faith up into his arms. She began to grimace, squealing softly as she waved her hands around. "You're hungry, aren't you?" She began to hiccup, her face turning red as Gabriel quickly grabbed a pacifier, placing it in her mouth before she could start crying. "Let's go downstairs and get a bottle for you and let Mommy sleep a while, okay?" He cradled his daughter in his arms as he carried her downstairs. As they approached the kitchen she spat out her pacifier and began to scream loudly, her face turning red as she waved her arms angrily. "Okay, okay! Daddy's getting a bottle now!"

"Is that the baby?" He turned as Faith began to scream louder. Niki stared at the baby sleepily as she stood in the living room doorway. "Damn, nothing's wrong with her lungs, that's for sure!"

Gabriel grinned. "She was born one minute past midnight."

"She's gorgeous." Niki walked over to them, holding out her hands as Gabriel heard the sounds of other's stirring in the living room and throughout the rest of the house, roused by the baby's angry, hungry screams. "May I?"

"She's hungry."

"I'll bet she is. What do you say to me holding her while you get her bottle ready?"

"Bless you!" Gabriel handed Faith to Niki and walked with her towards the kitchen. "I was trying to figure out how I was going to get her bottle ready while trying to juggle her."

"That's where your TK can come in handy." Niki cooed down at the baby. "You're just a little slice of heaven, aren't you? After November my husband and I are going to start trying for a baby too! We have a son named Micah, but we've been wanting another baby for a very long time and now we can afford to do it, thanks to your Mommy, yes we can."

Gabriel grinned. "You and D.L. are thinking about having another baby?"

Niki nodded. "We want a girl. We're going to name her Jessica."

"That sounds great."

"Where's Olivia?"

"Sleeping upstairs. She's pretty exhausted."

"I'll bet she is. After Micah was born, I could have slept for DAYS!" She smiled. "And the exhaustion Liv's feeling now is going to be nothing compared to how tired she'll be when Faith starts teething and screaming at all hours of the day and night."

"Is that Faith?" They turned as Micah ran up to them with Candice. He smiled up at her. "She's got really red hair!"

"She sure does!" Candice nodded. "And a head full of it. I told Olivia that her daughter was going to have a lot of hair because of the heartburn. I was chugging Maalox the last few weeks before Shanti was born." She grimaced as Faith took a deep breath and began to scream gustily. "Someone's hungry." She stared down at her chest as two wet spots began to form on her nightshirt. "Oh SHIT!" She turned and quickly half-ran back to the living room.

Micah frowned. "What happened to HER?"

Niki laughed. "A little reaction that all nursing mothers have whenever they hear a baby cry. It doesn't even have to be their own."

"That was weird!" Micah nodded as he followed Niki and Gabriel into the kitchen.

Mohinder and Claude looked up from the kitchen island, eating bowls of cereal as they walked into the kitchen. "OY! Look who's a daddy!" Claude raised a spoon up at Gabriel. "Congrats, Mate!"

"Thanks!" Gabriel turned to Niki. "And this is Tatiana Faith Gabrielle Gray."

"Tatiana?" Claude's bottom lip quivered for a moment as Gabriel nodded. "That's beautiful, Man." He looked away, quickly wiping away tears. "It'll be good to have another little Tatiana around."

"Yeah, it will." Gabriel clapped a hand on Claude's shoulder for a moment before walking to the refrigerator.

Mohinder glanced over at Faith as Niki sat beside him. "She's gorgeous. She doesn't look a bit like you, thank the lord."

"Well, we can't all be pretty." Gabriel rolled his eyes at Mohinder as D.L. walked into the kitchen.

"Did I hear a baby?" D.L. beamed at Niki and Faith. "She took her sweet time getting here, didn't she?"

"Pretty girls should always leave men waiting." Niki cooed down at Faith. "I'm sure Gabriel and Olivia don't mind having to wait on her now that she's here."

"No, we don't." Gabriel shook his head. "Come on and meet my D.G.I.T.!"

"D.G.I.T.?" D.L. frowned.

"Daddy's Girl in Training!" Gabriel laughed.

"Oh Lord help us all!" D.L. smiled at Niki. "You look damn good holding that baby, I've gotta say Honey."

"Get used to it." Niki smiled down at Faith. "This feels incredibly right. Too bad we have to wait until November."

"We don't HAVE to wait." D.L. tickled Faith under her chin as she screamed. "Sherry's already pregnant and she's determined to fight anyway."

"I couldn't do it." Niki shook her head. "But after November, I'm flushing my pills."

Micah's eyes widened. "You two want another baby?" He sighed. "And I was enjoying being an only child so much."

"Hey, you got a lot of the perks. You've had our undivided attention for a very long time. Now we're going to start all over again." D.L. laughed as he mussed his son's hair. He shook his head as Faith screamed. "Damn that kid's got a set of lungs."

"She's hungry." Gabriel sighed.

"Which is why she needs less talky from you and more feedy." Niki frowned at Gabriel.

"I know." He turned and opened the fridge, frowning as he pulled out an almost empty container. "What happened to Faith's milk?"

Mohinder and Claude paused and stared down at their cereal. Mohinder cleared his throat as Candice walked into the kitchen, a nursing Shanti hidden by a pink shawl. "What do you mean FAITH'S milk?"

"The milk Olivia pumped for her after her last feeding." Gabriel shook his head. "I put it in the back of the fridge a couple of hours ago so I could feed Faith without having to wake up Olivia."

"Pumped it how?" Mohinder began to turn green as Gabriel, Niki, D.L., Micah and Candice stared at him and Claude.

"From her BREASTS!" Gabriel groaned. "YOU DIDN'T!"

Mohinder quickly dropped his spoon. "Oh bloody HELL!"

"EW!" Micah cringed as D.L. started laughing.

"You ate Olivia hooter milk." D.L. guffawed.

"MOHINDER!" Candice gasped. "Please tell me that you-"

"-You've been on this organic soy milk kick lately! I thought it was something you got at a health food store!" Mohinder pushed his bowl away.

"Well, it IS organic." D.L. leaned against the island, laughing.

"I'm going to be sick." Mohinder grimaced.

"DUMBASS!" Candice stomped towards the refrigerator and pulled out a carton, slamming it down in front of Mohinder. "What does this say?"

"Soy milk." Mohinder whispered. "I was half asleep, Candice." He shuddered. "I really think I'm about to be sick."

Claude stared at his bowl and shrugged. "It's got extra vitamins, fuck it." He began to eat again and frowned. "Is breast milk Kosher? Hana's trying to get me to convert. She says she won't marry me otherwise."

Candice ignored Claude as she shook her head at Mohinder. "As many times as you sampled MINE, you'd think you'd know what breast milk TASTES like!"

"Micah, why don't we go see if cartoons are on?" D.L. quickly hustled his son out of the kitchen as Hana entered.

"OH! Faith's here!" She cooed as she walked to Niki.

"Is breast milk Kosher, Luv?" Claude asked. "I know milk and meat together is verboten, but what about breast milk and Kashi?"

"EXCUSE ME?" Hana stared at Claude, her eyes widening in shock.

"I thought it seemed a little sweet for soy milk." Mohinder quickly ran out of the room, clutching his hand to his mouth.

"Pussy." Candice sighed as she turned to Gabriel. "Did they take ALL of it?"

"Pretty much." Gabriel sighed. "Now how am I going to feed her?"

"I'll do it. Shanti's almost done." Candice shrugged. "My husband drank her milk, I might as well provide some for her. We're practically a commune anyway."

"We need to do something." Niki tried to calm Faith. "She's screaming her head off here."

"Will SOMEONE feed my granddaughter?" They turned as Angela stomped into the kitchen. "I've been listening to that poor baby scream for the last five minutes!"

"We'd be feeding her now if a couple of idiots hadn't used her milk for cereal!" Gabriel glared at Claude.

Claude shrugged. "WHAT? Mohinder did it first. I figured it was some sort of health food shit."

"It was my wife's BREAST MILK!" Gabriel sighed as Faith screamed louder.

Candice sighed and handed Shanti to Hana before turning to Niki. "Give her over."

"I'm up, I'm up." Olivia stumbled sleepily into the kitchen. "I can feed her." She took Faith from Niki and smiled at Candice. "Thanks though."

"No problem." Candice watched as Olivia sat down and began to feed Faith. "Sorry about Mohinder."

"What about him?" Olivia stared blearily at Gabriel. "I thought you were going to feed her."

"I would have if Mohinder and Claude hadn't taken her milk."

"Huh?" She turned to Claude who saluted her with his spoon.

"Pretty good stuff, this. It's bloody sweet too, didn't even need to put sugar on it. You been eating a lot of pastries lately?"

Olivia shook her head. "Oh, I don't want to know." She leaned against the wall, her eyes half-closed as Faith fed. "I'm going back to bed when this is done."

"You do that." Angela rubbed her shoulder, glaring at Claude. "We'll take care of the baby today. You don't have to worry about a thing. There are a ton of people here who are dying to meet Faith. You probably won't even get a chance to hold her today anyway."

"Is that Faith?" Hiro walked into the room and blushed as he realized she was nursing. "Oh, I'll meet her later." He quickly turned and half-ran out of the room, bumping into Sherry on his way out.

"And she's finally here." Sherry beamed. "Peter woke me up to tell me she finally arrived, but I figured I could wait until morning to meet her. I knew you guys would be tired." She frowned at Olivia. "And you still look exhausted.

"I am." Olivia nodded. "After I feed her, I'm going back to bed to sleep for days."

"Good idea." Gabriel nodded. "And if you pump more milk for her, I'll make sure to label the hell out of it this time." He turned as Mohinder slowly walked back into the room. "To make sure SOME PEOPLE don't steal our daughter's food."

"I SAID I was sorry!" Mohinder slumped into a chair. "I'm never drinking milk again."

"EW!" Sherry turned to Mohinder. "You didn't!"

"I did too." Claude put his bowl in the sink. "Not bad! Didn't want to let it go to waste."

"You're a pig." Hana sighed.

"I can't be one of those, they're not Kosher, remember?" Claude winked at her before turning to watch Faith nurse. "Lucky baby."

"HEY!" Gabriel glared at him. "Mind lowering your eyes please?"

"Why? It's a natural, beautiful thing. So there's a baby sucking on it, so what?"

Hana turned to Claude. "Shouldn't you be heading to the airport?"

"For what?" He gasped and nodded. "Shit!" He grabbed the car keys off of the counter. "I'm borrowing your car, Liv."

"Sure." Olivia nodded. "Have at it." She closed her eyes sleepily.

"Where are you going?" Gabriel asked.

"Noah called. Sandra's been bugging him about cutting their trip short and coming here ever since she found out about the raid and Olivia going into labor. She wore him down around midnight, so they changed their flight. They're arriving at eight thirty."

"It's eight-twenty, Claude." Hana frowned.

"FUCKING HELL!" He glanced at the baby. "Sorry Faith." He ran out of the house into the garage.

Gabriel stared up at the ceiling. "Uh-oh."

"What?" Olivia opened her eyes and stared at her husband.

"I sort of gave permission for Nikolai to continue staying in Claire's room this morning." As the women groaned he shrugged. "What? They're in love and this is MY house, dammit!"

"YOU can tell Noah that then!" Angela turned and stomped out of the kitchen as Olivia laughed softly.

"Let's hope she can get them out of bed and dressed before Noah catches them." She smiled at her husband. "You know, a little more than twenty-four hours ago, you were threatening to walk into Claire's room and pull that boy off of her. What's changed?"

Gabriel shrugged. "I guess I got soft after I watched my daughter arrive. They're in love. Who are we to tell them that they're wrong for wanting to be together? They're both adults, what's wrong with it?"

"I agree." Hana nodded.

"Me too." Sherry smiled. "I don't want to be in the vicinity when Noah finds out, but I still think it's pretty cool that they're in love." She grinned as Faith stopped feeding and walked over to Olivia and the baby, holding out her hands. "May I?"

"You sure can, Aunt Sherry." Olivia gently handed the baby to her. "She needs burping."

"Oh, with all of my nieces and nephews, I'm an old pro at THAT!" Sherry laughed as she cuddled the baby, gently rubbing her back as the baby began to belch. She turned as Olivia slowly headed out of the kitchen. "Going back to bed?"

"Crisis averted, baby fed, sleep now." Olivia whispered.

"I'll help you." Gabriel took her arm and led her out of the kitchen. "I swear I'll mark her milk next time."

"It's okay." Olivia murmured. "I'll pump more before I go to sleep." She sighed. "I'll be glad when I get some sleep. I want to actually ENJOY my daughter more instead of dozing off with her."

"You will." He rubbed her shoulder as he kissed her cheek. "We're going to enjoy her to our heart's content. You just sleep, okay? There are plenty of people here who are going to be doting on her and passing her around until the 'new' wears off of her. It happened with Matthew and Shanti, remember?"

"I remember." Olivia smiled up at him. "I love you."

"I love you too." He kissed her softly as they approached their bedroom and began to pull her close. "You know, everyone's going to be busy oohing and aahing over Faith today. They won't even notice if we're not around because we're-"

"-Not right now." Olivia giggled. "I'm too tired, Baby. I've just got enough energy to get some more milk for Faith and then collapse in the bed for the next day or two."

"I'll let you rest then, but you'll be all over me soon enough."

"You'll crack before I do." Olivia smirked.

"I'm going to make a wager with you, just to make it interesting." Gabriel walked with Olivia into their bedroom and followed her into the bathroom, watching as she pulled out the breast pump. "The first one who cracks has to distract Faith the first time she gets a shot."

"Deal." Olivia laughed. "Good luck with that at the doctor's office, by the way. I can't wait to see you try and convince the doctor that she didn't create a force field."

"Nope, I'M going to be the one laughing while you swear that the needle didn't bend before it touched her." Gabriel shook his head. "I've been going without for weeks at a time during this pregnancy. I can do six weeks standing on my head now, thanks to you."

"We'll see about that." Olivia held out her hand. "Shake on it?"

Gabriel shook her hand and walked out of the bathroom. "I'm going to make sure they're not dropping our daughter." As he left the bedroom he yelled down the hall. "YOU'RE CRACKING FIRST!" He laughed as Nikolai tumbled out of Claire's room, buttoning up his shirt as a stony-faced Angela followed him. "Fight the good fight, my man!"

"Like hell I will!" Olivia shook her head. "I'm not cracking first." She sighed. "Not at all."


	88. Chapter 88

Chapter Eighty-Eight: Daddy's Girls

Gabriel looked up from the island in the middle of the kitchen, eating his breakfast as Claude walked into the house with Sandra, Lyle and Molly. "Good morning and welcome to my humble abode!"

"Humble abode's ASS!" Sandra gasped as she looked around the room. "This place is HUGE! Olivia's adopted parents must have been loaded!"

Gabriel shrugged. "I think her adoptive father's parents were, at the very least. How was your truncated vacation and flight?" He asked as he waved a fork at them.

"It was fine." Sandra nodded excitedly as she clapped her hands together. "Where's that baby?"

Gabriel grinned. "She's in the living room. Last time I checked, Leilani and Kimiko were arguing over which one of them was going to wrestle her out of Kaito's arms first, while Hiro and Ando were begging them not to get any ideas."

"Welcome to the Daddy Club!" Noah laughed.

"Thanks. It's great being a member." Gabriel sighed. "She's gorgeous."

"How's Olivia?" Noah asked as he took Sandra's bags from her.

"She's fine. She had a rough day yesterday, though. She was in labor for most of the day. Faith didn't show up until one minute after midnight this morning. She's upstairs asleep. She swears she's going to sleep all day too."

"I don't blame her." Noah sighed as Sandra looked around. "The baby's in the living room?"

"Yeah, good luck prying her out of Kimiko and Leilani's grasps." Gabriel smiled at Sandra.

"Oh, I'll take them both down for a chance to hold that one! I've been dying to hold that baby ever since Olivia announced she was pregnant!" She quickly walked out of the room, searching for the living room.

Gabriel laughed as Sandra walked away. "You might want to follow her, Noah. It looks like she could end up with a few ideas of her own. She might start thinking about how much she'd love to hear the pitter-patter of little feet around the Bennet home again."

Noah blanched as he put an arm around Molly. "This one's feet are little and they pitter-patter around our home just fine. We have three children, we don't need any more."

Lyle nodded. "I'll second that! Mom and Dad don't need to adopt any more kids. I've got two sisters now, and that's enough. I'm just glad we have more than one bathroom." His eyes widened as he heard Sandra exclaim in the living room and turned to Noah. "Dad, promise me you and Mom aren't going to adopt any more kids, and if you do, get a boy."

"What's WRONG with getting another girl?" Molly glared up at him.

"Nothing, we just have enough of them, that's all." Lyle nodded.

"We're NOT going to be adopting any more children." Noah sighed. "So don't get all worked up, Lyle. Three children are enough." He nodded. "I don't think my sanity could handle MORE children in our house." He smiled nervously as Molly looked up at him. "I think you like being the youngest anyway, right?" Molly smiled up at him and nodded as his face softened. "Why don't you and Lyle go to the living room and check out Faith?"

"I'd like that." She smiled up at Noah, hugging him quickly before she grabbed Lyle's hand and dragged him out of the room.

Lyle protested as he let Molly lead the way. "What's so great about ANOTHER baby? I've already seen Shanti and Matthew, I doubt Faith will be any different."

"Babies are CUTE!" Molly squealed as they left the room.

Claude laughed heartily. "Give the boy a few years, maybe he'll figure out how adorable babies are after he has one or two of his own."

"Hopefully it'll be a bit MORE than just a few years." Noah shook his head.

"I hope I don't have to wait too much longer." Claude shrugged as Noah looked at him, frowning. "Not for NIKOLAI, for Hana! She's getting me to convert so we can get married. I'm thinking about having a baby or two with her. She's not on board with it yet, but I figure if I just keep throwing the babies that keep popping up around here at her enough, she'll decide she wants one of her own. Women are always talking about that 'new baby smell', maybe it'll get Hana softened on the idea of a baby or two."

"Oh, I can't wait to hear that conversation." Gabriel shook his head as he continued to eat.

Noah beamed as Claire skipped into the kitchen, followed by an embarrassed-looking Nikolai. "There you are!" He hugged her tightly. "My Claire-Bear. How did you like having the apartment to yourself, even if it was for less than a day. I heard there was a bit of excitement there." As Claude and Gabriel glanced at each other, grinning, Noah hugged her again. "I heard that Linderman's people showed up and started some trouble." He smiled over at Nikolai. "And I heard you were quite the hero, too."

"Oh?" Nikolai looked at him nervously, his ears reddening as Noah grinned at him.

"Your dad told me all about how you saw through the walls and noticed Linderman's people approaching, so you teleported to Claire to warn her while you alerted the rest of the building."

"Yeah." Nikolai stared at the floor, chewing on his bottom lip. "I did that."

"Thanks for doing that. I heard that your actions not only saved Claire, but Olivia and little Faith as well, not to mention countless others that could have been killed in the surprise attack." Nikolai flinched as Noah's hand shot out. Noah stared at him as he held his hand out. "You okay?"

"I'm fine." Nikolai quickly shook Noah's hand, then shoved his hands back into his pockets as he stared at the floor.

"You know how humble Nik is." Claude smiled at his son.

"No need to be humble, you did a hell of a thing the other night from what I've heard." Noah smiled proudly at him. "I heard you handled a gun really well too. What do you say to the two of us heading out the beach later for some target practice?" He frowned as Nikolai looked up at him, his eyes filled with terror. "Are you feeling okay?"

"He's probably just tired." Gabriel snorted. "He's had a long couple of nights." He winked at Claire as she glared at him.

"I'll bet." Noah nodded again. "Our young hero here probably didn't get much sleep fighting off Linderman's men and then he probably had to listen to Olivia screaming her head off all day and then the baby crying throughout the night." He looked down at Claire as he wrapped an arm around her. "I heard part of the battle took place in our house. It isn't trashed, is it?"

"Not at all." Claire shook her head as she smiled up at her dad. "The house is fine. There might be a few bullet holes in the living room walls, but nothing got trashed as far as I know."

"What about your bedroom?" Gabriel grinned over at her. "Didn't something happen in THERE?"

"NO." Claire glared at him again, shooting him a warning look with her eyes. "My bedroom is just fine."

"Okay, my mistake." Gabriel put his dishes in the sink as he and Claude tried not to laugh.

Noah placed a hand on Nikolai's shoulder, staring at the boy. "Are you SURE you're okay? You really do look tired."

Nikolai fidgeted nervously, not meeting Noah's eyes. "I didn't get much sleep last night. You're right, it was quite unsettling listening to the pain that Olivia was in." He ignored Gabriel as he snorted and rolled his eyes. "Actually, I was thinking about taking a nap, right now." He quickly turned and ran out of the room, with Claire following behind him.

Noah frowned as he turned to Claude and Gabriel. "Kid's a little squirrelly this morning, isn't he?"

Claude shrugged. "You know how boys are, especially when they're dating girls. They're always scared of their girlfriend's fathers. Weren't you scared of Sandra's father a bit when you two were dating?"

Noah laughed softly. "Now that you mention it, her father and I got along fine. I didn't get nervous and scared around him until Sandra and I-" his voice trailed off as his eyes widened. He snatched off his glasses as he turned, staring at the kitchen doorway that Nikolai and Claire had just run through. "-Oh my-" Gabriel twitched his fingers, sending a barstool under Noah as he sagged against the counters. Noah sat on the stool, his eyes filling with tears. "Nikolai and Claire-"

Claude walked towards him, holding up his hands. "Now before you whip out your gun and chase my son around the house, pistol-whipping him, just remember that they're in love."

Noah glared up at him. "You KNEW about this?"

"Not before it happened. I realized something was up when he didn't come home the other night, then the alarms started going off and I found out he'd spent the night and-" he stopped for a moment as Noah held up a hand to silence him. He sighed. "-They're in LOVE, Noah."

"They're children!"

"They're both adults!" Claude shook his head. "Would you rather Claire do this with someone who loves and respects her as much as Nikolai does, or with some braggart jerk that would tell her a bunch of lies to get into her pants and then disrespect her by telling everyone what he did?"

"I'd rather she NOT do that with ANYONE at ALL!" Noah leaned against the counter, his shoulders sagging as he looked away sadly. "She's my little girl."

"She's a grown woman." Gabriel nodded. "You knew this was bound to happen eventually."

Noah looked over at Gabriel. "Oh, I can't wait for the day this happens to you. I bet you won't be so blasé when it's Faith who's having sex."

"No, I won't be blasé, and I wasn't blasé about Claire, either. Peter and I both heard what was going on, but our better halves kept us from charging into her room and stopping them. They made us listen to reason, like you should now too." He sighed. "When this happens with Faith many, many, MANY years from now, I only hope that she shows the poise and sense that Claire did by waiting until she was with someone she loved and that it's with someone that loves and respects her as much as Nikolai loves Claire." Gabriel shrugged at Noah. "And I only hope that I show the grace that you will hopefully show with Claire and understand that she's growing up. I don't think she made this decision lightly. She and Nikolai have been dating for months. They really and truly do care about each other."

"I know." Noah sighed. "I just hate having to let her go. It's too soon."

"She's eighteen, Old Friend." Claude said gently.

"She could be eighty, it would be too soon for me." Noah sighed sadly as he put his glasses back on and sat up. "Your baby's in the living room?" Gabriel nodded. "Let's go see her." He stood up and walked out of the kitchen with Gabriel and Claude following him.

Noah's eyes fell on Claire as he entered the living room and spotted her on the couch. She sat with Nikolai beside her, cradling Faith in her arms, with Sandra sitting next to Nikolai. Lyle sat beside Claire, looking down at Faith with a bored expression as Claire cooed down at the newborn. Nikolai laughed with her as he tickled the baby under the chin. Noah's expression softened as he watched the way the two of them looked at each other. Claire turned to look at her father, her smile faltering as she noticed the heartbreak in his eyes. She followed his gaze to Nikolai and closed her eyes for a moment, realizing that the gig was up. She looked at her father, their eyes meeting as she smiled softly at him and raised her eyebrows. Noah smiled back at her as he walked to the couch and tapped Lyle on the shoulder. Lyle nodded and got up, sitting on the arm of the couch as Molly climbed into Noah's lap, resting her head on his shoulder. Noah looked down at her and smiled, kissing the top of her head before he turned to Claire, their eyes meeting again. Noah nodded softly as he kissed Claire's forehead, reaching behind her to ruffle Nikolai's hair affectionately. The fear in Nikolai's eyes faded as Noah smiled a sad, if kindly smile at him. Sandra noticed the unspoken exchange between her husband and the teenagers, realization dawning on her face. She stared at Claire and Nikolai as if seeing them for the first time, her eyes filling with tears as she looked away.

Noah rested his head on the top of Claire's baby. "She's a beautiful baby, isn't she?"

Claire nodded slowly. "She's stunning."

"So were you." Noah looked down at her, his chin trembling for a moment as he fought tears. "I remember when you were first placed in my arms. I didn't realize then just how much I would end up loving you."

Claire looked up at him, her eyes filling with tears. "I love you too, Dad."

Noah nodded softly and then sighed as he looked over at Gabriel. "Have you got a room for me and Sandra? I didn't get much sleep last night, I thought maybe I could take a little nap."

Gabriel smiled. "Yeah, I've got a place for you two." He waited as Noah hugged Molly and got up, letting her take his place on the couch and walked out of the living room with him. Sandra got up and followed them up the stairs to a bedroom door.

"What's going on?" Sandra glanced down the banister towards the living room. "Did Nikolai and Claire-?"

Noah sighed. "We need to talk." He turned to Gabriel. "Thanks for the talk earlier and the room."

"No problem." Gabriel watched as they walked into the bedroom, closing the door behind them. He glanced over the banister into the foyer as Faith began to cry. He watched as Claire walked into the foyer from the living room, still cradling the newborn in her arms. She looked up at Gabriel as Sherry and Nikolai followed her. "She hungry again?"

Claire nodded. "I think so. When did she eat last?"

"A couple of hours ago, but she didn't eat much."

Claire looked longingly down at the baby in her arms then looked back up at Gabriel. "I know you haven't fed her yourself yet but-"

Gabriel waved her away. "-Go ahead. Bottles are in the cabinet and Olivia expressed some more milk earlier for her before she went back to sleep. It should be in the refrigerator." He raised his voice. "UNLESS MOHINDER DRANK IT AGAIN!"

"I TOLD YOU I WAS SORRY, YOU JACKASS!" Mohinder yelled from the living room.

Gabriel laughed and looked down at Claire. "Don't forget to burp her. She'll probably need a fresh diaper after she finishes her bottle, too."

"I'm on it!" Claire beamed up at him as she walked into the kitchen.

Gabriel turned and walked down the hall to the master bedroom. Olivia lay in bed, sleeping peacefully. He undressed and climbed into bed beside her, snuggling next to her. "How's Faith?" Olivia murmured sleepily.

"You were right, she's getting passed around like a bong at a Phish concert." Gabriel laughed. "I didn't mean to wake you. I just decided to take a nap while Claire fed her. I think Claire's going to end up spoiling her even more than I ever thought about doing."

"That's nice." Olivia whispered. "Did Noah and the family get here?"

"About an hour ago." Gabriel chuckled. "He knows."

"Knows what?" Olivia rolled over, her eyes widening as Gabriel wiggled his eyebrows. "OH! How's he doing with that?"

"Okay." Gabriel shrugged. "He's taking it better than I expected he would. I hope when I have to face that with Faith I'll handle it as well as he has so far."

"You won't have to worry about that for a very long time." Olivia cuddled him, smiling. "You're going to be THE man in her life for a very long time indeed."

"I hope so."

"Don't hope, it's true. She's going to be your daddy's girl for a looooong time!" Olivia kissed him softly, her eyes widening as Gabriel returned the kiss passionately. "You're caving!"

Gabriel shook his head. "Oh no I'm not!"

Olivia laughed. "Yes you are! I knew you wouldn't last even twelve hours before you would come in here wanting me to give it up!"

"I'm NOT caving!" Gabriel frowned. "I came up here to take a nap, like I said. You kissed me first."

"Not the way you just kissed me! And if you came up here for a quick nap, why are you naked?"

"I always sleep naked, you know that." Gabriel turned his back to Olivia. "I'm just here for a nap, that's all."

"Uh-huh, right." Olivia turned her back to him, biting her lip. "You're going to cave first."

"Like hell I am." Gabriel grimaced as he glanced at her over his shoulder. "Go back to sleep."

"I am." Olivia sighed. "Right now."

"Sleep tight."

"You too. Sweet dreams."

"Oh, I'll have plenty of them!"

* * *

Claire walked onto the patio at dusk, smiling softly to see Noah sitting in a chair, staring at the ocean. "Gorgeous view, isn't it?" She asked softly.

Noah turned to her, smiling. "Breathtaking." He raised his eyebrows as she sat on the arm of his chair. "You okay?"

Claire looked down at him nervously. "I was going to ask YOU that."

Noah nodded, staring sadly out at the ocean. "I'm okay. I'll BE okay, I promise."

"Okay." Claire sighed. "Mom and I had another version of 'the talk'."

"Good." Noah nodded again.

"Are you mad? Are you disappointed in me?" Claire asked, her eyes filling with tears.

Noah turned to her, shaking his head. "No Claire-Bear, I'm not angry and I could NEVER be disappointed in you." Claire burst into tears, throwing herself into his arms. "Oh Sweetie." He rubbed her back, rocking her as she climbed into his lap. "I just wish I could have kept you my little girl a bit longer. I really hate having to give you up and admit that you're growing up."

"I'll always be your little girl." Claire sobbed. "No matter what, I'll always be that to you."

"Promise?" Noah hugged her tightly as she nodded, her face buried in his shoulder. "It really sucks that you're growing up. Soon you're going to be going to college, then you're going to get married and have a family of your own. It breaks my heart knowing I'm going to have to let you go."

"I won't go far, I swear." Claire's voice was muffled against his shoulder.

"Do you love him?" He closed his eyes, fighting tears as she nodded. "That's all that matters, then."

Gabriel watched them as they sat together on the patio. Looking away from the window, he glanced down at the sleeping newborn in his arms. Faith sighed softly, her hand tucked under her chin. "Promise me you won't grow up too fast? Let me enjoy you being this little for a while?" He smiled down at her, kissing the top of her head as he walked away from the window and climbed the stairs, heading down the hall to the master bedroom. Olivia sat up in bed, smiling as he walked into the room with their daughter. "Someone was missing her Mommy!"

"Her mommy was missing her too!" Olivia held out her arms, beaming at her daughter as she was handed to her. "You had a big day today, meeting so many of your mommy and daddy's friends and family. I heard you got held by a LOT of people!"

Gabriel grimaced as he sat down beside them. "That asshole Matt introduced Matthew to her, calling her his 'future girlfriend'."

Olivia laughed. "I thought Shanti was his future girlfriend! It looks like Matthew Jr. is going to be quite the player and he's barely a year old."

"He can be a player with someone else's daughter. She's not going to have ANY boyfriends for a VERY long time." Gabriel made a face. "Asshole."

"Language!" Olivia shot him a warning look as she cuddled her daughter. "You're taking Noah's finding out about Claire to heart more than I thought, aren't you?"

"I guess so." Gabriel shrugged. "I think they're going to be okay. I just saw them sitting out on the patio. Claire was sitting in his lap and they were talking and crying. It's hard to watch him have to let go of his little girl, knowing I'm going to have to do the same thing one day."

"That day won't come for a long time, Honey. You shouldn't worry about it yet." Olivia looked down at Faith. "She's not even a day old yet."

"I know, it's just a sad thing to watch."

"I have a feeling that Claire is going to be her daddy's girl for the rest of her life, no matter how old she is or how many other men she has in her life and the same will hold true for Faith here." She looked over at her husband, smiling at him. "So she met everyone today, huh?"

"She's got everyone wrapped around her fingers already, just like Shanti."

Olivia touched her daughter's hands, smiling as her hand wrapped around her finger. "That's quite a feat for someone with such little fingers."

"Tell me about it." Gabriel kissed Olivia's cheek. "She's a winner."

"Well Miss Winner, you want to go downstairs with Mommy and win everyone over some more?"

Gabriel stared at Olivia. "I thought you were going to stay in bed all day."

"I've slept all day." Olivia laughed. "Now I'm sort of missing hanging out with everyone and it sounds like pretty much everyone's downstairs."

"We do have a LOT of visitors." Gabriel laughed. "I think some of them are probably going to head back to Vegas tonight, but the Petrellis, Bennets, and Nakamuras are going to hang around tonight."

"Well, I'd better go down and visit with everyone before they leave, then." Olivia turned to him. "You coming?"

Gabriel shook his head as he held out his hands. "I'd rather stay up here for a while with my D.G.I.T. and spend some quality alone time with her."

"D.G.I.T.?" Olivia asked as she handed Faith to him.

Gabriel lay back against the pillows, Faith snuggled against his chest. "Daddy's Girl in Training."

"Oh LORD!" Olivia laughed as she walked to the door. "We'll probably have dinner in a little while."

"We'll be down for that. I'm sure Faith will be hungry again by then. Go hang with your friends and family."

"Okay." Olivia stood in the bedroom doorway for a moment longer, watching lovingly as Gabriel lay on the bed, cuddling their daughter. "See you later." She walked downstairs and entered the living room.

Peter smiled up at her from the couch. "Look who's decided to rejoin the land of the living!" He hugged her as she sat on the couch beside him. "How are you doing?"

"Great." She rested her head on her brother's shoulder, smiling up at him. "Thanks for everything yesterday."

"You're welcome." Peter nodded as he wrapped an arm around her. "Thanks for talking me into playing midwife. As horrific as it was to watch you in pain, it was worth it when I got to deliver that precious baby."

"You did a hell of a job, too." Olivia grinned at him.

"YEAH YOU DID!" Nathan sat on the couch beside Peter and grabbed him in a headlock, quickly giving him a noogie before letting him go. He turned to Olivia. "And how's the new mommy doing?"

"Great!" Olivia grinned. "I heard that my daughter had a wonderful debut down here today. She get her uncles wrapped around her fingers yet?"

"Definitely!" Nathan nodded. "Hell, Heidi's started talking about trying for another one too—IF I can promise that it'll be a girl." He shrugged. "I don't know HOW I can promise that one though."

"I thought after Monty was born Heidi told you that she was getting an IUD and threatened to rip your balls off if you even mentioned having another baby?" Peter asked.

"She did. I guess she's getting baby fever, with all of these babies being born around her." Nathan sighed. "It would be nice to have another baby, but it won't bother me if we don't. We've got Simon and Monty and Claire. That's more than enough." He sighed as he smiled at Olivia. "And now that you and Peter are starting your families, there are going to be more than enough kids running around here on the holidays to spoil rotten."

"I can't even imagine what next Christmas will be like with Faith and Peter and Sherry's twins here." Olivia sighed. "Faith will be walking and the twins will be sitting up at the very least, probably crawling."

"They're going to be getting into everything." Peter grinned. "It'll be great!"

"Yeah it will." Olivia looked around the room, her eyes falling on a family portrait on the mantelpiece over the fireplace. She stood up and walked over to it, taking it down. Peter followed her, looking over her shoulder. "Your parents?" Olivia nodded, her eyes filling with tears. "You miss them, don't you?"

"I've been missing them even more than usual today." She set the photograph back on the mantle as Peter hugged her. "I know Mom and Dad would have been so excited to meet Faith. They'd have loved to have seen her."

"I know it sounds trite, but I think they DO see her." Peter nodded.

"I know." Olivia sighed. "I feel so close to them, especially here in this house. My dad and I were especially close. I was definitely a daddy's girl, just like Claire is to Noah and Faith is going to be with Gabriel. I know if he were here, he'd be running around with the biggest grin, passing out cigars while talking about his granddaughter. He would have been so proud of her."

"He'd have been proud of you too." Olivia and Peter turned to see Angela smiling at her. "Jack was very proud of you and he would have been so pleased with Faith." She nodded. "I miss them too. He and Sally were good people."

Olivia nodded, wiping away tears. "They really were." She shrugged. "God, I'm being SUCH a drama queen today, getting all emotional."

"It's the hormones. I cried at the drop of a hat for a few weeks after I had you and your brothers." Angela wrapped an arm around Olivia's waist. "Besides, you're prone to be a little overdramatic. Daniel was always overdramatic about things. You get that from him, along with your eyes."

"Better that than other traits." Olivia grimaced.

"Exactly." Angela winked at her. She looked around. "Where's Faith?"

"Spending quality time with her daddy upstairs." Olivia sighed. "Okay, am I the only one wondering what's for dinner?"

D.L. looked up from a game with Micah. "I was just wondering the same thing. Who's cooking?"

"To hell with cooking!" Olivia looked around for a phone. "I'm ordering pizzas, how does that sound?"

"Like HEAVEN!" D.L. nodded.

Thirty minutes later Gabriel headed down the stairs with Faith in his arms. He watched as Olivia passed by him with Niki, both of them carrying pizza boxes. Peter followed behind them toting a cooler filled with iced-down sodas. "Dinner?"

"Yep!" Olivia turned to him. "Unless you want to cook for everyone."

"Oh fuck THAT!" Gabriel glanced down at his daughter. "What I meant was-" he sighed "I've got to start watching my mouth."

"Yeah you do!" Olivia mock-glared at him as she walked to the kitchen with the pizzas. She set them down on the counters, opening the boxes as everyone filed into the kitchen. "I've got a ton of cheese pizza, pepperoni pizza, meat pizza, veggie pizza and supreme pizza. Dig in!"

Noah threw an arm around Claire's neck, grinning at her. "I know what Claire's getting." He shook his head. "You've been eating supremes since you were a toddler and saw ME eating it. Anything I had, you wanted too."

"What can I say, it's my favorite kind of pizza." Claire leaned against her father.

"What's IN a supreme pizza?" Molly asked as she looked up at Noah.

"EVERYTHING!" Noah knelt beside her. "Meat, veggies and a TON of cheese. How does that sound?"

"GOOD!" Molly grinned at him.

"Then you're getting some too!" He picked Molly up in his arms as they fell in line to prepare their plates.

Gabriel sat on the floor in the living room beside his wife, Faith cradled in one arm while he ate his dinner. He glanced over at Noah as he sat with Claire on one side, Molly on the other. Leaning over to Olivia, Gabriel smiled. "It looks like Faith's not the only D.G.I.T. in the room."

Olivia turned and noticed how Molly leaned against Noah, giggling as he teased her. "Uh-oh, Claire's got competition in the daddy's girl department. Noah's going to lose his heart again, I see."

Gabriel looked down at Faith as she looked up at him. He turned and scanned the room, watching the way Mohinder laughed as Candice handed Shanti to him, the baby squealing with delight as she held her hands out to her father. Nodding, Gabriel shrugged. "I don't think any of us would have it any other way."

* * *

Later that night, Gabriel and Olivia lay in bed together, staring down at the sleeping baby between them. Gabriel glanced over at the clock. "It's 12:01. She's officially one day old now."

"And what a first day she had." Olivia stroked her cheek. "I'm really going to hate heading back to Vegas in the morning. I wish we could go ahead and just move here now."

"Me too." Gabriel frowned. "We'll come back soon to stay though. You, me, our daughter-"

"-My mother, my stepfather." Olivia laughed. "I think the house can hold all of us without much of a problem though."

"Hey, it's held everyone since the other morning without bursting at the seams." Gabriel cooed down at his daughter. "You're going to have so much fun growing up here with us, yes you are!"

"I'll be glad to get that battle over with." Olivia lay back, touching her daughter gently. "It's in a little over three months. Once it's over with, we can come here and be a family."

"We're already a family." Gabriel shrugged. "But I know what you mean. We'll come here and start our lives together anew, without your father breathing down our necks and everyone else's."

"I'm going to have a rough three months ahead of me. I've got to start training again. I haven't done any training in nine months. I'm going to have a lot of catching up to do."

"It'll be fine." Gabriel kissed her. "We'll get through it, we have to. We have our future and our daughter's to think about."

"If I have a future." Olivia muttered grimly.

"You will." Gabriel caressed her face. "You're going to watch her grow up, we both will."

"I hope so." Olivia watched as Gabriel scooped Faith into his arms and placed her in her bassinette.

"It'll happen. Until then, we're going to spend the next three months with our daughter like they're the only three months we'll EVER have with her. We'll spend the rest of her life with her that way, living every day like it's our last, even if it's not." He pulled Olivia into his arms as he lay back. "Speaking of which, feel like caving yet?"

"Nope." Olivia glanced up at him. "You?"

Gabriel made a face. "No." He lied. "But whenever you get ready to cave, be sure to let me know."

"I'm not caving. I don't want to cave yet at all." Olivia lied. "All I want to do is sleep."

"Me too." Gabriel nodded. "Sleep, sleep, sleep."

"Then do it." Olivia sat up.

Gabriel winked at her. "You first."

Olivia smirked as she lay back and rolled over, her back to him. "Goodnight."

"Sleep tight."

"Sweet dreams."

"Yeah." Gabriel grumbled. "You too."


	89. Chapter 89

Chapter Eighty-Nine: Mina

Noah, Sandra, Claire, Molly and Lyle appeared in the hallway outside of their apartment with Nikolai. Sandra looked around at the hallway with Mr. Muggles in her arms, staring at the bullet holes in the walls. "Dear Lord." She gasped.

Nikolai nodded. "It doesn't look as bad as it did the other night. Peter, Hiro, Nathan and I came here yesterday to clean up a bit. Your apartment wasn't too messed up. There was a small firefight in the living room with a few of Linderman's men, but it wasn't very bad. There are a few bullet holes in the walls there, but for the most part, it's fine. I blocked all of the bullets they shot at us, so they mostly ended up on the floor and when Nathan, Niki, D.L. and I opened fire, we all shot true for the most part." Nikolai smiled softly. "Especially Niki. D.L. said that she must have been channeling her inner Jessica."

Noah sighed as he walked to the front door. "Well, let's go see the damage."

"It's not so bad, really. Most of the damages were done in Olivia's, and even then it was mostly just a lot of blood on the floor, like out here in the hallway. We cleaned all of that up."

As they walked into the apartment, Noah and Sandra quickly scanned the rooms, noting that Nikolai had been correct. The apartment seemed basically untouched, with the exception of a few bullet holes in the walls of the living room. As she set Mr. Muggles down, Sandra nodded in appreciation. "You wouldn't even know that this place had been under attack."

"I cleaned up a little." Nikolai blushed as he looked away. "Picked up the bullets from the floor and threw out what was left of the pizza that Claire and I'd had earlier that night." His blush deepened as Sandra and Noah glanced over at him.

Sandra turned to Lyle and Molly. "Why don't the two of you get unpacked and then Lyle, you can take Molly down to the pool. Your father and I need to talk to Claire and Nikolai alone."

Lyle snorted. "Is this about Nikolai sleeping over that night?" As everyone turned to him, their eyes widening, Lyle shrugged. "Come on! Dad's been giving Nikolai the hairy eyeball since we arrived in Savannah yesterday, and you, Mom have been sniffling and getting all red-eyed every time you see Claire and Nik together, not to mention the fact that he turns red every time he talks to you or you guys look at him. Add to that the fact that Claire and Dad both came inside all weepy after talking on the patio at Olivia's and it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that they've taken their little relationship to the 'next level'!"

"What's the next level?" Molly asked, her brow furrowing.

"Sleepovers." Lyle sighed.

"LYLE!" Noah's voice had a warning to it as Molly cocked her head to the side.

"Like when Tatiana used to sleep over?"

"Not exactly." Lyle shrugged as he guided Molly towards the back of the apartment towards the bedrooms. "You'll know what we're talking about when you're older."

"OH!" Molly's eyes widened as she stopped and turned to Claire and Nikolai. "THAT kind of sleepover! They had sex? I figured they already WERE!"

"What do you know about it?" Lyle asked.

"We DO have cable." Molly shook her head as she walked to her bedroom. "I'm not an idiot, and I'm not a baby, for crying out loud!"

Lyle turned back to his parents, grinning. "You two are going to have fun with her when SHE hits puberty."

"Go to your room." Noah raised an eyebrow at Lyle, watching as his son laughed softly and left the room. He turned to Claire and Nikolai as they stood in front of him, Claire smiling gently up at him as Nikolai stared at the floor, his ears turning scarlet. "Okay, it's time for a talk. Sit down, both of you."

As Claire and Nikolai sat together on the couch, Noah and Sandra took seats in chairs near them. Sandra smiled at them both and nodded. "We're not going to yell, I promise. You two are both over eighteen, and you've been a couple now for over a year-"

"-But that's not saying we completely approve of what you both did." Noah muttered.

"Hush." Sandra glanced over at Noah. "We trust you both and we trust your judgment." As Noah shifted uncomfortably in his seat, Sandra sighed. "And we both know that you're very much in love and you didn't make the decision to-" she shrugged "-have sex, lightly. We also know that shaking our fingers at you and saying 'don't do it again' isn't going to stop you from continuing to see each other and continuing to-" she cleared her throat "-but we do need to set some ground rules here."

"Okay. That's understandable." Claire nodded and turned to Nikolai, gently placing her hand on his wrist as he chewed nervously on a fingernail. "Calm down. They're not going to kill us." Nikolai slowly lowered his arm and fidgeted for a moment, finally settling down and sitting up straight as Claire smiled encouragingly.

"That's right, we're NOT going to kill either of you." Sandra shook her head, laughing gently. "Boy, I could tell you two some stories about your dad and me." At Noah's expression, Sandra rolled her eyes. "Oh stop acting like it's the end of the world, NOAH! We were their age once, remember?"

"I remember." Noah slumped in his chair. "If your father weren't dead, I'd call and apologize to him profusely right now."

"What KIND of stories?" Claire perked up, grinning as Noah mock-glared at her.

"Skip that, please." Noah grumbled. "We're not here to talk about what your mom and I did when you two were our age, we're here to talk about the two of you."

Claire's grin widened. "Oh, so you and Mom DIDN'T wait until you were married like you told me once, huh?"

Sandra turned to Noah, shocked. "You TOLD her that?"

Noah shrugged. "I might have."

Claire giggled. "You lied."

Noah took a deep breath, exasperated. "We're not here to talk about that, okay? We're here to talk about some ground rules for you and Nikolai."

"Fine." Claire smiled at her father, good-naturedly. "Are they the same ground rules that Grandpa set for you and Mom when he found out that you two were fooling around?" Sandra looked away, trying not to laugh as Noah began to fidget in his chair.

"Your grandfather never found out-" He took off his glasses as he leaned forward in his chair. "-are we going to discuss this or not?"

Claire nodded, trying to look serious. "Yes Sir. We'll discuss this rationally. You have ground rules."

"Yes I do." Noah turned to Sandra. "We BOTH do, actually. Rule number one, what happened in this house will NOT happen again, whether we're home or not!"

"Okay." Claire nodded.

"Rule number two, you two had BETTER practice safe sex, got it?" He held up his hand as Claire started to speak. "I understand that you were both," he sighed "I know neither of you had ever-"

"-We were both virgins." Claire commented.

"Thank you." Noah closed his eyes for a moment, steeling himself to continue. "So this isn't about catching any diseases or anything like that, we just don't want you getting pregnant."

"We don't want that either. " Claire shook her head. "I'm on the Pill and we used-"

"-I don't want to know." Noah interrupted. "I'm just saying, be safe. Finally, you know you are both free to talk to me or your mother or to Claude and Hana or Nathan and Heidi or Meredith if you have any questions or concerns, but quite frankly, I don't want to know the gory details-"

"-We're not planning on over sharing, trust me-"

"-just be careful, be safe and be mature about this, okay? And please don't do it in this house."

"Or our bed." Sandra blushed as she and Noah exchanged looks and then looked away.

Claire's eyebrows shot up. "We would have never-" she stared at her parents "-not in your bed! EW!" She gasped. "Mom! Did you and Dad-"

"-That's the end of that discussion!" Noah quickly stood.

"-In Grandma and Grandpa's bed?" Claire giggled as Noah looked away. "That is SO disrespectful!"

"END OF DISCUSSION!" Noah walked out of the room as Sandra shrugged and blushed.

"We were young and stupid, and reckless and rebellious, just like the two of you." Sandra sighed as she stood and smiled at the young couple on the couch. "Just try not to be as stupid as we were, okay?"

"Don't worry. We won't be repeating THAT mistake." Claire made a face as she stood with Nikolai. "So is that all?"

"As far as I can remember." Sandra tucked a curl behind Claire's ear. "You've grown up so fast."

"Not that fast." Claire hugged her mother. "And like I told Dad last night, no matter what, I'm still your little girl."

"Yeah, I know." Sandra hugged her daughter back and then turned to Nikolai, hugging him too. "And stop being so scared of us, you! You haven't done anything that Noah and I haven't done when we were your age, okay?" She shrugged. "Well, besides teleporting and flying and getting into fire fights with lunatics." She looked around. "Good lord at our life."

"Tell me about it." Claire smiled at her mother. "So we're free to go now?"

"Sure. Where are you going?" Sandra watched as Claire and Nikolai headed for the door.

Claire glanced over at her mother, and smiled. "Out."

"Out where?"

"Just, out." Claire smiled and nodded as she took Nikolai's hand and walked out of the apartment. In the hallway, she turned to Nikolai. "So did you get it while you were helping Peter and the others clean up Olivia's apartment?" She grinned as Nikolai nodded and held up a key. "Which one?"

"2701." Nikolai glanced at the closed apartment doors and then turned to Claire. "What if they miss it?"

"They won't. I don't see anyone else planning on moving in, so this building has all of the tenants it's going to have. I doubt my aunt will be checking the apartment keys any time soon."

"Are you sure?" Nikolai glanced at the closed doors again. "What about-"

"-You are SO freaked out!" Claire touched his hand. "What's wrong?"

"I'm just-" Nikolai shrugged. "-Maybe we shouldn't."

"My dad scared you, didn't he?" Claire stepped closer to him as she lowered her eyes, looking up at him through her eyelashes. "Fine. We don't have to do anything then, since you're scared."

"I'm not scared, I-" Nikolai looked down at her and finally nodded "-let's go."

Claire grinned as she took Nikolai's hand and led him towards the elevators.

Inside the apartment, Sandra walked to the bedroom and watched as Noah unpacked. "I think that went well." She leaned in the doorway. "It wasn't as bad as we thought it would be."

Noah turned to her, a wry smile on his face. "You just HAD to mention your parents' bed, didn't you?"

Sandra walked into the room and closed the door behind her. Leaning against it, she laughed softly. "It just sort of slipped out. We were pretty crazy when we first started fooling around together, weren't we? Sneaking into my room late at night, praying my parents wouldn't hear us-"

"-The backseat of my car-"

"-Everywhere in the house we could think of when my parents went away from the weekend."

Noah looked around the room. "The other night, you don't think the two of them-?"

Sandra shook her head. "No. I think they probably stayed in her room. They're still amateurs at it."

"Thank God." Noah sighed.

Sandra continued to watch her husband as he turned to finish unpacking. "You know, remembering how crazy we were when we were younger has sort of gotten me to thinking-"

"-Oh?" Noah continued to unpack. "About what?" At Sandra's silence he turned, his eyes widening at the smile on her face. "OH."

Sandra grinned as she locked the bedroom door and slowly began to walk towards her husband. "Unpack later."

Noah glanced over her shoulder. "The kids?"

"Can keep themselves busy for a few hours." Sandra whispered as she tackled her husband.

"Yes Ma'am." Noah laughed.

Sandra shook her head. "And don't call me 'ma'am'!"

* * *

Olivia and Gabriel appeared in the hallway outside of their apartment with Hiro. Cradling Faith in her arms, Olivia turned to Hiro and hugged him gently. "Thank you for bringing us home." 

"You're very welcome." Hiro glanced down at the baby. "She's so precious."

Olivia and Gabriel looked at each other as Hiro tickled Faith under the chin and nodded at each other. Olivia turned back to Hiro. "Gabriel and I were talking about something and we want to run it by you." She cocked her head towards the door and walked into the apartment with Gabriel and Hiro. She handed Faith to Hiro as they sat down together in the living room, smiling at the careful way that Hiro handled the newborn. "As you know, Peter met a future version of you and Faith almost two years ago. That Hiro took Faith after everyone was killed in the battle and raised her."

"I remember hearing about that." Hiro glanced down at the baby in his arms. "I can't imagine taking care of something so small and helpless."

"She's not so helpless." Olivia laughed. "From what Peter said, that future version of you did a wonderful job of raising her and making her a strong young woman. Gabriel and I have been talking and we talked it over with Peter and Nathan too, to make sure there wouldn't be any hurt feelings when we approached you about this. They agreed with us whole-heartedly."

"What?" Hiro looked up at them as Faith looked up at him, her hands waving and touching his face.

"We'd like for you to be Faith's godfather." Olivia nodded. "We're going to ask Claire to be her godmother, but we want you, my stepbrother and the man who, in another time, took Faith and raised her as his own, to be her godfather."

"Godfather?" Hiro squeaked as he glanced down at the baby. She waved her arms around, squirming in his arms. "What does a godfather do?"

"A godfather agrees to offer guidance to the child as they grow up."

"And, if the parents die, many times one of the godparents steps forward to take the child and raise him or her as their own." Gabriel leaned forward. "Hiro, if anything happens to the both of us in that battle. If we're killed and Linderman lives, we want you to take Faith. We want you to hide her away and train her, just as Future Hiro did. Train her to avenge us and stop her grandfather if we're unable to do it."

"And if we live, we want you to train her anyway and help us to teach her to be the strong young woman that Peter met in his apartment on Christmas Eve. We want you to be a very strong force in her life." Olivia studied Hiro. "Can you do that? Do you accept our request to be her godfather?"

Hiro stared down at Faith, smiling softly as she looked up him for a moment before closing her eyes and dozing off. He looked up at Olivia and Gabriel with tears in his eyes as he nodded. "I accept. I'll help you with her in anyway I can and I'll be her godfather and her guardian if anything happens to you."

"Good man! Gabriel stood and clapped Hiro on his shoulder. "And the first thing you can do is change your goddaughter's diaper!"

"No he doesn't!" Olivia sighed as she took the infant from Hiro, glaring at her husband. "I knew the diapers would get old for you soon enough, I just didn't know it would only take a day." She cuddled her daughter as she walked towards the nursery. "Come on, Honey. Let's go change you and make you more comfy before you start screaming your head off. Besides, I think I heard your grandmother say that she was going to come see you after your Uncle Peter teleported her home."

"Oh God." Gabriel slumped in his chair. "Angela's coming."

Hiro grinned at him. "Better you than me." He stood and held out his hand. "Thank you for honoring me by asking me to be Faith's godfather."

Gabriel shook his hand, smiling. "When Olivia and I started talking about who we wanted, we both realized you were the only choice. Who else but the man who, in another reality, raised her all by himself?"

"I'm very honored. I'll do everything I can with her, I promise."

"I know you will." Gabriel stood and walked Hiro to the front door. "I suppose I need to get back there and help Olivia with the baby, and by help I mean stand around and watch as she changed the diaper herself."

"I HEARD THAT!" Olivia yelled from the nursery.

"And I'm the one who's supposed to have super hearing." Gabriel sighed. "See you later. Apparently the Dragon Lady's going to be here soon, so you should probably go and save yourself." He laughed with Hiro as he let him out. He turned as Olivia walked back into the living room with Faith. "And there's my pretty little girl!" He smiled at Olivia. "And my beautiful wife."

"Good save." Olivia smirked.

"It wasn't a save. It's how I feel." Gabriel sat on the couch beside her, wrapping his arm around her as he looked down at his daughter. "How are you feeling, now that you've got a dry diaper on your butt?"

"Better, I'll bet." Olivia snuggled against her husband. "So Hiro looked pretty pleased to be asked to be Faith's godfather."

"Yes he did." Gabriel nodded. "It was the right choice. I'm just glad that Peter and Nathan didn't get pissed when we told them what we were planning."

"Why would they get pissed?" Olivia shrugged. "They know we love them too."

"They can godfather the next two." Gabriel murmured as he kissed the top of Olivia's head.

"The next TWO?" Olivia stared up at him. "Just how many babies do you expect me to have, anyway?"

"As many as we can." Gabriel laughed as he cuddled his wife and daughter. "Hell, after seeing this one, I want a house FULL!"

"You'd better find a way to carry them yourself, then." Olivia muttered. "Tell you what, the next time I get pregnant, I'll just switch us for nine months and let you deal with the hormones and the bitchiness and the swelling and the exhaustion and the nausea, and that's before the contractions start and the ungodly pain of childbirth kicks in."

"You'll handle it. You handled this one like a champ." Gabriel nodded. "We're going to have a big family, get used to it."

"I see Cro-Magnon has spoken then." Olivia sighed. "So what's next? You gonna smack me over the head with your club and drag me back to your cave by my hair?"

"Maybe later, when you cave in and decide you don't want to wait six weeks." Gabriel chuckled. "Hell, that sounds like a fun little role-playing game, actually."

"I'm not caving. I'm going to spend the next six weeks focused completely on our daughter. I'm not going to have time to want to do anything else." She looked down at the sleeping baby in her arms. "Isn't that right, Precious? Daddy's going to cave first."

"Uh-huh. Right." Gabriel gave her a quick squeeze before he got up from the couch and stretched. "We're finally back home."

"Our home for the next three months, anyway." Olivia shrugged. "I miss Tybee Island already."

"Me too, but we'll get back there soon enough." He walked to the kitchen and dug around to find some take-out menus. "So what's for dinner?"

"Mother's coming by to cook later." Olivia looked up as Gabriel groaned. "What now?"

"I thought Kaito said he got Angela to agree to let up on the constant hovering. She did so well after the baby was born while we were in Georgia."

"She is and she has, but she said she was cooking dinner tonight for EVERYONE. We're supposed to head down to her place in a couple of hours."

"Fine." Gabriel shrugged. "At least if she's busy cooking, she'll be too busy to bug us for a few hours." As the doorbell rang, he grimaced. "Shit, I spoke too soon." He opened the door and sighed as Angela swept in. "Well, at least you rang the bell instead of just walking in. It's a start for you."

"It's good to see you too." Angela said absently as she stepped past him, her face lighting up as she spotted Faith. "And there she is!" She held out her hands. "Come to Grandma, Angel!" She laughed as Olivia handed the baby to her, smiling as Faith opened her eyes and looked up at her. "It's so good to have you all to myself without everyone and their mother fighting over holding you, yes it is! Just look at you! You're just as pretty as your mother was when she was born, yes you are!" She sat down and started cooing to the baby as Olivia stood and walked to Gabriel, both of them watching.

"Okay, now THAT'S scary." Gabriel whispered, Olivia nodding silently in agreement.

* * *

Peter answered the door, his eyes widening to see Katrina standing in the doorway with a petite teenaged girl standing beside her. "Hey!" He let them in, staring at the girl. "Who's your friend?" 

Katrina turned to the girl, placing a protective arm around her shoulders. "This is Mina Cuthbert."

Peter's eyes widened in recognition of her name. "You're Mina?" He smiled and held out his hand. "It's great to finally meet you. We tried to bring you in a few months ago, but Linderman's people got you away before we could get to you." He frowned as Mina backed away, placing her hands behind her back. "Are you okay?"

Mina chewed on her lip nervously. "I don't want to touch anyone else. My power-"

"-I know." Peter nodded, smiling softly at her. "When you touch someone while touching someone else you transfer their powers." As Mina stared up at him he smiled kindly at her. "We heard about you. I have an interesting power too."

"What is it?" Mina asked.

"Whenever I'm around someone who has a power, I absorb it."

"Kind of like Rogue, only you don't have to touch them and drain the life out of them." Mina whispered.

"Pretty much, yeah." Peter held his hand out again. "So I already have your power. As long as you're not touching Katrina, I think you'll be okay shaking my hand." He smiled as Mina quickly shook his hand and then let it go, placing her hands behind her back again. He turned to Katrina. "How did you get her?"

Katrina blushed. "Linderman's people snatched me in one of the casinos. I'm staying out of all of them from now on, by the way. He used me and Mina to imbue his people with the power to block mind-reading. He said it was for the attack on the building here. After he left, Mina helped me escape and I brought her back here. They way they treated this girl-" Katrina shook her head angrily "-I couldn't let her stay there. I knew she'd be welcome here."

"Anyone who wants to be here is more than welcome to be here." Peter nodded reassuringly at Mina. "We're not going to force you to stay, but you're welcome to be here as long as you need to be."

"Promise?" Mina whispered. "And I don't have to DO anything?"

"How old are you?" Peter asked.

"Fifteen." Mina nodded. "I just turned fifteen the other day."

"Then the only thing you HAVE to do is go to school with the other kids here. We'll get Micah and Hana to alter some paperwork on you and have it sent to the high school that Lyle goes to. How's that sound?"

"And I can stay with Katrina?" Mina asked.

Katrina placed a protective arm around the girl. "I want to be her guardian."

"Where are your parents?" Peter asked. He nodded as Mina lowered her head sadly. "Linderman's people?"

"They didn't want to give me up. A man named Otto shot them and dragged me to the compound. They used me to transfer powers to everyone."

"I'm sorry." Peter frowned. "If you want Katrina to take care of you, I'm sure we can get Micah and Hana to tweak a few documents to do that while they're sending paperwork to the high school."

"Really?" Mina smiled softly as Peter nodded at her. "Thank you. And I don't have to DO anything else? I don't have to transfer powers or anything else?"

Peter winked at her. "No. Now that I've been around you, I can do the transferring if we need to." His eyes widened. "Hot damn."

"What?" Katrina asked.

Peter grinned. "I think the days of going to the lab and getting imbued with a serum just ended." He looked back down at Mina. "So as I've said, you're welcome to stay here. We have some classes with the teenagers to teach them self-defense if you'd like to take them."

"Okay." Mina nodded.

"And we have a pool that the kids hang around. You're welcome to go there and hang out with them."

"Who else is here?" Mina asked.

"Well, there's my niece Claire. She's eighteen. Her boyfriend Nikolai is nineteen and Claire's little brother Lyle is your age, fifteen."

"I haven't seen many people since I got here."

"That's because a lot of us were in Georgia while my sister had her baby."

"So they're all okay? Your sister? She's Linderman's daughter, right? I heard that everyone survived, but they're all okay?"

Peter smiled. "Everyone survived." He laughed as Mina took a deep breath and leaned against Katrina, relieved. "It was good to meet you again, Mina. Thank you for coming and thanks for saving Katrina. You're quite the hero." He nodded as Mina beamed at him. "Now, why don't you go hang out at the pool and meet some of the kids here?"

"Okay." Mina turned to Katrina and walked out with her.

"Who was that?" Peter turned as Sherry walked into the living room, toweling off her hair. "I thought I heard you talking to someone while I was in the shower."

Peter grinned. "We've got a new girl here. Mina Cuthbert."

Sherry stopped. "MINA? The girl that Linderman was using to steal powers?"

"One and the same! It seems that Katrina was snatched before the attack and Mina was forced to transfer her power to Linderman's team. She later helped Katrina escape. Katrina's going to be her guardian."

"I'll be damned." Sherry beamed. "This is a good thing! Without her, Linderman's not going to be able to transfer his powers to Olivia in the battle, right?"

"If we've figured out that that's what he was going to do, you're very right!" Peter ran to Sherry and swept her up, kissing her passionately as he spun her around. "Things are looking up!"

* * *

Linderman sat at his desk, smiling as he stared out of the window of his office in his suite. Gota sat across from him, her brow furrowed. "What are you thinking about?"

"My granddaughter and how, soon, we're going to have her all to ourselves." He turned to Gota. "How is the training coming with everyone?"

"As you know, Otto took over after Furkan's death. The training is going well for all of us. He's not Furkan, by any means, but he does well enough."

"When should we be ready to finally attack them all for once and for all? When will we be ready to kill them all?"

Gota smiled. "We're ready now if you are."

"We'll give them a few months. Like I said, let them grow complacent. Once they lower their guard, we'll be able to get Mina back and then we can attack."

Gota smirked. "Mina. What do we need that silly child for? We have her blood. I can be imbued with her powers."

"I'll need you fighting with everyone else. Mina is important to my final plan. We'll wait for them to get back into their daily routines and after they've relaxed, we'll take the girl back and destroy them all with my daughter's quite unwilling help. Then, I'll take my granddaughter and raise her the way she should be raised. I'll raise her to be just as strong and powerful as I am, so she can be my true and rightful heir."

"You mean WE'LL raise her." Gota added.

Linderman glanced at her, his expression guarded. "Of course. WE'LL raise her."

* * *

Lyle sighed as he sat in a chair beside the pool, watching as Micah and Molly splashed around and played in the water. He was bored, completely and totally bored. He checked his watch and turned to Molly. "It's been two hours, Moll. Ready to head back in?" 

"We JUST got here?" Molly made a face.

"Fine." Lyle slumped back in his chair and looked around, his eyes widening as he saw the girl walking towards the pool area. She was slender and pretty, with her long blond hair hanging down her back in a ponytail. Sitting up, he stared as she walked towards him, smiling softly at him.

"Are you Lyle?" Lyle nodded dumbly as she cocked her head to the side. "Do you have powers?" He shook his head as she sighed with relief and extended her hand. "I'm Mina. I just got her. Katrina's taking care of me."

"I'm Lyle." He jumped up as he shook her hand. "Lyle Bennet."

"I just met your uncle, Peter."

"Oh, he's not my uncle, he's my sister Claire's." He grinned as he shrugged. "It's sort of a long story. Claire's adopted, so's Molly, her adoption just came through. Claire's birth father is Peter's brother."

"That wasn't too long of a story." Mina giggled as Lyle blushed.

"I guess not." He sat down, his eyes never leaving Mina as she sat in the chair beside his. "So you just got here?"

Mina nodded. "Linderman's people were holding me. I escaped when he brought me here to use Katrina's power."

"So you have a power?" Lyle asked.

"Yeah." Mina glanced at Molly and Micah. "Do they?"

"Yeah, they do." He pointed to Micah. "He can manipulate stuff that's computerized and Molly can find anyone in the world."

"Cool." Mina watched them for a moment before turning to Lyle. "If I were to touch Molly and Micah at the same time, he'd have her powers and she'd have his."

"Really? That's cool! You're like a walking version of the serum that everyone around here's getting. Well, everyone but me and my parents and Dr. Suresh, anyway."

"They're the only ones without powers?" Mina asked.

"There are a few more without powers, mainly the husbands or wives or life partners of others, but most of the people here have powers."

"Oh." Mina sighed. "Good to know. I'll have to remember not to touch too many people." She shrugged as Lyle watched her and pulled her tee shirt off. Lyle's eyes widened as he stared at her bikini. "Do you swim?" She asked as she turned to him. He nodded as he stared at her. "Well, come on then! It's seriously hot out today!" She stood and dove into the water as Lyle watched her.

"Hot. Right. Yeah." He whispered.

* * *

An hour later, Sandra walked around the kitchen as she made dinner, smiling as Noah walked in behind her and wrapped his arms around her, kissing her cheek. "We should do that more often." He whispered. 

"Lock the kids out and spend an afternoon together alone?" Sandra leaned against him. "Yes, we should." She called out as she heard the door open and close. "Who's home?"

"Just us!" Molly skipped into the kitchen, a towel wrapped around her. "What's for dinner."

"Tex-Mex." Sandra smiled at her. "You and Lyle have fun at the pool?"

"Yeah!" Molly smirked. "There's a new girl here named Mina."

Noah's head whipped around to Molly. "Did you say her name is Mina?" Molly nodded. "The girl that Linderman had prisoner?"

"I think so. She's pretty." She giggled as Lyle walked into the kitchen behind her, a dazed look on his face. "Lyle thinks so too!"

"Oh really?" Sandra and Noah exchanged looks before turning to Lyle. "Is she pretty, Lyle?" Sandra asked.

"Very." Lyle whispered as he grinned and turned, walking out of the kitchen. "I'll be in my room."

Sandra and Noah turned back to each other, realization dawning on their faces. "Round two." Sandra whispered.

"And this time with Lyle." Noah sighed. "God help us both."


	90. Chapter 90

Chapter Ninety-A Battle of Wills

Gabriel paced the floor of his living room as he tried to shush a screaming Faith. "Please stop crying, please." He checked his watch. "Mommy will be here very, very soon and she doesn't want to hear that you started screaming the moment she left. You're a daddy's girl, remember? Daddy's girls love spending time alone with their fathers. It's what 'daddy's girl' means, for crying out loud." He sighed as Faith continued to wail, her face turning as red as the curls on the top of her head. "What do you want, Honey? Mommy fed you right before she went to train, I changed your diaper and I just checked it again. What is it?" He bounced gently on the balls of his feet as the baby squirmed against him, her head resting on his shoulder as she shrieked even louder. "Okay, Daddy has very sensitive hearing and you have no idea how much you're hurting him right now. Please stop crying, Baby." He dashed towards the front door, opening it and sighing with relief as Peter walked in. "Oh thank GOD!" He shoved Faith into Peter's arms. "Can you please do something with her? Olivia started back with her training this morning and I swear, the MOMENT she walked out of this apartment, that one started screaming her head off. If Olivia finds out that I can't even handle taking care of our daughter alone for the thirty minutes it would take for her to go downstairs, stop time, and come back up, I'll never hear the end of it."

Peter frowned as he stared down at his niece. "Someone's got a temper, yes you do!" He cradled the infant in his arms as he gently rubbed her stomach, crooning softly to her. Gabriel's eyes glazed over for a moment as Faith suddenly stopped crying and went to sleep, gurgling happily. "Is THIS why you sent me a mental howler earlier?"

"No." Gabriel looked around, dazed. "What the hell did you do?"

"You really are a dumb ass sometimes, you do know that, right?" Peter sighed. "Don't you remember what Olivia's initial power was?"

"Telepathy and" Gabriel started to grin "pheromone control." He started laughing. "Is THAT how she's kept our baby so calm around her? She's been making the baby happy and calm all of the time?"

"Sneaky, isn't she?"

"She's a damn cheater, that's what she is!" Gabriel took Faith from Peter and shook his head. "Mommy's a big fat cheat, isn't she?"

"And judging by the way you were yelling and begging for me to come up here earlier, you got a dose of Olivia's telepathy, which also means you have pheromone control as well. Next time the little lady there starts howling, just calm her down." Peter shrugged. "So what DID you want?"

Gabriel smirked. "Oh, never mind now. You just gave me the answer to what I wanted."

Peter frowned. "Oh shit." His eyes widened as he began to read Gabriel's mind. "Oh HELL NO! You're not-"

Gabriel turned to him, his eyes wild. "Listen, Buddy! It's been a week since Faith was born and Olivia healed moments after this kid entered the world. I've been patient, I've been considerate, but I've also been horny as hell. The thing is though, I can't just ASK her to give me some loving. We made a pact. Whoever cracks first, whoever caves in first and begs for sex, has to take this one to the doctor for her first round of shots. She creates a force field, you see where I'm going with this?"

Peter glared at Gabriel. "You are NOT going to use my sister's power against her to make HER cave in first, that's cheating!"

"Daddy horny, Peter!"

"GROSS!" Peter shook his head. "I'm telling!"

"You big snitching baby!" Gabriel snarled at him. "I swear to God, if you screw this up for me, I'll make you come with me to the pediatrician's office the first time Faith gets shots, got it?"

"Kiss my ass! Be a man, beg for sex and take Laurent with you when Faith gets her shots, damn!"

"Whether you tell on me or not, I'm still using it!" Gabriel nodded. "The minute she walks through that door, I'm putting the whammy on her mentally, and then she's going to put the whammy on me physically!"

Peter sighed. "Okay, let's compromise before you turn my sister into a mindless sex slave, okay?" He sat down on the couch. "Try turning her on WITHOUT her powers before you start messing with her head."

"How?" Gabriel placed Faith in a bassinette and turned to Peter, shrugging. "She's like a camel with water, one lay and she's fine for weeks. I'm not really like that and she knows it. Do you know how frustrating it is lying next to her at night and not being able to do ANYTHING about it? She takes showers, and walks out all naked and hot and drives me nuts while she towels off and then puts on lotion. Good God, the way she puts on lotion, it's criminal. And then she parades around in her underwear. She's doing it to test me. She's doing it on purpose, I know it."

"Just," Peter shuddered "do stuff that makes her think about sex, makes her want it with you, until she's begging for you to just do her already. If you think she's teasing YOU, turn the tables on HER without putting the 'whammy' on her." He shook his head. "God, I can't believe I'm having this conversation with you. What do you normally do to get her in the mood when she's NOT in the mood?"

"Well, usually I just either give her a really hot look, and when that doesn't work I get her loaded on wine, but that won't happen right now, she's breast-feeding." Gabriel groaned. "Do you know how insanity-inducing it is watching that baby breast-feed? Lucky-ass baby!"

"Ew." Peter grimaced. "Just think of something, okay?" He stood up. "And don't ever ask me to consult with you on something like this again. I feel like taking a long, hot shower and scrubbing with a Brillo pad at the idea of knowing that I just helped you bang my sister in any way."

"Shower-" Gabriel glared "-we've got one of those massaging shower heads! She's been taking longer showers than usual. You don't think she's been-"

Peter snorted "-yeah, you might want to get rid of that, Dude. It's totally competition."

"Teleport to a store, get me a new shower head." Gabriel pulled out his wallet and handed Peter a wad of bills. "I don't care what kind, as long as it doesn't massage and it isn't detachable."

Peter glared at him. "Do I LOOK like you're servant? I've done enough damage here, thank you! I'm not helping you get my sister to throw her legs up in the air any more than I already have."

Gabriel nodded. "Fine. If asking nicely doesn't work, threatening will. If you don't get me a new shower head now, and if you tell your sister what I'm planning, I'll telepathically chant the same phrase to you over and over again until you lose it."

"What phrase?" Peter whispered.

"Daddy horny. Daddy horny. Daddy horny. Daddy-"

"-Give me the damn money!" Peter snatched the money from Gabriel's hand angrily as he stood up. "You're such an ass hole sometimes, you do know this right?"

"If it gets me into your sister's pants sooner, rather than later, I really don't give a damn." Gabriel smirked. He walked to the bassinette and picked up Faith again as she started to stir and whimper. "You're getting spoiled, aren't you? You're going to be one of those babies that can't sleep unless someone's holding her, isn't that right?"

"Dicksmack." Peter muttered as he disappeared from the room.

Moments later he appeared, looking tired. Gabriel stared at him. "What's up with you and where's my damn shower head?"

Peter glared at him. "Have I ever mentioned that when Hiro or Nikolai stop time, it never works on me? It doesn't work on Nikolai or Hiro either, we're sort of immune to it. Whoever is running the training room stops it for everyone but the people in that room, so for twelve hours, the only people in this world who aren't frozen in place are me, Nikolai, Hiro and the people in the basement. It can get seriously annoying sometimes."

"That sucks." Gabriel nodded. "What do you do whenever time gets stopped and everyone but you is in limbo?"

"I read, watch movies, clean the house, Sherry thinks I'm a hell of a housekeeper, by the way. I sometimes meet up with Nikolai or Hiro, whoever's free and we play backgammon, or checkers or chess. Today, I went to a hardware store where everyone was frozen in place, bought your damn shower head, used Micah's powers to ring it up and put your money in the register, came back here and installed it. You look really stupid frozen, by the way. You were sitting on the couch with Faith in your arms and the schmoopiest look on your face. Nikolai and I had a good laugh over it."

"Nikolai was here?" Gabriel frowned. "That's kind of creepy, knowing that the two of you can just wander around for twelve hours while the rest of us are frozen in place. You've never wandered up here while Olivia and I were frozen in the middle of-"

"-GROSS!" Peter grimaced. "We don't go in and out of people's homes, that's wrong on so many levels." He sighed. "The shower head is installed thanks to me and Nikolai and I'm going to take a nap now. You're welcome by the way."

"Thanks." Gabriel looked down at Faith as she slept in his arms. "Take that nap, you've more than earned it."

"If I ever hear the phrase 'Daddy horny' from you again, that shower head is getting shoved in a very uncomfortable place, and I'm not talking about the backseat of a Volkswagen, got it?"

"Cool." Gabriel grinned at him. "You're a life saver."

"I know." Peter sighed as he headed towards the door. "Oh, I also try to thwart crime on occasion. Today I saw a guy frozen in the middle of stealing a woman's purse, so I used Niki's super strength to put a cop right in front of him. As soon as Hiro started time again, odds are, that guy plowed right into the cop and got busted."

"That's cool." Gabriel nodded.

"Yeah." Peter grinned. "I do what I can whenever I can." He turned and left the apartment as Gabriel looked back down at Faith.

"I think tonight, you're going to find out how nice and cozy your nursery is, yes you are! You don't need to be in the room with Mommy and Daddy while they're getting busy." He grinned as he looked around the apartment. "Now I just have to find a way to subtly set the mood."

* * *

As they trained, Candice glanced over at Olivia. "You okay? You've been quiet ever since you got here today." Olivia shrugged wordlessly. "It's tough getting back into the groove, training-wise right after having a baby. It took me a while too after I had Shanti."

Olivia gave Candice a quick look. "How soon after you had Shanti did you and Mohinder get back on the horse, so to speak?"

"You mean, since I healed as soon as I had her, how long did it take before I tackled his fine ass?" Candice grinned. "After you guys visited us in the hospital and then went home for the night, let's just say that Mohinder and I took advantage of my private room."

"SERIOUSLY?" Olivia stopped and turned to Candice, her eyes wide. "THAT NIGHT?"

"Um, have you SEEN my man? I tackled him every night up to the day our daughter was born and I've put goofy smiles on both of our faces every night since." Candice sighed. "Who wouldn't? That man just gives me shivers every time I even think-" she shivered and blushed. "-see?"

"Wow." Olivia nodded.

Candice gasped. "OH MY GOD!" She leaned close to Olivia. "Wait, are you saying that you and Gabriel still haven't-?" She stared at her as Olivia looked away. "-THE HELL? Your hubby's ALMOST as hot as Mo and you haven't hit that since your daughter was born? What's wrong with you? We have a power that allows us to heal moments after receiving an injury, barring it's to the brain, and you haven't taken advantage of the fact that you don't have to wait six fucking weeks?"

"We sort of made a pact." Olivia grimaced.

"A pact of stupidity, apparently." Candice shook her head. "I can't imagine going six days without getting naked with my Mohinder, much less six weeks." She shrugged. "Maybe things change after marriage. Thank God WE'RE never getting married."

"Really? You're not? EVER?" Olivia asked.

"Not if it means that the hot sex goes away like it's apparently done for you and Gabriel. We don't need a silly piece of paper saying that we agree to be together forever, we've already promised each other that in private."

"Was it your decision, or Mohinder's?"

"Mine, but he agrees." Candice nodded. "Listen, when I was a teenager, I wasn't just Goth and Emo because I was fat and picked on, I was Goth and Emo because I listened to my parents screaming at each other all the time about stupid, trivial shit. They kept saying around me that the only reason they were staying married was because they didn't want to affect me with a divorce, which actually would have been much better for my emotional well-being in the long-run. I always suspected that was bullshit. I think that if divorce hadn't been so expensive, they'd have dumped each other long before. After watching those two battle it out, I realized that I don't believe in marriage. I believe in loving someone, being with that person if you truly love them, and if the love fades, walking away while you're still friends, without dragging things out through the legal system to make yourselves bitter and hateful. Also, I believe in really deep, loving, intimate, hot, sweaty, animal sex." She checked her watch. "Which I'll be getting in two hours after we get out of here."

"You know, hot sex doesn't REALLY go away when you get married. It hasn't for me and Gabriel."

"Really?" Candice turned to her. "So you two haven't done it since Faith arrived because?"

"The stupid pact." Olivia muttered. "We started out teasing each other about who would cave and ask for sex first. Then it turned into a pact. Whoever caves and begs first has to take Faith for her first round of shots." At Candice's nonplussed look, Olivia rolled her eyes. "The kid creates a force field, see where the problem will lie?"

"Fuck it. Just take Laurent to block her little force field. End of story, Honey." Candice nodded.

"Shit. Why didn't I think of that?" Olivia groaned. "Anyway, now it's turned into this little game and battle of wills to see who's going to crack first. It's been VERY hard."

"I'll bet." Candice nodded.

"I mean, do you have any idea how sexy it is, watching how tender and doting he is with our daughter? I never thought watching a man getting mushy over an infant would be a turn-on, but BOY is it! I've been trying to tempt him to make him cave first, doing stuff like walking around naked after a shower, putting on lotion ALL over in front of him very slowly, walking around in sexy underwear, but he's not biting, LITERALLY!"

"Biting can be fun." Candice sighed.

"Tell me about it." Olivia moaned. "He just turns around and walks out of the damn room when I do it! It's so frustrating, especially when we're in bed together. I haven't had a decent night's sleep since the day after Faith was born. I keep waking up and looking over at him and just wanting to pounce."

"How have you been coping?"

"Three words: massaging shower head." Olivia nodded.

"OH!" Candice giggled. "Yeah, we've got one. When Mohinder and I shower together, he likes it when I-" she looked away "-okay, that would be too much information to divulge, even for me." She cleared her throat and turned back to Olivia. "So this is basically becoming a battle of wills, a competition, a way to keep the upper hand, right?"

"Yeah." Olivia nodded again. "And if I crack first, he'll never let me forget it. He'll throw it up in my face from here to eternity."

"But you'd do the same with him." Candice laughed.

"I'm the wife, I'm supposed to be always right." Olivia groaned. "What in the hell am I going to do?"

"Well," Candice shrugged "you DO have a little power at your disposal that would make him crack like an egg if you wanted to use it. Your initial power?"

Olivia shook her head. "Oh, I could never use that on him again."

"Desperate times call for desperate measures." Candice nodded.

Olivia made a face. "It would be cheating."

"Have you used it on him before?"

"When we first met. I used it a little while he was in a coma to see if he was responsive on any levels. He was, by the way." Olivia grinned. "BOY WAS HE RESPONSIVE! Then I used it on him when he demanded I show my power to him. It was either use it or let him kill me."

"How did that go?"

"He didn't kill me, that's for damn sure." Olivia sighed. "But I can't use it again. He'd know I did it and he'd know I cheated. That would be as bad as caving in first. It would be the SAME as caving in first."

"Yeah, but doesn't HE have that power now too?" Candice gave Olivia a pointed look.

"Oh, he WOULDN'T!" Olivia's mouth dropped. "Would he?"

"Desperate times call for desperate measures, Honey." Candice grinned. "It depends on just how desperate he gets."

"If he uses it on me first, I'll TOTALLY use it back, just to mess with him." Olivia shook her head. "Then I'd kick his ass in the afterglow."

"Something tells me he might be into that."

"I have to find a way to get him to crack, without cheating." Olivia shrugged. "I'll just have to kick it up a notch, that's all."

"Good luck." Candice sighed. "Here's to winning, right?"

"Damn straight." Olivia nodded.

* * *

"Daddy's gonna get LAID!" Gabriel grinned to himself as he stared at a recipe printout and then turned back to the stove. "If Daddy cooks this the way it's supposed to be cooked, that it." He turned and smiled at Faith as she sat in her baby seat on the counter behind him. "Daddy's making Mommy a special second breakfast since she's just spent twelve hours training to kick your Grandfather's ass." He turned and smiled as he heard the front door open and close. "That you, Babe?"

"Yeah." Olivia walked into the kitchen, frowning as Gabriel continued to cook. "What are you doing?"

"Making you an omelet. I knew you'd be hungry again after working out, so I found a recipe and thought I'd try it out."

"Oh, aren't you sweet?" Olivia walked behind him and hugged him, pressing her body against the back of his. "You are just the sweetest, sexiest man, ever." She whispered as she pressed harder against him, her hands snaking around to his chest.

Gabriel closed his eyes for a moment, taking a deep breath. "Do I hear something cracking?"

"Nope." Olivia kissed his cheek. "I'm going to take a quick shower."

"You go do that." Gabriel smirked. "Have fun."

"I will!" Olivia kissed Faith on the top of the head before she left the kitchen.

Using his sensitive hearing, Gabriel heard Olivia cursing as she opened the shower doors. He heard hear take a quick shower and smiled benignly at her as she returned to the kitchen a few minutes later, dressed in a robe. "How was your shower? By the way, I heard about these cool shower heads, so I sent Pete to buy one for you as a surprise. How was it?"

Olivia's eyes narrowed for a moment as she gritted her teeth. "It was great. Really."

"Good." Gabriel smiled warmly at her as he placed her breakfast on a plate. "I'm glad you enjoyed it." He held her plate out to her. "Only the best for my baby."

Olivia regarded him for a moment before taking the plate. "So the baby was fine while I was gone?"

"Our daughter was a complete angel." Gabriel walked over to Faith and lifted her into his arms, smiling as she snuggled against him. "Absolutely precious angel." He turned and noticed the hungry way Olivia was watching him. "What?"

"Nothing." Olivia looked away, blinking for a moment before she turned and walked to the bar to eat her breakfast. As she ate, she continued to watch her husband doting on their daughter, chewing on her bottom lip. Finally, as he placed the baby in a bassinette, she turned to him. "All finished!"

"How was it?" Gabriel took the plate from her, smiling eagerly. "It was my first time trying my hand at something like that."

Olivia batted her eyelashes at him as she smiled. "It was perfect." She pulled him close and kissed him passionately for a moment, then pushed him away as he began to respond and climbed off of her barstool. "Thank you."

Gabriel's grip tightened on the plate as he tried to control his breathing. "You're welcome." He gritted.

Olivia quickly walked into the bedroom and got dressed as she fanned herself. _Just try harder, keep teasing, keep making him want more, make that bastard crack! _She walked back into the living room and leaned over the couch, wrapping her arms around his neck. "I'm going to take a little nap." She whispered softly in his ear. "Wake me when Faith needs feeding, okay?"

"Sure thing." Gabriel watched as she turned and walked away. _DOWN BOY!_ He took a deep breath and turned to Faith as she gurgled in her bassinette. "Feel like visiting Grandma for about an hour? Daddy needs to do some shopping."

* * *

Olivia stumbled sleepily into the living room late that afternoon. She stared at Gabriel as he sat on the couch, giving Faith a bottle. "Why didn't you wake me?"

"Baby, you were tired. I know you haven't sleep the night since we brought Faith home and then you trained today on top of that. You really needed your sleep."

"Yeah, but now I'll be up all night." Olivia's eyes widened for a moment as Gabriel turned away, covering a smirk. "But hey, I'll just have a glass of warm milk. That should put me down for the count, it always does." She smirked as Gabriel's expression deflated. "Did I hear you leave earlier?"

"Yep." Gabriel placed Faith's bottle to the side and began to burp her as Olivia watched him intensely. "I decided to get a few things to celebrate your first day back at training."

"What kind of things?"

"I got some take-out from that Italian place we love. All I have to do is put it in the oven and it'll be ready to go. I also got a few appetizers as well." Gabriel stood and handed their daughter to her. "If you finish feeding her, I'll go heat everything up now, actually."

"Okay." Olivia glanced down at their daughter, then smirked at Gabriel's retreating back. "You know, I haven't pumped since my break in training and I'm so full I feel like my breasts are about to burst, so I'll just feed her without the bottle." Gabriel turned and watched for a moment as Olivia unbuttoned her shirt and began to breast-feed Faith. She turned to him, smiling sweetly. "Is everything okay, Baby?"

"Fine." Gabriel squeaked as he turned and quickly ran into the kitchen. He braced his arms on the counter, taking deep breaths. "Keep your head in the game, Gray." He muttered. "Make her crack, make HER crack, dammit! Crack you silly bitch!" He quickly put the food in the oven and pulled out two trays of food from the refrigerator. He beamed as he carried them into the living room with a bottle and two wine glasses. "Don't worry, it's sparkling cider." He winked at Olivia as he set the trays down and poured two glasses of cider. "And now for the appetizers." He lifted the covers off of the trays. "Oysters?" He frowned as Olivia made a face. "What?"

"I really don't like oysters, sorry. It's a texture thing, it's like eating snot."

"Oh." Gabriel placed the cover back on the tray. "And suddenly I don't want any either."

"Aren't oysters an aphrodisiac?" Olivia asked him, covering a grin.

"Really?" Gabriel's eyes widened innocently. "You know, I never heard that before." He opened another tray. "Cheese and crackers, enjoy." He turned and carried the oysters out of the room, tossing them back into the fridge. "Shit!"

Olivia looked down at Faith and giggled. "Never heard that before, my ass." She whispered.

* * *

"Is she asleep?" Olivia asked from behind the closed bathroom door.

"Yep!" Gabriel nodded as he walked into the bedroom. "I think it's a good idea, going ahead and putting her in the nursery. I mean, she's just one room away and we do have a baby monitor, not to mention my super hearing." Gabriel stared at the closed bathroom door for a moment. "What are you doing in there?"

"Just getting ready for bed, that's all." Olivia called. "Thanks again for bringing dinner home, it was really wonderful. I loved all of it."

"You're welcome." Gabriel paced the room for a moment as he stared at a small bag that rested in the floor on his side of the bed. "Okay, I've gone this far, might as well go the whole way." He whispered to himself as he began to peel off his clothes.

A few minutes later, Olivia stepped out of the bathroom wearing a robe and frowned as she looked around the room. Candles were burning beside the bed and the lights were dimmed. She turned and noticed Gabriel lying on the bed, wearing nothing but boxer shorts. "What are you doing?"

"Like the candles?" Gabriel smiled. "I bought them today. I liked the way they smelled."

"Very nice." Olivia's eyes widened as they adjusted to the dim light. "Are you wearing silk boxers?"

"Yep." Gabriel sighed as he stretched. "I bought these today too. Just thought I'd treat myself. They're very comfortable."

Olivia bit the inside of her cheek to keep from laughing at him. "Yeah, they look very comfortable indeed." She opened her robe, covering a grin as Gabriel gasped at the negligee she was wearing. "Speaking of comfortable things to wear to bed, I remembered I had this. I haven't worn it in forever."

Gabriel gulped audibly. "I've never seen you wear it at all. Usually it's tank tops and pajama bottoms or your ratty UGA tee shirt."

Olivia shrugged as she stretched out on the bed beside him. "I forgot I even had it, actually. I bought it a few years ago. It still fits, even with the extra baby weight, but I have to say, it's pretty tight in the bosom now that I'm nursing." She glanced down at her breasts. "I swear, I think I've gained a cup size at the very least, probably two. Do they seem too big or porny to you?"

Gabriel shook his head as he stared at them. "Nope, nothing wrong at all."

"I mean, before the baby they were pretty big on their own, right? Now they're just downright HUGE, aren't they?"

"They seem fine to me." Gabriel rolled over with his back to Olivia. "I need to get some sleep."

"Before you do." Gabriel grinned to himself as he felt Olivia's hand on his shoulder. "I need you to do something for me, please."

"Sure." Gabriel sighed. _And now she's going to cave._ He rolled over. "What do you need, Baby?" He frowned as she handed him a bottle of massage oil.

"I'm so sore after training today." Olivia rolled over onto her stomach. "My legs are the worst of it. Can you massage them for me?"

"Yeah." Gabriel gritted as he straddled her and began to massage her legs. As his hands traveled up and down her thighs and calves, he rolled his eyes, shaking his head. "How's that?"

Olivia frowned. "Great?" She buried her face in the pillow, blocking her thoughts from him. _Oh, I shouldn't have asked him to do THIS. I'm enjoying this way more than he sounds like HE is. Good God, his hands! Don't crack, Liv. Just don't crack. _

Gabriel grimaced. "Better?" As Olivia nodded, he quickly climbed off of her, his expression furious as he lay back down with his back to her. Finally, he shook his head, twitching his fingers. He smiled as he heard Olivia gasp. As he twitched his fingers again, she moaned softly. "You okay?" He yelped as a pillow crashed down on his head. "HEY!"

"You cheating ass!"

Gabriel sat up, glaring at Olivia as she glared back. "HOW did I cheat?"

"You used your TK to, to, to-" she blew a strand of hair out of her eyes "-move stuff with your mind. You are cheating and trying to get me to cave!"

"I'M trying to get YOU to cave? Whose running around here, breast-feeding our daughter when there's a bottle sitting next to her-"

"-It was either breast-feed her or have my tits explode, okay? DAMN! WHO tried to feed me nasty-ass oysters and lied about 'oh, I didn't know they were aphrodisiacs, honest!'? Please, even our week-old daughter knows what oysters are for! Who fed me chocolate cake after dinner for the same damn reason? Who's been running around hiding my shower head?"

"And you think I'M cheating? What did you use that shower head for, anyway?"

"The same thing you've been using my lotion and Cosmo magazines for, you ass! Don't think I haven't noticed you sneaking off into the bathroom late at night with those! You are SUCH a cheat with your candles, and your boxers-"

"-What about you with your damn negligee that you just 'happened' to find today, and you're 'please massage my poor legs, Baby' routine and your 'wow, look how big my boobs are now' bit and your kissing and rubbing up against me and then walking away-"

"-And you with your cooing over our daughter and letting me sleep late and fixing me an omelet and-"

-don't even talk about our daughter! You've been cheating with her too!"

"HOW?"

"Calming her with your power. It took me a while to figure out what you'd been doing after she screamed in my ear for fifteen damn minutes! Do you know how heartbreaking it is to hear her scream like that?"

"Why do you think I do that? Don't you think it breaks my heart when she cries too?"

"And then you run around all naked, rubbing lotion on yourself and wearing sexy underwear around me, you've been cheating to get me to cave long before I have, Missy!"

"Like hell I have!"

Gabriel glared at her. "You want to accuse ME of starting this? You want to accuse me of cheating? I haven't even BEGUN to cheat." Gabriel smirked. "How's this for cheating?" He nodded as Olivia gasped and began to breathe hard. "How's that working out for you?"

Olivia shuddered as Gabriel's voice washed over her. She tried to tear her eyes from his, tried to ignore the way they shimmered and turned golden. "Stop it." She whispered.

"Make me." He whispered. He smiled as Olivia blushed and moaned.

She looked away, shaking her head. "You little shit. My power-"

"-How's it feel when the shoe's on the other foot? I've owed you payback with this for a while." He leaned forward, his lips brushing her ear. "Give in to me." He smiled as his hand gently slid down her shoulder, caressing her arm. "You know you want to."

Olivia took a deep breath, shivering. She turned to him, smiling as he backed away. "You first."

"Dammit." He whispered. He stared at the way her eyes sparkled at him. "You're-"

"-turning you on while turning my power back onto you. How's it feel?" She moaned as he tackled her, crushing his lips to hers as he began to tug at her negligee. She wrapped her legs around his waist, moaning. "Cave in first, Baby. Beg me." She whispered.

Gabriel groaned and rolled off of her. "I can't. You do it."

"Hell no!" Olivia glared at him. "You came up with this stupid pact, YOU cave!"

"KISS MY ASS!" Gabriel turned to her. "You're the one who came up with it first. Why would I want to create a pact that would make it harder for me to have sex with you?"

Olivia stared at him for a moment. "Wait, which one of us DID come up with this stupid idea first?"

"I don't remember." Gabriel sighed. "But it's been driving me nuts all week, not being able to touch you." Gabriel placed his head in his hands. "All I've wanted since we came home was just to make love to my wife, that's all I've wanted all week."

"That's all I've wanted too." Olivia rested her head on his shoulder. "We've been really stupid, haven't we?"

"Yeah." Gabriel laughed softly. He turned until his face was inches from hers. "Truce?"

"Are you still using my power against me?" Olivia asked.

"No." Gabriel shook his head slowly. "You still using it?"

"No." Olivia smiled softly. "Call it a draw? Neither of us wins?"

Gabriel began to kiss her. "Lets just say we both won and leave it at that."

"Deal." Olivia straddled him, kissing him passionately as he pulled her negligee off. "You have been driving me crazy all week."

"Same here." Gabriel moaned as her hands roamed his body. "New pact, never make another one."

"Got it." Olivia began to move on top of him as they both began to moan. "Never, ever again." She cradled his face in her hands. "And later, put the old shower head back on. I read Candice's mind during training and I got a very kinky idea on how to use it."

"Oh, you're a dirty, dirty, dirty girl." Gabriel moaned as they made love.


	91. Chapter 91

Chapter Ninety-One: The Rise of the Little Bird

Gabriel lay in bed, stroking Olivia's arm as she slept soundly beside him. He smiled as he heard Faith stirring in her room. Being careful not to awaken Olivia, he slid out from under her arm and climbed out of bed, pulling on a robe as he walked to the nursery. He turned on a small lamp on a table near the crib and smiled down at Faith as she stared up at the mobile over her bed. "You getting hungry, Pumpkin?" He reached down into the crib and pulled her out, smiling as she gurgled, stretching her arms and legs. "Let's go see if I can heat up a bottle for you without waking up your mommy." Cradling his daughter in his arms, he crept into the kitchen and heated up a bottle, taking it with him back into the nursery. He smiled down at his daughter lovingly as he sat down in the glider rocker, feeding Faith as he gently rocked her. After she'd emptied her bottle and had been burped and changed, he leaned back, placing her against his chest as she dozed off in his arms. He looked around the nursery, staring at the yellow color of the walls, lit by the gentle glow of the small lamp. He swallowed down a lump in his throat as he glanced down at his daughter, his eyes filling with tears as he noticed the happy, peaceful look on her face as she slept.

"Hey." He turned to see Olivia standing in the doorway, dressed in a robe as she watched him. "She's been fed?"

"Fed, burped, changed and rocked back to sleep." Gabriel sighed as he slowly stood and walked to the crib, carefully placing her on her back. She sighed softly as she stretched, sleeping peacefully. Gabriel leaned against the crib as he watched her, giving Olivia a sad smile as she joined him. "She's so beautiful, isn't she?"

"Yeah, she is." Olivia turned to him. "I love you so much, you know that, right?"

"Of course I do. I love you too."

Olivia rubbed his back. "Something's bugging you, I can tell. It's been bugging you ever since we brought Faith home, but I thought at first it was our idiotic pact wearing on you. It wasn't was it?" Gabriel looked down and shook his head. "Want to talk about it?"

"It'll just piss you off." Gabriel stared down at Faith. "I don't feel like getting into a fight with you."

"Try me." Olivia kissed his shoulder as she leaned against him. "We should be able to talk about things that are bothering us. It's not good for you to keep whatever this is bottled up inside."

Gabriel sighed as he turned away from the crib, grimacing. "We've fought about it before, Liv. I don't want to go into it again."

"Okay." Olivia followed his gaze around the room and nodded. "Tatiana."

Gabriel closed his eyes. "Why do I miss someone so much that I only knew for a couple of months? She wasn't even my daughter."

"She was someone who looked past all of the bad things you'd done and only saw the good that you had in you. She was someone who you had a clean slate with, someone who loved and trusted you from the moment she climbed into your lap and wrapped her little arms around your neck. After the things you'd done, the mistrust you were dealing with from everyone at that time, she was one of your only safe havens, someone who didn't judge you or hate you, she gave you complete and total unconditional love, which was something you needed to come back from the darkness you'd been dealing with for so long."

"I know." Gabriel's voice broke. "It's not right, Olivia. She should be here. I know I've said this before, but it's not fair that she's dead. She should be here helping Claude stay kosher so he can marry Hana, and being spoiled by everyone in the building when she's not playing with Molly or following Nikolai around or coming over here to gasp and ooh and aaah over Faith. She shouldn't be lying dead in a god-damned grave."

"Gabriel, I know it's not fair, but there's nothing we can do about it. It was terrible, it was heartbreaking but it happened. We couldn't stop it and we can't fix it."

"But you can." Gabriel turned to her, taking her hands in his as she began to shake her head. "No Baby, just listen, okay? When we've discussed this before, it's always been a hypothetical, right? It was just a crackpot theory of Mohinder's and you thought that even if you could do it, you could only bring back the body, not the soul. You resurrected me and Peter, we're both alive now after being dead and it's because of you. Our souls are still here, our bodies are still here with our love still intact. We're not mindless zombies or screaming demons, we're still us. You can bring back Tatiana the same way."

"You two were only dead for a few minutes. Tatiana's been dead for almost a year and a half now, Gabriel. I don't know what I'd bring back."

"Try. Please just try it for me."

"And if I bring back something soulless and undead?"

"We could do it in secret, late one night. We could let Angela watch Faith, saying we want a night alone together. We could sneak off together and try it late at night, just the two of us. If she's resurrected and she's still Tatiana, we could bring her back and reunite her with her family, with everyone here who loved her. And if she's not our Tatiana we'd just-"

"-Kill her? AGAIN?" Olivia shook her head. "We both know that you'd never allow it. The moment that child started breathing again, you'd forbid me to lay a hand on her, no matter what came back. You'd look at her and just be happy to have her back in any form."

"That's not true. If she didn't come back right, I'd be the first one to put her down again. It wouldn't be Tatiana, not really."

"And then you'd have to live the rest of your life knowing that you watched her die twice." Olivia shook her head again. "She died in your arms once and you went homicidal for a while afterwards, even though you snapped out of it and came back to me. Do you really think you'd be able to come back from losing her again?"

"Is it any different from knowing that she MIGHT be able to live and NOT taking that chance? I'm going crazy here, Baby."

"I'm not doing it, end of story." She turned away from him and leaned against the crib, watching Faith sleep.

Gabriel's face twisted for a moment as he walked over to her. "What if it were Faith?"

Olivia turned to him, tears spilling from her eyes. "That's not fair." She gasped.

"What if it were our Faith, our baby girl that was lying in that cold grave in the fucking desert? Would you stand here and make excuses about why you couldn't bring her back, or would you do what you did with me, act on instinct and resurrect her?"

"I'd let her rest in peace." Olivia looked away, her voice hollow.

"The hell you would. You'd dig her up and do everything you could to bring her back to us. You wouldn't let our daughter, our precious little baby die, and you should let Tatiana stay dead. She was everybody's baby here, everybody's angel." He touched Olivia's shoulder, his eyes pleading. "Please, just try Baby. You don't know how I feel. You didn't find her on the floor and cradle her in her arms as she struggled to breathe and struggled to survive that gunshot wound. You didn't feel her taking her last breaths and hear her heart stop. I did. I relive it all of the time, thinking about what I could have done differently. I could have insisted you get your father's power earlier so you could have healed her whether she was on death's door or had already crossed over. I could have run with her to Peter before she died, I could have stayed a few minutes longer at Claude's and tried to joke around with Nikolai and Claire and maybe have stopped Collette from killing her the moment she broke into that apartment. I think of all of these things and I wish I could have done any of them differently. I want her back, Olivia, not just for me, but for everyone."

Gabriel and Olivia turned, surprised as two people teleported into the room. Claire and Nikolai had their eyes closed as they stood in the room, holding hands. Claire opened one eye and sighed with relief as she elbowed Nikolai. _They're dressed. _She told him telepathically.

Nikolai opened his eyes and looked at them both, placing a finger to his lips. _I heard Peter scanning the building earlier. He checks for intruders, listens in for anything that might be Linderman's people coming back. He doesn't need to hear this. _He looked at Olivia, his eyes filled with tears. _I agree with Gabriel, Olivia. Please, try to bring Tatiana back._

Olivia closed her eyes and shook her head. _Nik, Claude's already said no-_

_Dad's scared that Tatiana wouldn't come back right. He wants her back, he cries over her but he doesn't think I know. He blames himself as Gabriel does, wishing that he hadn't gone out with Hana that night. They both wish they'd stayed home to protect us better. _Nikolai stared at the floor as Claire's grip on his hand tightened for a moment. _When we moved away from the third floor, Dad turned the spare bedroom into Tatiana's room again. It's the same as it was on the third floor. Her clothes are in the closet, her bed is made, it's a room for a little girl, waiting for her to return. It should have a little girl in it, yes?_

_And if she didn't come back right?_ Olivia stared at him.

Nikolai raised his eyes to hers, his expression resolute. _Then I will be the one to end her again. If it's not really my sister, but just an animated corpse, I will do it._

_You'd kill your sister, watch her die again?  
_

Nikolai sighed. _I'd risk anything if it meant having the Little Bird back here with us where she belongs. You're going to need more than one person with you anyway, yes? I saw you resurrect Peter and Gabriel. You needed someone to siphon energy from to restore your brother and husband. Claire and I will provide that energy. Also, I know that the clothes we buried her in are probably not in a good state. I will bring something from her closet to dress her in afterwards, before we bring her to Dad. Please Olivia, please try it. I'm going crazy and Gabriel's going crazy wondering if there's a chance. Show us that there either was a chance to get her back all along or that are hopes have all been for nothing. The idea of my baby sister lying in a grave when she doesn't have to be weighs on me as it does Gabriel and my dad. End our suffering and our wondering._

Olivia leaned against the crib as she turned to study Faith again. She closed her eyes for a moment, nodding slowly. _Fine. Meet us back here tomorrow night at nine. We'll teleport to the lab from here and try it._ She started to cry as Gabriel pulled her into his arms, hugging her tightly.

"Thank you." He whispered.

"Don't thank me yet. I may have just damned us all." She muttered.

* * *

The next night, Olivia sat on the edge of the bed, chewing on her bottom lip as Gabriel walked into the bedroom. "Faith?" 

"She's downstairs getting spoiled by Angela and Kaito." He smiled nervously. "That guy is really ga-ga over our girl, you realize that, right? He keeps trying to get her to say 'grandpa'. I don't have the heart to tell him that she's quite a few months away from talking."

"Who'd have thought that stern old Kaito Nakamura would turn into a pile of mush over a tiny baby?" Olivia half-smiled. She jumped as Claire and Nikolai teleported into the room. "That never stops shocking the hell out of me."

"Sorry." Nikolai held up a small bag. "Her things. I'll leave them here. We'll teleport to the lab, do what we have to do and, if it works out, we'll bring her here to take a bath and change clothes before I take her to Dad."

Olivia nodded slowly as she stood. "Okay then."

"Ready?" Nikolai placed a hand on her shoulder as Claire took his hand. Gabriel wrapped an arm around Olivia, kissing her cheek.

"Yeah, I'm ready." Olivia whispered. She grabbed a quilt from a chair, hugging it to her chest. "It's cold out there."

"Okay, let's give this a try." Nikolai took a deep breath and concentrated as everyone closed their eyes. Moments later, they were standing outside of the lab. "What now?"

"Now, I go into the lab for a moment." Olivia handed the quilt to Gabriel and pulled out her ID badge, swiping it and punching a code into a locked door before entering the building. Gabriel, Claire and Nikolai waited outside, shivering in the desert night for a few minutes until Olivia returned.

"What did you get?" Gabriel asked.

"Two things." She held up four flashlights. "So we can see what we're doing and something else."

"What?" He frowned.

Olivia sighed and reached into her pocket, pulling out two syringes. "Just in case. One is a tranquilizer, to put her back to sleep. The other is potassium to stop her heart again." She lowered her head and quickly made her way down the valley towards the graves. She approached Tatiana's grave, shivering as she stared down at it. She turned to Gabriel. "Do your thing and then turn away, all of you. I don't know what condition-" she looked away "-I don't want you guys to remember her the way she is right now, okay?"

"Okay." Gabriel took a deep breath as he concentrated on the ground, using his telekinesis to move the earth out of the grave. When he finally came across the yellow-wrapped bundle that contained Tatiana's body, he gently lifted it with a wave of his hand and carefully set it on the ground beside the grave. "I love you, Olivia." He whispered as he turned his back on her, Claire and Nikolai following suit.

Olivia knelt beside the body, slowly unwrapping it with shaking hands. As she spread back the coverings, she gasped as she stared at Tatiana's body. "Oh my God."

"What is it?" Nikolai turned to her, staring down at his sister's body. "She looks so-"

"-untouched." Olivia whispered. "The ground here is dry and arid. It's preserved her, mummified her." She reached out and touched Tatiana's cheek. "Poor baby."

"Ready?" Nikolai whispered.

Olivia closed her eyes. "May God forgive me if I fuck this up, because I know I never will." She placed a hand on Tatiana's forehead and took the hand that Nikolai was offering with the other. Taking a deep breath, she concentrated, focusing her father's healing power on the body lying in front of her. Nikolai gasped as he felt power surging through him, draining him as he collapsed beside her. Claire turned and grabbed Olivia's arm with Gabriel quickly doing the same, both of them shouting out for a moment as they too began to feel drained. They watched as Tatiana's body began to change, her skin evening out and plumping up as the color returned to her cheeks. Gabriel began to laugh weakly as her eyes began to move under her eyelids and she began to slowly breathe. Olivia let them go and fell back, exhausted as the others did the same, no one's eyes leaving Tatiana as she lay on the bundle of sheets, breathing in and out.

Nikolai moved first, slowly crawling to his sister. "Tatiana?" He whispered. "Tatiana, wake up."

Tatiana's eyelids fluttered for a moment as she grimaced. Suddenly, her eyes flew open as she sat up with a start, screaming at the top of her lungs.

Olivia began to cry as Tatiana screamed louder and reached into her pocket to pull out the syringes. Gabriel dove for her, pulling her hand away. "I messed up. It was too late. She's not right, Gabriel." She whispered.

"Wait for it, just hang on a second, okay?" Gabriel whispered in her ear.

Tatiana stopped screaming as she looked around, breathing hard. She turned to Nikolai, her eyes searching his face. Nikolai watched her nervously and jumped as she flung herself into his arms, sobbing and babbling in Russian. After a moment, Nikolai relaxed as he hugged his sister, sobbing with her as he rocked her back and forth, smiling happily. He turned to Gabriel and Olivia. "She's Tatiana. I swear on my mother's grave, it's truly our little bird." Claire started laughing and crying as she wrapped her arms around Nikolai and Tatiana, hugging both of them tightly as Nikolai kissed first his sister's cheek, then his girlfriend's. He stood with her in his arms as he turned to Olivia. "Thank you." He whispered.

Olivia nodded wordlessly as she stood, clutching at the quilt. She choked back a sob as Tatiana turned to her, smiling in recognition. "It's cold out here." She nodded as she wrapped the quilt around the child.

"Oleevya! Gay-breel!" Tatiana held out a hand, reaching for the couple as they watched her.

"It's good to have you back, Kid." Gabriel took her hand, patting it softly before he turned to Olivia, breaking down as he hugged her. "Thank you, Baby."

Olivia nodded slowly as she walked to Tatiana's grave. She reached into her pocket and pulled out the syringes, tossing them into the ground before Gabriel filled it back in with a wave of his hand. She turned to the others as they stood beside Nikolai, their eyes filled with wonder at the small girl in his arms. "We need to get her back. She doesn't need to be out here in the cold anymore."

"No, she doesn't." Gabriel kissed the child's cheek. "And she'll never be out here again."

* * *

Gabriel paced in front of the bathroom door, sighing with exasperation as he heard Tatiana laughing in the bathroom, while she splashed and babbled in the tub. Olivia and Claire were laughing with her as Nikolai talked to her in Russian. "Oh, hurry up." He muttered. "How long does it take to clean up a nine year-old?" He looked up as Olivia stepped out of the bathroom. "Almost done?" 

"Almost. Claire's drying her off now and getting her dressed. Nikolai's got his back to them while he tells her what's been going on." Olivia slowly sank to the bed. "It's eerie, Gabe."

"What?" He sat beside her.

"She sort of understands what happens, but at the same time, not so much." She turned to him. "She told Nikolai that she'd had a really bad dream. She dreamed that Collette came into her room and hurt her-"

"-She did." Gabriel nodded, his chin trembling as he tried to keep from crying.

"-and then you came to her and held her and rocked her back to sleep. That's the last thing she remembers before we brought her back. Nikolai's been trying to explain to her that she died, but she just keeps swearing that she wasn't dead, just sleeping for the last year and a half."

"Wow." Gabriel shook his head. "Maybe as far as she knows, she was asleep."

"Maybe." Olivia shook her head. "She seems like Tatiana, she remembers everything like Tatiana-"

"-because she IS Tatiana." Gabriel smiled. "You brought her back, Liv."

"Yeah." Olivia sighed. "Now we just have to face Claude and Hana, not to mention everyone else, and tell them what we've done." She frowned as the doorbell rang. "Did you call anyone?"

"No, not yet." Gabriel turned to her, his eyes wide. "It's Peter."

"Okay." Olivia took a deep breath as she stood and walked into the living room, opening the door. She watched as Peter stormed into the apartment with a confused Sherry beside him. "Peter?"

Peter whirled around on her, his eyes wild. "Olivia, I just heard something up here and I hope I'm not hearing what I think I'm hearing." He grabbed her arms, staring into her eyes. "Olivia, did I just hear Tati-"

"PAYTER!" Peter turned, his face growing pale as Tatiana dashed down the hall towards him, with Claire, Gabriel and Nikolai chasing her. Sherry gasped and backed away as Peter knelt on the ground, staring at Olivia in shock as the child threw herself into his arms. "Payter, I slept long time, but Oleevya woke me up."

Peter closed his eyes as he hugged the little girl. Sherry stepped forward and knelt beside Peter, smiling and stroking Tatiana's hair in awe. He nodded. "That's nice, Sweetie." He opened his eyes, glaring angrily up at Olivia. "What in the hell have you done?"

"What I had to." Olivia whispered. "I did what was needed."

Peter shook his head as he handed Tatiana over to Nikolai. He turned on Olivia. "You had no right, you had no business doing this to her."

"Hold it right there." Gabriel stepped in front of Olivia, his eyes burning angrily. "You've missed that baby just as much as the rest of us have-"

"-but it wasn't right, bringing her back. What if she'd come back wrong?"

"She's not though, is she?" Gabriel nodded towards the child as she watched them argue, frowning in her brother's arms. "Look at her, probe her mind with yours, use whatever other tricks you have up your sleeve to feel her out. It's really and truly her, Peter."

Peter glared at Olivia. "You played God. You had no right."

"Good thing she did though, right?" Gabriel crossed his arms in front of her chest. "Otherwise you and I would be lying in graves beside her. Faith would have had to be delivered by someone else and she never would have met her father or her uncle and she would have grown up knowing that we died on her birthday. Sherry would have had to raise your twins on her own, she would have had to deal with her pregnancy on her own. Yes, Olivia played God, she took a chance, but only after Nikolai and I begged and pleaded with her to try it after we saw how she resurrected you and me. Look at that kid, Peter. She was the heart and soul of our building. Everyone loved her, everyone has mourned her since her murder. This place hasn't been the same since that terrible night. Look at her, look into her eyes and tell her that Olivia should have let her stay dead. Look at the rest of us and tell us that we all would have been better off not knowing and not trying to bring her back where she belongs. Look at her and tell me that she's a zombie, or that she's undead or some demonic freak from a Stephen King novel. She's Tatiana, she's OUR Tatiana. Instead of throwing a fit, just be glad that she's back."

"He's right." Sherry nodded as she smiled at Tatiana. "Not a day goes by that someone doesn't mention her and talk about what it was like having her around. God knows I've missed her like crazy." Peter turned to Sherry and took her hand, smiling at her. "And you know that Claude misses her too. You know he's still got a bedroom for her that he refuses to let anyone move anything around in or change in any way."

"I'm not doing it again." Olivia shook her head. "I'm not going back out there to bring back Herbert, Collette or any of the others, Pete. I'm not going to try and resurrect my parents. She was the last one."

"Until the battle." Gabriel nodded. As Olivia stared at him he cocked his head to the side. "You're saying that if you and I survived and others fell, like Nathan or Claude or Angela, you wouldn't try this again?"

Olivia shrugged. "Okay, I'm not doing it again on someone who's been dead more than a few minutes. This? Bringing back someone who's been gone for longer than that, was a one-off. It's not happening again."

Peter sighed as he looked at Tatiana. She smiled shyly at him as she rested her head on Nikolai's shoulder. "It had better not. So how are you going to reveal her? Claude's going to shit twice and go blind, not to mention all of the others who are going to freak out the moment they see her."

"I'm going to call Claude and Hana first and let them have their daughter back." Olivia nodded. "I'll leave it to them to tell everyone else how she came back."

"Good luck with that." Peter walked over to the couch and took a seat. "Me? I'm just going to sit back and watch the shit hit the fan."

* * *

A few minutes later, Tatiana was taken to Olivia and Gabriel's bedroom by Claire and Nikolai as Claude and Hana were called. Olivia paced the floor nervously after they arrived, chewing on a fingernail as Gabriel sat next to them and started to talk. "You know that Linderman's power to heal is amplified in Olivia, right?" 

"Yeah." Claude frowned. "Listen, if this is about bringing Tatiana back, I've already told you and Nikolai to let it go. No one wants that little poppet back more than I do, but I've heard Dr. Suresh's theories on it. Just because you and Peter came back okay doesn't mean that she will. I've made peace with the fact that I couldn't protect my daughter, I've made peace with the fact that I lost her the day I became her father legally after being her father in my heart for two months. You should do the same. The idea of her coming back as something less than she was-"

"-But what if she could come back the same?" Gabriel asked.

"But what if she doesn't? Do you really want to keep getting your hopes up, only to have them dashed when your wife brings back a soulless thing?" Claude wiped his eyes. "We just have to make our peace, Gabriel. I know you loved that baby as much as I and Hana and Nikolai have, and you had a bond with her, but let our little girl rest in peace, please."

"But-"

"-BLOODY HELL BOY!" Claude stood up, his eyes popping out of his skull. "I'M NOT DISCUSSING THIS WITH YOU ANYMORE! FUCKING DROP IT!"

Gabriel glanced down the hall raising an eyebrow. Claude and Hana followed his gaze and gasped as Nikolai and Claire walked into the room with Tatiana between them, holding their hands. The moment she spotted Claude, she squealed happily. "DAHDEE CLAUDE!" She broke from the teenagers' grasps and dashed towards him as he stared at her in disbelief. She stopped in front of him, her eyes wide with confusion as he looked down at her. She held out her arms, smiling at him. "Dah-dee?"

"Poppet?" Claude bent down and picked her up as Olivia buried her face in Gabriel's shoulder, crying quietly. Claude studied the child's face as he held her. "What happened?"

"Don't yell and please don't start throwing a fit." Gabriel whispered. "Nikolai and I talked Olivia into giving it a try. We agreed that if it didn't work, we'd never tell a soul, but if it did-"

"-I have another chance to raise her." Claude whispered. He stroked Tatiana's hair as she smiled at him. "I have my little girl back." He began to sob loudly as he hugged her to him tightly. His legs gave way as he collapsed onto the couch, rocking Tatiana in his arms as he cried, Hana hugging them both as tears streamed silently down her cheeks. "My daughter's home."

"How are we going to tell people that she's back?" Hana whispered.

"Any way you see fit." Gabriel shrugged. "Hold a meeting, send out a global message to everyone's cell phone, or just let the gossip explode until everyone knows. It's up to you."

Claude slowly stood, still holding Tatiana. Nikolai walked over to him, pulling his shoulders back as he stood up straight. "I had to do it, Dad. I couldn't let her stay there if there was even the slightest chance that she could come back as she was. I had to take the risk. Please don't be angry with me."

Claude placed a hand on his son's shoulder and patted it for a moment before he hugged him. "I'm not too terribly angry. I'm upset that you took such a risk with the chance that she could have come back wrong, but how can I be too angry when I've got this little miracle in my arms?" He looked at her again. "Does she know what happened to her?"

"Somewhat." Nikolai nodded. "She thinks it was a dream and that she's been asleep for a year and a half."

"Like Rip Van Winkle." Claude sniffled. "We'll tell her something else one day. Maybe that she was put into a coma by Collette and was brought out of it by Olivia, or something like that. She doesn't need to know that she died. Imagine the weight that could put on her shoulders one day, knowing that she arose from the dead." He turned to Hana. "Luv, text Noah first and ask him to meet us in our apartment. I'll tell him what's happened before I tell anyone else and then we'll text everyone to ask them to meet us in the training room tomorrow morning. She won't come with us to the meeting, Nikolai can keep her during that. I don't want people gasping and screaming and treating her like a freak, it'll be too much too soon for her. We'll tell everyone what's happened and what the 'official' story will be with our girl from here on out." Hana nodded as she pulled out her cell phone. Claude turned to Olivia. "In a way, I wish you hadn't done this. So much could have gone wrong. I'm glad that she's here, I'm glad to have her in my arms again and to have the chance to watch her grow up, but the idea that she could have come back differently-" he choked back a sob as Olivia nodded "-I know though that you probably struggled with this decision, especially with your husband and my son begging you to do it. Thank you."

"You're welcome." Olivia whispered, her voice thick with tears. "Gabriel finally convinced me to do it when he asked me what I'd do if it were Faith that was lying in that grave. I lied and said I'd let her rest in peace, but the truth is, if it had been her, if it had been my baby girl, I'd have done it long before. I'm just sorry it took this long for me to finally get off my ass and do it already, but I'm not doing it again, not to someone who's been gone as long as she was or longer."

"Good idea." Claude nodded. "See you at the meeting tomorrow. Be prepared for others to give you hell, but you won't get it from me. I'm too happy to have Tatiana back where she belongs." He turned to Nikolai. "Teleport us to the apartment? I don't want someone seeing her yet and freaking out."

"Yes." Nikolai turned to Claire. "I'll see you tomorrow."

"If I'm not grounded for eternity for raising the dead." Claire grinned at him. "I'm glad she's back."

"Me too." Nikolai kissed her and winked. Claire blushed and smiled as an unspoken message passed between the two of them.

Gabriel walked over to Tatiana, smiling at the child as she rested her head on her adoptive father's shoulder. "Goodnight, Honey. How do you feel about going for ice cream tomorrow? Sound good?" He beamed as Tatiana nodded. "And then, I'll let you meet my daughter, Faith. Her first name is Tatiana, just like you. I named her after you." He leaned forward, whispering in her ear. "I'm a daddy now too. I don't think I'd have been nearly as ready for it if I hadn't met you first."

Nikolai shook Gabriel's hand. "Thank you for helping." He turned and placed a hand on Claude and Hana's shoulders, disappearing from the room.

"I'm heading home." Peter sighed as he stood with Sherry, wrapping an arm around his fiancée's shoulders. He hugged Olivia quickly. "I know you did the right thing in the end, but so much could have gone wrong."

"I know." Olivia nodded. "Don't think the idea of what I COULD have brought back isn't haunting me."

"See you tomorrow." Peter walked out of the room with Sherry, Claire quickly following suit. She turned at the door, winking at Olivia.

"All of the risks aside, what you did tonight was the most amazing thing I've ever seen." She nodded. "I'm heading home to get reamed by my dad after he gets back from Claude's." She shrugged. "Hell, it'll be worth it knowing that kid's going to be back here, skipping along the halls again. I know Molly's going to flip when she finds out her best friend is back."

"Goodnight." Olivia smiled at her.

"You too." Claire left as Olivia turned to Gabriel. "Well, we need to get some sleep."

"Yeah, we're going to need it tomorrow." Gabriel sighed. "I don't care how much hell we catch or how much people stare at us like we're crazy, I agree with Claire. It'll be worth it."

"Wait." Olivia stopped as she shook her head. "I'm not ready for bed yet."

"Oh?" Gabriel smiled. "What ARE you ready for?"

"My daughter." Olivia took his hand. "Let's go get our baby."

They made their way downstairs to Angela's apartment, avoiding her confused expression as they walked in and made their way to Faith's bassinette. Olivia looked down at her daughter, smiling at the way she slept peacefully, her fist tucked under her chin. "Hey Angel." Olivia cooed as she lifted up her daughter and cradled her in her arms. Fighting tears, she sat down and stroked her cheek. "What I did tonight? I'd do it for you in a heartbeat." Olivia whispered as she broke down, crying softly as she rocked her sleeping daughter.

* * *

The news of Tatiana's resurrection was received by the apartment building's tenants with shock, followed by joy. At first many in the building approached the child and Olivia with fear and trepidation, both feelings fading as they watched the little girl resume her life as if she'd never left it. The day after she returned, she celebrated by diving into the pool with her best friend Molly as Gabriel watched over her, laughing as she splashed and played with the happiness she'd displayed the day she'd died. Gabriel later smiled as Tatiana met his daughter Faith, her namesake and watched as she stood over the baby's bassinette, staring at the child in awe with her tiny hands clasped behind her back as she peered at the infant. Within a week, the only emotion that anyone felt about Tatiana's return was joy as she filled the halls with her laughter again, skipping and playing as if she'd never left. 

Years later, the survivors of the battle in the desert remembered the year and a half without their little bird in their presence as a time of sadness, and remembered the three months before the battle as ones filled with happiness at the return of 'everybody's baby', as she was soon known as around the building. Olivia held steadfast to her word in the months leading up to the battle, refusing to even entertain the idea of resurrecting another person who had been dead and buried, and everyone had the grace to respect her decision, realizing what could have happened if things had gone wrong.

* * *

Note from the author:

Originally, Tatiana was going to stay dead and buried, but the more I wrote this story, the more I realized how much I missed having that little moppet around. She was one of my favorite OC's and I loved how she was the person who orginally brought out the softer side of Sylar. Olivia might have been the one who opened his heart, but Tatiana's the one that turned it to marshmallow and allowed him to start to accept the love of others, after having her around loving him completely and totally without condition. Writing her murder, letting her die as brutally as she did, was one of the hardest things I had to write. I've been toying for some time with the idea of bringing her back and I've waffled back and forth with it for a while. I finally realized that, after Faith was born, Gabriel wouldn't rest until Tatiana was resurrected and Olivia wouldn't have the heart to keep that baby dead in the ground after realizing she'd do the same for her own daughter if given the chance. I also knew that if I brought her back, she wouldn't be a zombie or undead or like Gage in _Pet Sematary_, she'd simply be Tatiana again, purely and simply. I know this chapter ended rather abruptly and I thought about having a scene where everyone yelled at Olivia in the meeting and gave her hell for even attempting to resurrect Tatiana in the first place, but I think Peter and Claude did that enough. To write more people fussing at her would have just been repetition, so I decided to just end this with a couple of paragraphs to discuss how Tatiana was received and how people coped with her return. It's a bit of a cop-out, but this chapter was pretty draining to write, so I'm glad to be moving past it to start finishing up this story.

Yep, this story is almost over! I'd like to end this story at Chapter 100, with 101 as the epilogue, set ten years into the future. There are going to be a small handful of other events happening before the big battle takes place, so the next few chapters are going to have a lot going on! Enjoy!


	92. Chapter 92

Chapter Ninety-Two: The Gifts of the Sword Smith

"Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday to Faith, you're two months old today." Gabriel crooned as he lifted Faith out of her crib, grinning as she waved her hands around. His eyes widened as he heard her begin to laugh at him. Staring down at her with amazement, Gabriel smiled softly. "Did you just laugh?" Faith laughed again, waving her hands before grabbing his bottom lip. "Do that again!" Gabriel cradled her as he walked into the bedroom, making faces at Faith. "HONEY!" He walked towards the bathroom door as he heard Olivia stepping out of the shower. "Faith just LAUGHED!"

"What?" Olivia rushed into the bedroom as she wrapped a towel around her body. She smiled at Gabriel's excited expression as he sat on the bed with their daughter. "She laughed?"

"It was the most adorable sound in the world." Gabriel began to smile at her and make faces. "Do it again, Princess." He sighed as Faith stared at him for a moment, then began to examine her hands, a fascinated expression on her face. "She just did it, I swear."

"I believe you." Olivia watched as Faith opened and closed her fists for a moment before shoving her fingers into her mouth, sucking greedily on them. "She might laugh again after she's been fed."

"Oh, right." Gabriel laughed softly as he stood up with his daughter. "My turn or yours?"

"You fed her at three a.m., remember? We were just about to make love and she started crying." Olivia shrugged at Gabriel's disappointed expression. "But if you want to feed her again." She giggled as Gabriel quickly walked out of the room with Faith, heading quickly towards the kitchen. "He's such a super-daddy." Olivia winced as she stared down at her breasts. "These need to be emptied though. Damn they hurt!" She grabbed her breast pump and walked into the bathroom, shaking her head.

An hour later, Gabriel sat on the living room floor with Faith, tickling her feet as she lay on her back beside him. He looked up as Olivia walked into the room. "You heading out with the girls?"

Olivia nodded as she knelt beside him, kissing his cheek before turning to Faith to shake a rattle at her. "Yep. I have to have my final fitting for my maid of honor dress with Sherry, and I'm going to try on the kimono that Kaito ordered for me for Kimiko's wedding." She glanced at Gabriel. "He ordered one for you too."

"What?" Gabriel's eyes widened. "I'm going to have to wear a what?"

"Kimono. It's traditional."

"Shit." Gabriel sighed.

"It's traditional, Babe." Olivia nodded. "And it's an honor to be attending their wedding. For the ceremony itself it's only going to be us, Angela, Kaito, Hiro, Leilani, Nathan's family, Claire, Peter and Sherry. Leilani and Sherry are only going to be there because they're engaged to Hiro and Peter. They wanted family only for the ceremony in Tokyo before we teleport back here for the reception."

"I know. I just didn't realize that I was going to have to wear a dress."

"It's not a dress, it's a kimono, a robe. If they were Scottish you'd be wearing a kilt, what's the big deal?"

"Nothing." Gabriel shrugged. "So what's it look like, the kimono that Kaito ordered for me?"

"I don't know." Olivia shook her head. "I'm going to try mine on today and be taught how to tie the obi." At Gabriel's puzzled expression, Olivia smiled. "The sash that goes around the waist?"

"I have to wear that too?"

"Yes." Olivia kissed him passionately. "Why don't you read up on how to tie one so you can tie mine?"

"Can I untie it later?" Gabriel wiggled his eyebrows teasingly.

"I don't know how I'll get out of it otherwise, if Faith cooperates by sleeping long enough, that is." Olivia kissed him again. "I wish I didn't have to go right now."

"Why?" Gabriel asked.

"Because we were interrupted last night by our daughter, we were interrupted by her again early this morning and quite frankly, if I don't get naked with you soon, I'm going to explode." Olivia began to kiss him again. She sighed as Faith started to cry. "But I do have to leave and meet the girls at the bridal shop." Olivia kissed him softly. "I'll see you later."

"Yeah you will. Be home by Faith's nap time. That way, we'll have some uninterrupted time to ourselves." Gabriel watched as Olivia stood and walked out of the apartment. He stared down at his daughter, mugging for her. He grinned as she began to laugh again and shook his head. "You're only going to laugh for me right now, aren't you? You're like that Looney Tunes frog that only sings when that one guy's around, right?" He nodded as Faith began to laugh harder. "Right."

* * *

"Shit! I'm getting HUGE!" Sherry frowned as she stood on a platform, touching her belly as a dressmaker knelt at her feet to hem her dress. Her wedding gown had a square neck and cap sleeves with an empire waist, made of ivory silk and chiffon with red silk piping along the waist line.

Olivia grinned at Sherry as she stood next to her on another platform as her dress was altered. "Well, you ARE pregnant, Sher."

"With twins." Sherry sighed. "At least I had the good sense to get a dress that I can expand into without worrying about getting too big for it." She patted her rounded belly again. "I'll be officially sixteen weeks pregnant in two days and I'm already as big as you were right before you had Faith, minus the ass of course."

Angela sat in a chair as Sherry, Olivia, Tulia, and Claire were fitted with their dresses. She smiled softly at Sherry. "Have you felt any kicks yet?"

"Sort of." Sherry nodded. "It feels like butterflies all over my stomach."

"Do you know what you're having yet?" Claire studied her gown in the mirror as her dressmaker finished with the alterations, nodding at her reflection with approval.

Sherry smiled softly. "We had an ultrasound yesterday. The babies were VERY cooperative, so yes, we know what we're having."

"Well?" Olivia turned to her, excited. "What are you having? One of each or-"

"-They're identical and let's just say they're VERY proud of their little penises." Sherry laughed. "You could see them in practically every shot. They're not even out of the womb yet and they're exhibitionists."

"Two boys!" Olivia laughed. "Oh, that's wonderful!"

"I think so too." Sherry smiled and giggled. "Peter seems happy too, except I know he was hoping for girls."

"Well, maybe he'll get a girl next time." Claire sighed. "Two boys, you're going to have your hands full."

"Oh, tell me about it! I can't wait." Sherry smiled contentedly as she rubbed her belly. "I don't know about a next time though. I'd really like to just have these two and let that be all, but Peter really does have his heart set on having a girl eventually. I think that's Faith's fault."

"Think he'll survive another pregnancy with you?" Olivia laughed.

"I don't know." Sherry giggled. "I think I've been a bit of a bitch with him."

"No you haven't!" Tulia sighed. "I've never seen ANY pregnant woman act as calm and serene as you do. You're nothing like Olivia was during her pregnancy." She turned to Olivia. "No offense, but you were so bitchy most of the time, you scared me."

"None taken, I know I was a hormonal freak show." Olivia grinned. "And yet Gabriel's already got baby fever for another one. Did I tell you guys that he wants to try for another one in January? I told him and told him that we needed to wait until I resumed and finished my residency, but he's really insistent."

"Something tells you you're going to have to start doubling up on birth control come January." Claire laughed. "You know how Gabriel is when he gets his mind set on something."

"Me too." Olivia frowned. "I have a feeling that I'll be waddling again this time next year."

"If you don't already have another infant in your arms." Sherry grinned.

"Don't jinx me like that." Olivia shook her head. "I'd like to get Faith off of the boob at the very least, preferably out of diapers as well before we even TRY for another one. Of course, in order for me to get pregnant, we have to have sex. For the last week, every time we start to make love, Faith starts crying. It's like she KNOWS what we're doing."

"Maybe she does." Sherry giggled. "She's becoming a Daddy's Girl already and doesn't want Mommy trying to make any little ones for her to compete with."

"She IS Gabriel's daughter, I could see her pulling that." Olivia turned to Tulia, smiling. "So when are you planning on joining the Mommy Club?"

"Anthony and I are talking about trying next year." Tulia nodded. "We wanted to have a couple of years together alone before we threw children into the mix."

"That sounds like a good idea." Olivia smiled. "Gabriel and I were married for almost a year before we started trying for Faith. I'm enjoying being a Mom, but I also enjoyed having my husband to myself for almost two years before I had to share him with our daughter, especially since we got married less than two months after we met."

Angela watched the women laughing together. "Have you decided on names yet?"

Sherry turned to Angela and nodded. "John Arthur and Peter Angelo." As Angela's eyes widened, Sherry nodded. "Yes, the Angelo is indeed for you."

"Oh." Angela smiled as she looked away, blinking back tears. "I like that. Thank you."

"You're welcome." Sherry turned back to the mirror and studied her dress. "Are you guys sure I don't look like a freaking frilly float in this thing?"

"You look beautiful." Angela stood and walked over to Sherry, squeezing her hand as she studied the dress. "Are you going to wear a veil?"

Sherry shook her head. "No. I'm going to pull my hair back into a twist and have some white roses tucked into it." She stared down at Angela. "SHOULD I be wearing a veil? I know we're going to be getting married in St. Peter's Cathedral, should I have a veil and a train?"

"No, I think this dress will be fine without one." Angela smiled. "A veil and train would drag you down anyway. Mine certainly did. I kept tripping over them all day and people kept stepping all over them." She turned to Olivia. "The thing I regret the most about your elopement is that you couldn't wear the dress I had when I married Arthur. It was so beautiful. I idolized Jackie Kennedy and Audrey Hepburn when I was growing up. I insisted on modeling my wedding dress after Jackie's. I felt like a princess on my wedding day. I always hoped that I could convince you to wear it when you got married."

"Well Mother, if you hadn't been so cold and scary with Gabriel, we wouldn't have had to sneak off and elope." Olivia sighed. "I would have liked an actual wedding, instead of standing on the balcony of a hotel with a preacher, rattling off vows as quickly as I could before you and Nathan could crash through the door. Still, it was pretty romantic of Gabriel to plan the wedding the way he did, and his reasoning at that time was pretty good. He wanted it to be just the two of us, without my family standing around giving him disapproving looks and objecting to everything." Olivia smiled at Angela. "We have been talking about renewing our vows and having an actual wedding when we do it. I could wear the dress then."

"I'd like that very much." Angela nodded. "And I'll try not to object at that ceremony. I suppose your marriage is successful enough, you certainly seem to love one another and he did give me an absolutely beautiful new granddaughter."

"Yes, he did." Olivia laughed. "And I suppose I helped with that at some point."

"Somewhat." Angela winked. As the dressmakers stepped back, their final alterations finished, Angela studied the women. Olivia, Tulia and Claire's dresses were a deep red, the same color as the piping in Sherry's dress. All three gowns were strapless and floor-length, fitted to their curves. "Very nice." Angela smiled. "What a lovely color for a December wedding. Hopefully the three of you won't catch a cold with your shoulders and arms bare."

"That's why we're going to have matching wraps, Mother." Olivia nodded. "Besides, the wedding will be in a warm church, not outside."

"True." She turned to Sherry. "Too bad you and Peter couldn't wait for a spring wedding. Central Park is so beautiful in May, a wedding there would have been lovely."

Sherry shook her head. "Ma would have flipped if we'd waited until the boys were born before getting married. She's already pissed that I got pregnant before the wedding, she also got pissed when I reminded her that she was eight months pregnant with Johnny when she walked down the aisle." She sighed. "God I wish I didn't have to invite her. All she's going to do is find things to bitch about all day." She turned to Angela. "You've been more of a mother to me these last few months than Ma's been my whole freakin' life."

Angela shrugged as she smirked. "Some women were just born maternal, I suppose." She turned to Olivia, her eyes narrowing. "Say something smart and I'll pop you."

"I wasn't going to say a word." Olivia snorted.

"Well, it looks like we've got our dresses ready." Sherry nodded. "One less thing for me to have to worry about when December rolls around." She groaned. "I have two months and three days left. Holy shit."

"I know." Olivia grinned. "And Kimiko has less than a month."

"November first." Claire sighed. "And then a week later-"

"-I know." Olivia's smile faded as she looked away. "It's happening so soon. When I first found out about all of this, November 8, 2008 seemed so far away. Now it's a little over a month away."

Angela studied Olivia's face for a moment before she took her daughter's hand. "You'll live through it, we all will."

"I know." Olivia whispered, her voice hollow. She glanced down at her dress. "Sherry-"

"-No, I don't have a reserve Maid of Honor." Sherry shook her head. "Because I'm not going to need one, got it?"

Olivia nodded. "Got it."

"Good." Sherry grinned. "Don't make me go Bridezilla on you, 'cause I'll totally do it."

* * *

Later, Sherry, Heidi, Olivia, Leilani, Claire and Angela sat together in Angela's living room. They beamed as Kimiko walked into the living room, dressed in a red kimono. The sleeves of the kimono were lined with a deep pink that matched her obi and the pink, white and gold embroidery in the red silk. "Well?" She asked. "What do you think?"

"It's really beautiful." Olivia nodded. She studied the clothing. "Are those pink cherry blossoms embroidered on it?" Kimiko nodded and smiled. "It's beautiful. The detail in the embroidery is something else."

"I don't even want to know how much Father spent on this." Kimiko smoothed out the folds in her kimono. "When he showed me a sample of the material and how it would look when it was finished-" She shook her head, tears in her eyes. "-I couldn't believe how beautiful it was." She smiled at the women. "Wait until you see what Father had designed for all of you." She turned and walked into the bedroom, returning moments later as she pulled a rolling rack behind her. The women gasped as they saw the different brightly colored kimonos hanging there. "We tagged each of your names on them. Father is showing the men their kimonos now." She giggled.

"Oh, I can't wait to see Gabriel's reaction to his." Olivia stood with the other women and searched through the racks until she found one with her name tagged on it. "Oh Kimiko." She pulled out a pale blue kimono. "This is really beautiful."

"Father picked that one out for you. He said it would compliment your eyes. All of the men's kimonos except Ando's will be dark blue with obis to match your kimonos."

Sherry beamed as she pulled out a bright fuchsia one. "Holy crap! I love it!"

Heidi nodded as she held out her rose pink kimono. "What color is Ando's going to be?" She laughed.

"Red, like mine, with a white obi." Kimiko nodded.

Claire turned to Kimiko as she draped her golden yellow kimono over her arm, hugging her tightly. "It's beautiful! Thanks!"

Kimiko laughed. "You're very welcome." She turned to Angela. "Father especially liked the color he chose for you. Do you agree?"

Angela smiled and nodded at the jade green kimono she held out. "He knows me too well."

"He said that color was best for you. He said it reminded him of you more than anything else."

Angela nodded, blushing. "I was wearing this color the first day we met. I was married to Arthur at the time. I had this silk wrap dress in this color, it was very seventies. I didn't think he'd remember."

"Apparently he did." Olivia winked at her. "It looks like you made an impression on him from the start."

"I must have." Angela looked away, her face turning a darker shade of red. "I remembered him commenting on it, saying that he liked that color on me, but I honestly didn't think he'd remember that."

"They can surprise you with what they do remember." Olivia smiled softly.

"Did Hiro pick mine out?" Everyone turned as Leilani giggled, staring at the deep peach shade of her kimono. "He loves me in this color."

"He requested that Father choose one in that shade, yes." Kimiko nodded.

"So are you excited about your big day?" Heidi asked.

"Yes." Kimiko smiled sweetly. "I have been waiting for this day since I first realized that I was falling in love with Ando. He knew he loved me for quite a while before I finally realized how I felt for him."

"You were meant to be." Heidi smiled.

"I believe so." Kimiko shrugged and nodded. "So, ready to learn how to wear the kimonos?"

* * *

Olivia smiled at Gabriel as she walked into their apartment later that day, carrying two dress bags. "How was your day?" She asked.

Gabriel nodded. "Fine. I learned how to wear a blue silk robe and tie a big pretty sash around it. How was your day?"

"Great! I've got my dress for Sherry's wedding and my kimono for Kimiko's." Olivia lowered her eyes and peered up at him through them. "I personally like my kimono. There's something about wearing silk that just-" she smiled and shuddered slightly "-I think I looked damn good in it too."

"Oh really?" Gabriel raised an eyebrow. "How good?"

"I already told you, damn good." She walked into the bedroom toting her bags as Gabriel followed her. "Faith down for her nap?"

"Yeah." Gabriel reached out and wrapped his arms around her waist, pressing himself against her. "So you liked how you looked in that outfit, huh?"

"I sure did." She turned in his arms. "And I bet you looked pretty hot too."

"God no." Gabriel rolled his eyes and let her go. "I looked like a dork."

"I doubt it." Olivia smiled over at him. "Can I see you in it?"

"Not until November first and then only until the wedding is over. The minute we get back here for the reception, I'm changing clothes." He noticed Olivia's disappointed expression. "What?"

"Nothing. I just thought you'd look really sexy in it, that's all." She sighed loudly. "But if you don't-"

"-I don't. I'd rather wear those stupid-ass sweater vests my Mom used to buy for me than wear that bathrobe any longer than I have to, and judging from the looks on Nathan and Peter's faces, they felt the same way." He watched as she turned and hung her dresses in the closet. "But if you want to put on a fashion show for ME-"

"-why should I if you're not going to reciprocate?" Olivia smirked. "I suppose you'll have to wait until Kimiko and Ando's wedding to see me in all my pale blue silk glory." She turned to him and smiled as she began to unbutton her shirt. "But until then-"

"-I get to see you in all your undressed glory?" Gabriel grinned as he pulled her into his arms. "And here I was thinking that you'd be pissed because I didn't want to play dress-up and try to withhold from me."

"Now that would just be stupid." Olivia began to kiss him passionately, her hands quickly unzipping his jeans. "I'll get to see you in that kimono soon enough." She moaned as he unclasped her bra and began to nuzzle her breasts. "But with our baby taking up a lot of our time, I don't get to see you like this nearly as often as I'd like."

"I know." Gabriel nodded as he kissed her breasts before letting his lips travel lower. He began to curse as he struggled with the button of her pants. "Every time we start to-"

"-Faith cries. I know." Olivia bit her lip and helped Gabriel pull her pants off. "How long has she been down?"

"An hour." Gabriel moaned. He looked up at his wife as she ran her fingers through his hair. "God, I've missed you."

"Me too." Olivia grasped his shoulders, moaning as he pulled her panties off. "What do you say to skipping the foreplay and going directly to the main event?"

"You sure?" Gabriel stood and pulled his wife into his arms.

Olivia nodded. "Do me fast before our daughter wakes up again." She grinned as Gabriel lifted her up and carried her to the bed, entering her as they lay together. They moved together quickly, moaning with pleasure. Olivia dug her nails into Gabriel's shoulders and buried her face in his neck as she almost immediately climaxed. A few moments later, Gabriel moaned and shuddered, collapsing on top of her.

"Was that fast enough for you?" Gabriel chuckled as he began to kiss Olivia.

"I got mine." Olivia giggled against his neck. "Faith still sleeping?"

"Yeah, why?"

Olivia began to kiss her husband again, her hands caressing him. Gabriel began to moan as her hands stroked his torso, slowly moving lower. "Wanna go again, only this time go a bit slower?"

"You read my mind."

"Well, I was imbued with that power."

As Gabriel rolled over onto his back, Olivia climbed on top of him. He smiled and grasped her hips as he slid into her, closing his eyes as his wife began to slowly rock back and forth on top of him. "God I love you." He whispered.

Olivia leaned down, her lips grazing his as she swayed on top of him. "I love you too."

An hour later they lay together, wrapped in each other's arms as they slept. Gabriel's eyes opened as Faith began to stir in her room. "Our daughter's up." He murmured.

"She's going to be pissed to realize that we got our freak on without her interrupting us for once." Olivia smiled. She sighed as Faith began to cry. "I'll get her. It's my turn to feed her and I'm already about to burst again." She grabbed a robe as she climbed out of bed and walked into the nursery. "Hey Pumpkin!" She cradled Faith in her arms and sat in the rocking chair, feeding her daughter as she smiled down at her. "Did you enjoy your nap? Daddy and I certainly did." She kissed the top of the infant's head, frowning as she heard a cell phone ringing. "Mine or yours?" She called out to the bedroom.

"Mine!" Olivia listened as Gabriel answered his phone. "Yes? When? Okay, we'll be there soon." He walked into the nursery and watched as Olivia fed Faith. "That was Peter. Kaito has called a meeting in the training room. He says that he has gifts for everyone. We have to report there at eight tonight."

"Okay." Olivia burped Faith and stood, her daughter in her arms. "What more can Kaito give us?"

"I have no idea." Gabriel reached out and took Faith, grinning down at her. "What's Papa K got for Mommy and Daddy? Do you know what it is?"

* * *

At eight that evening, all of the residents of the building filed downstairs and entered the training room. Kaito, dressed in black GI's, beamed at everyone as they walked in from his place on the instructor's platform, Ando, Kimiko and Hiro standing behind him next to a table covered with a sheet. As soon as everyone entered the room, Kaito held up his hands. "Since March, my daughter, son, future son-in-law and I have been quite busy making something very special for all of you. When we first began this project, I was planning on simply making swords for everyone, but then I realized something. I realized that many of you have shown other talents with other weapons as well, so after the swords were finished, I began to craft specialized weapons for each and every one of you. After months of working whenever we could, usually late at night after everyone had gone to bed, we have finally finished our work." He nodded to everyone in the room. "First, the swords for everyone." He turned to the table and pulled off the sheet, smiling at the gasps that emanated from around the room. The table was filled with samurai swords. He turned back to the crowd, his shoulders pulled back with pride. "I shall begin by calling everyone here to collect their sword in alphabetical order. First one, Alicia Aaron." He took a sword and held it out to the tall, slender black woman that walked towards the front of the room. He held the sword out to her, bowing as she knelt in front of him and accepted it. She returned the bow and stood, strapping the sword to her back as she turned and walked back into the crowd, smiling happily. Kaito turned and took the next sword that Ando handed to him. "Clive Aaron." He turned and handed the sword to the stocky bald man who walked to the platform and knelt in front of him, both of them bowing to each other.

An hour later, all of the swords had been handed out to all of the adults in the room. Kaito smiled kindly at everyone and took a deep breath. "Now, for other weapons. Will the following people please step forward? Lyle Bennet, Sandra Bennet, and Molly Walker-Bennet." The three people stepped forward, looking at each other questioningly as Kaito handed each of them a wazikashi knife. "To protect yourselves and your family, imbued with special powers or not. The three of you have shown a great deal of strength and dexterity with smaller-edged weapons. Just because the three of you will not be on the battle-field, it doesn't mean that you may not find yourselves under attack. Use these weapons wisely to protect yourselves, each other and anyone else that is attacked." He smiled as they nodded and walked back to Noah and Claire. Sandra stared down at the sheathed knife in her hand proudly before she tucked it into the waistband of her jeans. Kaito looked around the room. "Sheryl Bombano, please step forward." Sherry walked to Kaito, smiling up at him. Peter's eyes widened as he watched Kaito hand her two sai knives. "You have shown a talent with these weapons that is incomparable to everyone else here. I know they will bring you luck in battle as you defend yourself and your friends and family." Sherry turned and walked back to Peter, twirling the knives in her hands as she winked at her fiancé. "Anthony and Tulia Bombano." As Anthony and his wife walked forward, Kaito handed each of them a Hachiwara dagger. "To defend yourselves against any enemy that comes too closely." He winked at the couple as they re-entered the crowd, Tulia staring at the long, thin, curved blade in her hand. "Doctor Olivia Gray and Gabriel Gray." Kaito handed Olivia two Tanto knives before turning to Gabriel. "I made this one with you in mind." Kaito laughed as he handed Gabriel a long metal staff, its ends sharpened to points. "For when telekinesis alone doesn't do the trick." Kaito laughed.

For the next two hours, Kaito continued to hand out different types of knives and short swords to almost every person in the room, before finally revealing one last gift. He took a deep breath as Hiro and Ando turned and walked out of the room, pushing a heavy cart upon their return. Kaito looked around the room again, his expression grim. "In a month, we will be in the middle of a great battle. There is a very good possibility that we will not all survive. Many of us have been imbued with Claire Bennet's healing factor, but it cannot help you survive every blow. A gunshot, sword or knife to the head or decapitation is fatal, no matter what. I have spent a great deal of time in the many years that I have lived on this earth, studying different types of body armor and how to make it." He nodded to Hiro and Ando, who pulled a sheet off of the cart. "You will find on this cart, helmets and chain mail neck guards for everyone, to help protect you all in the battle. They are heavy, they won't protect ALL blows to the head or neck, but they will protect most. You will all find your names inscribed inside the helmets. Please take them in the hopes that you will live to see November ninth. That is all."

He bowed to the group assembled in the room and slowly walked out of the room as everyone began to search the cart, finding their assigned armor. As Gabriel turned to Olivia, holding out her helmet and neck guard, she shook her head sadly, Faith cradled in her arms. "You know I can't take that, Baby." She whispered.

"Olivia-" Gabriel leaned towards her.

"-You know this as well as I do. If Linderman switches us and I can't switch us back in time, I'm going to have to have my neck exposed for you to swing at it to kill Linderman for good. If my body is protected and Linderman takes it over, you'll pay hell trying to destroy him. I have to stay exposed."

Gabriel looked at the determined look in his wife's eyes and nodded, his shoulders sagging sadly. "I know." He muttered. "God knows I know." He reached out and pulled her into his arms, closing his eyes as he buried his face in her hair. "Let's just hope that you'll be able to pull a rabbit out of your hat in that fight and I won't have to destroy you, either your soul or your body."

"I'm counting on it." Olivia smiled as she kissed him and looked down at Faith. "I've got a lot to live for, wouldn't you say?"

Gabriel smiled softly at her. "Yes, I would say that." He looked around the room at their friends as they milled around, talking to one another and nodded to his wife. "Let's take our daughter and our weapons and go home."

"Lead the way." Olivia rested her head on his shoulder sleepily as he led her out of the room and upstairs to their apartment.

* * *

Note from the author: Thanks for everyone's patience as you waited for me to finally post this chapter. Things have been rather hectic around the house for the last two weeks, while I got my new "baby" Nina settled in. It's been interesting, to say the very least. I've been writing this chapter for the last week when I haven't been working, or sleeping from working, or just sleeping in general since Nina's most definitely a bundle of energy and REALLY dominates my time when she's awake. Having a nine-week old puppy is a lot like having an actual baby in the house. You have to watch her every minute to make sure she doesn't get into anything, you have to keep her entertained to keep her out of trouble, and you have to put her down for naps to keep her from wearing herself out whether she likes it or not. Also, with a dog as tiny as Nina is, you have to feed her quite a lot and make SURE she eats as much as she can to keep her blood sugar level and to protect her from hypoglycemia. I unfortunately had to learn that the hard way after her blood sugar dropped and she went into shock. The good news is, she's thriving, she's happy and I'm ecstatic to have her around, even if I'm seriously sleep deprived. The little cuss has a nasty habit of waking up at 4 a.m. on days when I'm not working and of waking me up every three hours on days when I'm trying to sleep after getting off of work. We're settling into a routine though, so Chapter 93 of this story, and the following chapters of "Fear Itself" should hopefully NOT take 2 weeks to be posted again.

Thanks for your patience, thanks for reading and thanks in advance for any reviews you guys send my way!


	93. Chapter 93

Chapter Ninety-Three: Tricks and Treats

"So the bachelorette and bachelor parties are going on tonight." Candice commented as she trained beside Olivia.

"Yep." Olivia nodded. "After all of the kids have come home from trick-or-treating, Katharina, Trevor, Mother, Claire and Bridget have all offered to keep an eye on the kids so everyone else can kick up their heels and party." She grinned at Candice. "Sounds like fun, right?"

"Right." Candice smiled. "So what's on the agenda with US? I know the guys are all going to go off to a strip club and get lap dances before they come home stinking drunk, so what are we wild women going to do?"

"Strip club, lap dances and get drunk?" Olivia laughed. "Hey, there are MALE strip clubs here in Vegas, what's good for the guys-" She noticed Candice's frown. "-What?"

"Nothing." Candice smirked. "I'm just imagining one of those big, burly strippers trying to lift me up, that's all."

"Please, you're tiny. They could probably pick you up with their pinkies."

"I only LOOK tiny, Olivia." Candice blew a strand of hair out of her eyes. "In actuality, I'm huge. Nobody can lift me up, except maybe someone imbued with Niki's power."

"That's not true." Olivia turned to her. "You mentioned once that Mohinder likes to get all romantic and lift you up to carry you into the bedroom and he's not Charles Atlas." She smiled as Candice's eyes widened. "When's the last time you even turned back into the old Candice?"

"You mean 'Betty'?" Candice shook her head. "Not since I first became Candice. As soon as I made the conscious decision to change into this" she posed for a moment "I never changed back. It became so ingrained in me that I didn't even change into 'Betty' when I slept or when Niki knocked my ass out cold for kidnapping Micah. I don't even think I CAN turn back into 'Betty' now. I can turn into what I remember I looked like at that time, but I can't switch back on my own anymore."

"What about when Linderman was torturing you and forcing Laurent to suppress your powers? He didn't suppress your main one?"

Candice shook her head. "Nope. I asked him about it later. He told me that he remembered hearing me talk about my life before as 'Betty' and wanted me to keep some shred of dignity while Linderman and his people were working me over. He let me keep my main power, he let me stay as I was."

"So you think that you're probably still-"

"-Fat?" Candice laughed. "Yeah, I do. I still eat like a horse and-"

"-And you're eating healthier than you used to, thanks to Mohinder's cooking, and you're exercising for twelve hours a day, training to kick ass. You don't think that's going to change something? When you were pregnant with Shanti and the doctors weighed you, you didn't ask them about your weight? They didn't tell you?"

"I asked them not to. I'd only ask them how much I gained." Candice turned to Olivia. "You don't think that-"

"-You might be skinny now?" Olivia shrugged. "Who knows? You could always ask Laurent to suppress everything so you can see for yourself."

"Maybe." Candice whispered thoughtfully. "Maybe I will."

* * *

"I can't believe people actually gave us candy!" Gabriel laughed as he walked into the house with Olivia, carrying a dressed-up Faith in his arms.

"I can't believe you actually had the balls to ask Noah Bennet if that was all of the candy he was going to give you when he put one lollipop into the bag." Olivia took Faith from Gabriel and shook her head. "I was honestly hoping that Noah would follow through with that promise to stick that lollipop straight up your ass. Seriously, Babe. Faith doesn't even have TEETH yet and you're dragging us out to take her trick-or-treating?"

"She has to learn as soon as possible how to do it, right?" He smiled down at Faith in Olivia's arms, laughing at her costume. She was dressed in a pink leotard and tutu with tiny pink ballet shoes on her feet. "Come to Daddy, my little Sugar Plum Fairy." He grinned as Faith began to laugh with him as he took her into his arms. "I'm so glad I found that costume for you. Everyone else wanted to dress their infants as peas in a pod or flowers. You were the cutest little baby out there, yes you were!"

"Should I be worried that YOU'RE the one that found that fairy costume?" Olivia asked, winking at her husband.

"Baby, you've thrown down with me in the bedroom, what do YOU think?" Gabriel smirked.

"I think you're a good father." Olivia laughed as she kissed him. "Mind getting her changed for her sleepover with Mother? She should be here soon to pick her up."

"And I'm getting her ready because-?"

"Because I have to get ready for Kimiko's bachelorette party. Heidi, Sherry, Leilani and I are hosting it for her." Olivia headed for the bedroom with Gabriel following behind her.

"You're not the only one who has to get ready for drunken revelry, you know." As Olivia turned to stare at him, he shrugged. "Oh don't give me that innocent look. I know that you girls aren't just going to sit in some spa somewhere eating bon-bons and drinking virgin daiquiris while getting your nails done. I know full well that you're planning on getting stinking drunk in some club while watching a bunch of steroid-pumped animals take off their clothes."

"And how is that any different from what you guys have planned?" Olivia asked him.

Gabriel shrugged. "We're not going to do that."

"No?" Olivia laughed.

"No." Gabriel shook his head, trying to look innocent. "We're going to a casino to play a few games and then come home to our beautiful women."

"Bullshit!" Olivia giggled. "You're going to get stinking drunk while watching a bunch of over-inflated silicone-filled bimbos take off THEIR clothes. Sure, there may be some gambling in there at some point, but you boys are going to get lap-dances and have fake tits shoved in your faces all night."

"That's different."

"How is that different?" Olivia began to change into a mini-skirt and low-cut sweater as Gabriel gaped at her.

"We're guys, that's what we do." As Olivia turned on him, glaring, he shrugged. "It's true! We're full of testosterone and millions of years of evolution. We enjoy the breasts and the lap dances before we return home to our caves to ravage our wives."

"So you're saying that watching some girl named Brandi wax a stripper pole with her cooch puts you in the mood to sleep with me?" Olivia crossed her arms in front of her chest as she raised an eyebrow.

"YES!" Gabriel's eyes widened as Olivia's narrowed. "I mean NOOOOOO! I mean for SOME guys it gets them in the mood, I don't have to get into the mood with you, I'm ALWAYS in the mood."

"Good save." Olivia nodded.

"Thanks, I thought so too." Gabriel turned and walked into the nursery with Faith and began to change her into a pair of pajamas.

"Then think about this, Big Boy." Olivia leaned in the doorway and smiled at her husband. "You know that excited feeling you get after watching a stripper and wanting to come home to me? Same thing for me. Expect to get tackled, drunkenly, when you get home tonight."

Gabriel turned and smiled. "Is that a promise?"

"And a vow. I've already pumped a ton of milk for Faith to last her a few days until the alcohol is out of my system, so Mama's getting her drink on tonight in a HUGE way! I haven't had anything to drink in over a year. It's time for me to party." She slowly walked into the room and stood behind Gabriel, wrapping her arms around him. "And when I get home tonight after watching Sven and the boys take it all off, I'm going to expect a private show from you."

"Ditto Babe." Gabriel winked at her. "I'll show you my sexy moves if you show me yours."

"Oh, I'll be waxing the pole tonight, trust me." Olivia kissed him for a moment before letting him go. "Now I just have to put on my make-up and get slutty for a fun night out with the girls!"

"Have fun!" Gabriel called to Olivia as she walked out of the room. He turned to Faith. "And you're going to have fun with Grandma tonight, aren't you?"

* * *

"I'll see you later, Darling!" Mohinder kissed Candice as he headed out the door. As he walked out, he poked his head back in the door. "Have fun, but not too much fun."

Candice winked at him. "The fun won't really begin until you bring your fine ass back home." She kissed him softly. "Try not to get a hard-on when the strippers start grinding in your lap."

"The only person who does THAT to me is you." Mohinder studied her for a moment, his eyes scanning her body hungrily. "And speaking of grinding in laps-" He turned as Laurent silently stepped up behind him. Turning, Mohinder spotted him and blushed. He glanced back at Candice. "We'll discuss it later." As he turned to leave, he lowered his head, his ears turning fiery red. "Laurent."

"Dr. Suresh." Laurent covered a grin as he entered the apartment. He nodded to Candice. "You sounded a bit frantic. What is going on?"

Candice bit her lip nervously. "I've got a little favor to ask of you."

A few moments later, Laurent sighed as he stood outside of the closed bathroom door. "Are you doing it?" Candice asked nervously from behind the door.

Laurent sighed and nodded. "Yes, I'm doing it. I have blocked everything. Can't you tell when you look in the mirror?"

"I haven't had the courage to open my eyes yet." Candice stood in the bathroom, her eyes squeezed tightly shut as she stood in front of a full-length mirror installed on the back of the bathroom door.

"I haven't got all night, Candice." Laurent sounded peevish. "I WOULD like to attend the bachelor party. I've heard that the guys have a great deal of fun planned."

"Planning on getting a lap dance, smart ass?" Candice smirked, her eyes still shut. At Laurent's silence, she giggled. "Seriously?"

"Will you just open your damned eyes and look already, Woman?" Laurent called to her.

"Fine." Candice slowly opened one eye to a slit, then opened them both as she studied herself with amazement in the mirror. "Holy-"

"-What?" Laurent asked.

Candice began to laugh, then cry as she turned and studied herself in the mirror. The image before her was semi-recognizable to her. The eyes were the same she remembered staring at in the bathroom mirror of her high school and the smile, though she rarely remembered smiling as a teenager, were also still the same. Everything else, however was different. She had removed the facial piercings she'd had as a teenager long ago, and she was now able to actually study her face. Her skin had cleared up from the constant break-outs she'd suffered, revealing a smooth, creamy complexion. Her dark brown eyes were complimented by her chestnut hair, no longer greasy and lanky, but now hung to the middle of her back in healthy thick waves. The biggest surprise to her was her body. She stared at herself in the mirror, completely naked. The fat she'd carried around as a teenager had melted away, revealing soft rounded curves and taut muscles from the constant workouts she's been subjected to since Shanti's birth.

"Candice?" Laurent's voice rang out from behind the door, tinged with worry.

"I'm okay." She croaked out, her voice thick with tears. "I'm really okay." She quickly grabbed a robe and put it on before she walked out into the bedroom. Laurent's eyes widened for a moment before he smiled and nodded with appreciation.

"Hello Betty." He whispered.

"It's still Candice. I'll always be Candice." She laughed softly. "Mohinder's not going to recognize me."

"I think he'll always know the woman he loves." Laurent beamed at her. "If you wish to stay this way, that is."

"I do." Candice murmured as she glanced at her reflection again. "It's been a long time since I've seen myself, the real me, in a mirror. This is the first time I've liked what I've seen."

"When will you tell him?"

"I don't kno-" Candice frowned as she heard the living room door open and close. "-The hell?"

"Candice?" Mohinder's voice rang out. "Have you seen my wallet? I went to the ATM this morning to get a bunch of singles and-" he trailed off as he entered the bedroom and spotted her. "Who are you?" He asked.

Candice cleared her throat and shrugged. "It's me, the real me."

"Candice?" Mohinder blinked for a moment in confusion. "You said you were fat."

"I was."

"You told me that you thought you were ugly and disgusting and-"

"I WAS!" She shrugged. "I guess I can attribute this to my drill sergeants Hana, Hiro and Kaito, along with my dietary chef Mohinder Suresh." She smiled nervously. "I was curious about how I looked, really looked, so I-" She frowned at Mohinder's surprised expression. "-What?"

Mohinder shook his head, smiling softly. "I never thought you could be more beautiful. I was wrong." He laughed. "Suddenly I don't feel much like going out."

"Me neither." Candice shook her head.

Laurent cleared his throat. "This is my cue to leave." He turned to Candice. "You think you can still-" he waved at her figure.

"Yeah. I don't ever want to change again." She shook her head. "I can turn off my power, now that I know what I really look like." She turned to Laurent, smiling through tears. "Thank you."

"You're welcome." Laurent turned to leave and was stopped by Mohinder.

"Just a moment." Mohinder spotted his wallet on the bedside table and grabbed it, pulling out the singles he'd gotten earlier. He held them out to Laurent. "Tell the boys that the first set of lap dances are on me." As Laurent hesitated, Mohinder nodded. "They're going to be pissed that I'm not coming. This will help with their tempers a bit."

"Fine." Laurent took the money and shook his head. "Have fun tonight, you two." He called as he headed for the door.

Mohinder turned and studied Candice again. "Oh, I intend to."

* * *

"So why did Candice say she wasn't coming?" Sherry asked as she watched Olivia down her third Long Island Iced tea.

Olivia shrugged drunkenly at the table with Sherry. "Dunno, she said something about going through changesh and wanting to experiensh them with Mochesh."

"WHO?" Janice asked, smirking as Olivia tried to speak.

"YOU KNOW! Mochesh! Her fianche. Mochesh Shurinder."

"You mean Mohinder Suresh, Sweetie?" Sandra asked, covering a giggle.

"Uh-huh! S'what I said, wasn't it?" She stared at her empty glass and turned as a waiter passed them. "S'cushe me, can I have another drinky pleashe?"

Niki shook her head as she turned to Kimiko. "I forgot how silly people acted when they were drunk." She sighed as she drank her virgin daiquiri. "Sometimes I miss being that silly, then I remember what a pain in the ass it was to get sober. I'm never going through that again."

"I don't she anything wrong with how Olivia'sh acting." Heidi shrugged as she downed another tequila shot. She grinned as a muscled waiter walked by, dressed as a pirate. "If I pay him extra to do a body shot off of him, you guysh wouldn't tell Nathan, would you?"

"GO FOR IT!" Leilani giggled as she chugged her beer. "If you do one, I'll do one and we'll keep it from our guys, got it?"

"OH I'M IN ON THAT!" Olivia giggled as another drink was placed in front of her. "MORE DRINKIES!"

Sherry cringed. "Don't you think you've had enough?"

Hana shrugged and shook her head as she pounded down another shot of Jack Daniels. "Oh leave her be, Sherry. She hasn't had a drink since before her daughter was conceived."

Sherry glanced over at Hana. "Are you drunk?"

"Of course I am." Hana raised an eyebrow. "Can't you tell?"

"Not really, no." Sherry shook her head. "You seem the same now as you do when you're sober."

"Wait for it." Hana grinned wickedly.

"So tell me." Heidi giggled as she flirted with the pirate waiter. "How much do I have to pay to see your booty?"

The waiter winked at her. "Oh, that comes with the entrance fee." He turned and wiggled his g-string clad butt at her.

"OH YEAH!" Heidi collapsed into more giggles, leaning on Olivia. "BODY SHOTS!"

The waiter turned to her and smiled. "After the show. It's about to begin."

"HEY, HEY, HEY!" Heidi called to him. "We're here as a bridal party." She pointed to a blushing Kimiko. "She'sh getting married in the morning."

The waiter smiled. "I'll pass that information on to the boys backstage." He winked again as he walked away.

"God, if I weren't married . . . " Heidi moaned.

"Right there with you, Sister." Olivia nodded as she licked her lips.

Sherry turned to Kimiko. "Please tell me you're having fun, regardless of the crazy drunks."

"Are you KIDDING?" Kimiko giggled. "I'm having the time of my life!" She looked around as the lights dimmed and Olivia, Hana, Leilani and Heidi started whooping. "Okay, just WHAT do the strippers do to the bride-to-be?" Kimiko asked nervously.

Sandra turned to her. "Oh Honey, you really don't want to know."

"**Ladies, please sit back and enjoy the ride on this lovely Halloween night as we present our dastardly demons, here to dance for your pleasure!"** A voice boomed out over the loudspeaker.

"WHOOOOO!" Olivia stood up in her seat and began to cheer as a stripper came out dressed as a devil. As music began to pound through the speakers, all of the other women in their group also stood on their chairs, cheering and whooping as the man began to dance and strip. After a few minutes, he danced over to them.

"Who's the bride-to-be?" He asked.

"SHE IS!" Everyone cheered and pointed to Kimiko. He grinned and picked her up, throwing her over his shoulder before dancing back out onto the stage with her. The women started cheering louder as he began to dance with Kimiko, stripping around her as he moved suggestively.

"LUCKY DOG! I WISH I WAS GETTING MARRIED AGAIN!" Heidi yelled in Olivia's ear. "SHIT! NATHAN'S BEEN TALKING ABOUT RENEWING OUR VOWS SOON. YOU THINK IF THAT HAPPENS, I'LL BE ABLE TO HAVE A PARTY LIKE THIS?"

"SHIT YEAH!" Olivia nodded.

Throughout the night, the dancers all came to their tables the most, some to grab Kimiko and dance with her, but also to collect the plentiful stacks of bills the women were waving in their direction. As soon as the dancing was over, some of the men came to their table to do body shots. Olivia frowned as she heard a group of women grumbling at the table on a dias above theirs. "Why do THEY get to have all of the fun?" One girl whined.

Olivia turned to the woman and looked up at her. "Because we're older, we've got more money and my stepsister is getting married, that's why!"

"SO?" The girl pouted with her friends. "WE'RE here on a special occasion too! Some of our sorority sisters are graduating at the end of the fall semester next month!"

"Then come back when the bitches have graduated, DAMN!" Olivia rolled her eyes and started to turn back around.

"HEY YOU! THE TRINITY LOOKING BITCH!" Olivia turned back around as another girl leaned forward. "You don't talk to my sister that way!"

"YEAH?" Heidi lifted her head from licking salt off of a dancer's torso. She downed her shot of tequila and glared at the girl. "You don't talk to MY sister that way!"

"YEAH!" Hana repeated as she stood up.

"Oh shit." Sherry closed her eyes as she began to take off her earrings and put them in her purse before moving her rings to her right hand.

"What?" Tulia asked.

"Things are about to get nasty." Sherry glanced at Tulia. "Take off your earrings unless you want them ripped out by some crazy sorority bitch. Also, put all of your rings on whichever hand you punch with. Trust me on this." Sherry sighed as she shook her head. "I thought I left this shit behind in Jersey."

"YOU'RE ALL SISTERS?" The girl snorted. "And which sorority are you all members of? Gamma Rho Ho-Bags?"

"No, we're members of KAPPA KAPPA GONNA BEAT YOUR ASS!" Heidi yelled.

"I'm outta here." The stripper said as he quickly stood and left, running for security.

"SHUT UP BITCH!" The girl shrieked at Heidi.

"OH HELL NO!" Niki stood up. "LITTLE GIRL, YOU NEED TO CARRY YOUR ASS HOME TO MAMA RIGHT NOW BEFORE WE BEAT YOUR ASS IN, GOT IT? YOU DO **NOT** WANT TO FUCK WITH US!"

"WHAT ARE YOU GONNA DO YOU OLD SLUT, BEAT ME WITH YOUR CANE?" The girl cackled, her friends giggling behind her. She yelped as Hana quickly smashed her over the head with Leilani's beer bottle.

"SHIT!" Leilani wailed. "I WASN'T FUCKING DONE WITH THAT! NOT COOL, HANA!"

"Who's next?" Hana asked coolly. She was answered by a team of screeching girls climbing over the rails of the dias, tackling all of them. Hana grinned as she began to throw punches. "God, I love getting into brawls!"

* * *

"AND WE DAAAANCED ON INTO THE NIGHT!" Noah sang at the karaoke machine as Gabriel and Peter shook their heads.

"Sandra's not going to enjoy having to pour him into bed again." Gabriel mused as he took another sip of his beer.

"Tell me about it." Peter looked around the rented casino convention room. Ando and Hiro were dancing happily with strippers as Noah drunkenly sang at the karaoke machine. The others were milling around the room drinking while others played roulette, blackjack and poker. "Fun night, huh?"

"It's okay." Gabriel sighed. "I can't wait to get home to Olivia though. She promised to show me-" He shook his head at Peter's expression. "-Never mind."

"You're censoring yourself before talking about your sex life with my sister? That's a first for you, isn't it?" Peter smirked.

"Oh shut up." Gabriel rolled his eyes.

Peter jumped as his cell phone began to ring. "It's Sherry. She's probably calling to make sure I'm not getting any wood while a stripper grinds against me." He answered the phone. "Hi Honey, everything's fine here." He frowned. "WHAT?" Some of the men turned to him as he looked around the room. "What do you mean, 'arrested'? YOU GUYS DID WHAT?"

"What?" Gabriel frowned.

"What the hell did Heidi do?" Nathan sighed. "She gets a little wild when she's been drinking."

Peter covered the phone with his hand. "She's not the only one, apparently." He nodded to D.L. as his phone began to ring. "Probably Niki asking to get bailed out too."

"AW SHIT!" D.L. answered his phone as Peter continued to talk to Sherry. "What the fuck happened, Baby? SORORITY GIRLS? STRIPPERS? Damn, Girl!" He started laughing. "Yeah, we'll call a few cabs and be there as soon as we can, just chill." He hung up his phone as Peter hung up his. "Looks like our party's over."

"Who got arrested?" Ando asked.

D.L. snorted. "All of 'em! It seems that a few of the girls got a bit combative when they got drunk and started a brawl with some sorority girls that got pissed off because they were getting all of the strippers' attentions. They've all been arrested and are being booked now on drunk and disorderly charges and apparently on destruction of property charges. It seems that they all broke a bunch of chairs over the sorority girls' heads."

"Damn." Gabriel sighed as he started to head out of the room. "And our girls were afraid that WE'D get into trouble." He stopped as Noah continued to sing, not noticing anything else going on in the room and tapped him on the shoulder. "Hey Chad Kroeger, wrap it up. We've got to bail our women out of jail."

"Jail?" Noah began to laugh. "Oh, I can't wait to see Sandra behind bars!"

* * *

As they arrived at the jail, they were greeted by a sheriff's deputy who covered a laugh as he escorted the men towards the women's cells. "It was the damndest thing, really. We showed up to find all of your women sitting calmly near the stage waiting for us. The other girls were all lying on the floor, crying and swearing that they'd been beaten within an inch of their lives, but not a single one had a mark on them. Your women don't appear to be injured either. Everyone's clothes were torn and the place was smashed to hell and back, but there were no injuries. One of the sorority girls even swore that she had a gash on the back of her head and needed stitches, but when we examined her, she didn't have any cuts. There was blood, but no cuts. The girls were threatening to press charges, but we've told them that, according to the male dancers in the club, THEY were the ones that started the fight by taunting your ladies. The girls swear that one of the women hit her over the head with a bottle to start the fight, but the dancers say that the girls appeared to start the actual brawl by diving over the railings to your women's tables below them."

"What charges are going to be pressed against our ladies?" Nathan sighed.

"Ladies?" The deputy snorted. "Good one. Anyway, they're all going to be charged with misdemeanor drunk and disorderly. They WERE going to also be charged with destruction of property, but one of the women apparently handed the owner of the club a fat check to pay for all of the damages, so he's not pressing charges on that."

"Olivia." Peter, Gabriel and Nathan all muttered.

"And here they are!" The deputy opened a door and sighed as he heard drunken singing. "It seems they've simply brought the party into the holding cells."

The men filed into the room and noticed the women in the cells. Some of them were sitting on the benches, a bored expression on their faces. Olivia, Hana, Heidi, Kimiko, and Leilani all stood together in one cell, dancing and singing drunkenly as their men stared at them in shock.

"-I won't lie and then I can't deny. I did it all for the nookie! The nookie! So you can take that cookie! And stick it up your-"

Olivia turned and squealed happily as she spotted her husband. "There's my handsome husband!"

The deputy glanced over at Gabriel, an amused expression on his face. "Yours?"

"Do I have to claim her?" Gabriel whispered.

"Hells yeah." The deputy nodded. "She and those other four were the wildest of all of them." He opened the cell doors. "Your guys have bailed you out, Ladies. Please don't come here again."

"Oh, but we had so much fun." Olivia kissed the deputy on the cheek before turning to Gabriel and jumping into his arms, wrapping her legs around his waist. "Take me home and nail me into the mattress, Hot Stuff!" She kissed him passionately as the deputy started snickering.

Gabriel pulled his face away from her. "Beating up sorority girls?"

"They pissed us off! They called us old and then jumped us so we beat their little Kappa Kappa Spank-Me asses!" Olivia began to nuzzle his neck. "It got me excited. Take me home and find out just HOW excited."

Nathan sighed as Heidi giggled in his arms. "Oh, I had so much fun tonight." She purred. "I agree with Olivia. It was seriously hot, beating those Buffys down."

He turned to the deputy. "Any chance of those charges getting dropped?"

The deputy sighed. "Shit dude, just get those ladies out of here and I'll burn the fucking arrest report. I don't want to even have to try and explain all of this to a judge."

"Deal." Nathan shook his hand as he nodded to the women. "Let's go."

"Kimiko." Ando sighed. "Fighting?"

"It was a BLAST!" Kimiko laughed as she leaned on her fiancé. "You should have been there!"

He laughed and led his fiancée out of the jail with the others. Sandra glanced at Noah as he leaned on her. "Why the hell are you leaning on ME? I was the one who got arrested." She sighed as Noah grinned at her. "You're drunker than Cooter Brown!"

"Yep!" He winked at her.

"You sang too, didn't you?"

"Yep!" Noah nodded, grinning widely. "It was fun. Not as much fun as you apparently had, but still-" He turned and kissed her. "-let's hope the kids are asleep when we get home."

Claude winked at Hana as he helped her walk to their cab. "My feisty little brawler."

"It was wonderful." Hana turned in his arms, sighing as she kissed him. "I haven't had that much fun in quite a while."

"Care to have fun at home too?"

"You read my mind." Hana laughed as she kissed him again before stumbling into a cab with him.

"Lord, I can't wait to take you to a Manchester United game! You'll fit right bloody in!"

* * *

At home, Gabriel carried Olivia into the house with her slung over his shoulder. "And we're home." As he set her down, he yelped as she tackled him, leaping into his arms once again to kiss him. "And you're still drunk."

"And horny, don't forget horny." Olivia slurred as she began to rip open Gabriel's shirt. "How was your night?"

"Not as eventful as yours, apparently." He moaned as she began to nibble on his neck, her hands unbuttoning his pants. "Liv, you're really drunk."

Olivia lifted her head. "You don't say that to your wife, you say that to a girl on the first or second date. When it's your wife, you say 'you're really drunk, thank GOD'!" She giggled as her hands slid into his pants and he began to moan louder. "Yeah, I'm drunk. I'm not so drunk that I'm going to puke, but I AM drunk enough to be extremely uninhibited tonight." She pulled away from him as he panted in her ear, smiling innocently. "Unless you don't feel like taking advantage of your drunk, uninhibited wife." Gabriel watched as she unbuttoned her shirt and then reached under her skirt, pulling off her underwear before tossing them at him. "Well?"

"Keep the heels on." Gabriel whispered as he stalked towards her. "I like it when you keep the heels on." He grabbed her and lifted her up as she smiled, wrapping her legs around his waist again. She tugged his shirt off as he shoved her against a wall, burying his face in her neck as he began to thrust against her, both of them whimpering and moaning with pleasure. Olivia threw her head back, screaming as she dug her nails into Gabriel's shoulders, drawing blood on cuts that instantly healed.

"The couch." She moaned. Gabriel lifted her up and stumbled with her to the couch, his pants down around his ankles. As he collapsed on the couch, Olivia continued to move on top of him quickly, her forehead pressed against his as their breaths came in rapid gasps. Gabriel began to kiss her hungrily as she sped up her movements more, his fingers digging into her waist as he began to moan louder. Soon her screams of pleasure joined his as they both shuddered before she collapsed on top of him, breathing hard. "God, that was good."

"You should beat up sorority girls every night if this is the result." Gabriel gasped. As she lifted her head from his shoulder and looked into his eyes, he brushed her hair out of her face. "God I love you." He whispered.

She smiled softly. "I love you too."


	94. Chapter 94

Chapter Ninety-Four: The Wedding, Linderman's Final Salvo

Gabriel knelt on the floor of the temple in Tokyo, snickering softly to himself as he glanced at his wife. Olivia knelt beside him, turning green in her pale-blue kimono. As Ando and Kimiko were blessed in their marriage before them and the rest of their family, Gabriel leaned towards Olivia. "It's probably bad form to puke in a temple, Dear."

"Shut it." Olivia hissed as she took a deep breath and tried to concentrate on the ceremony. "I'm watching the wedding, you ass."

"No, you're trying to fight the hangover you got from partying too hard last night. As they say in your neck of the woods, Honey: that'll learn you not to go out partying with strippers and picking on sorority girls." Gabriel glanced past Olivia, his eyes meeting Peter's. They shared a smirk as Olivia took another deep breath and opened her eyes, watching the wedding.

Finally, Kimiko and Ando turned to their family as a monk bowed before them. They joined hands and smiled at everyone. "They are married." Kaito whispered to Angela as he knelt in front of Peter, Hiro, Olivia and Nathan.

"Wonderful." Angela beamed as everyone slowly stood up and walked to the couple, embracing the two of them happily. They all walked out of the temple together, hugging and congratulating the bride and groom as they entered the gardens. Angela took a deep breath as she looked around. "How beautiful." She breathed.

"Yes, it is." Kaito smiled at her. "Perhaps when we have our own ceremony for our family, we should have it here."

Angela laughed softly as she studied Kaito's dark green kimono. All of the other men were dressed in dark blue silk kimonos, their obis matching the kimonos of their fiancées and wives. "It would be nice." She mused. "Perhaps next year sometime."

Kaito smiled softly at her. "Perhaps." He turned to the newlywed couple and the family members gathering around them and raised his arms to get their attention. "I understand that our friends in Las Vegas are planning quite the reception for Kimiko and Ando. Shall we join them there?"

Peter glanced at his watch and cleared his throat. "Kaito, it's still pretty early there. The party won't be starting for a few more hours."

Kaito nodded. "Very well then. We shall all return home and rest." He chuckled as he glanced over at Heidi, Leilani and Olivia while the three of them took deep breaths to fight their hangovers. "Some of us partied a bit too hard last night."

"Tell me about it." Hiro muttered under his breath as Leilani sagged against him, resting her head on his shoulder. "How do you feel about last night now?" He whispered to her.

"I still had fun, even if I'm paying for it today." Leilani smiled wanly at him.

"I think letting our little drunkards get some rest before they party again is a good idea." Gabriel laughed as he wrapped an arm around Olivia. Grinning wickedly at her, he turned to her. "DON'T YOU THINK SO, SWEETIE?"

"Go to hell." Olivia growled through gritted teeth. "And if you ever yell at me when I'm hungover again, I'm putting my foot up your ass sideways."

"Ooooh! Someone's cranky the morning after, aren't they?" Gabriel snickered as Peter approached them with Nathan, Heidi, Claire and Sherry, preparing to teleport them back to Las Vegas. "Good thing you saved that for this morning." He whispered, his lips brushing her ear gently. "Because I certainly enjoyed last night after I bailed you out of jail."

Olivia looked up at him as she rested her head on his shoulder, smiling softly. "Which part?"

"All of it." Gabriel kissed the tip of her nose tenderly. "Against the living room wall, the couch, the kitchen counters, the hallway, the shower, the floor beside the bed-"

"-we got pretty crazy last night, huh?" Olivia's smile broadened.

"We haven't gotten that crazy in quite a while. I can't remember the last time we tried to christen every surface of our apartment." Gabriel sighed. "It's just too bad that it took you going to a bar, getting stinking drunk and then putting a smack-down on a bunch of sorority girls to get you to go wild with me like that again."

Olivia laughed softly. "Trust me, it doesn't take all of that to get me to go wild." She shrugged. "I guess we'd gotten into a rut, huh?"

Gabriel nodded as Peter placed a hand on his shoulder. He tightened his grip around Olivia's waist as Japan faded from view. He sighed as the lobby to the apartment building appeared around them. "Back in Sin City." He sighed. He turned to Peter, shaking his hand. "See you at the party?"

"See you there." Peter watched as Gabriel and Olivia climbed into one elevator before getting into another with Sherry, Nathan, Heidi and Claire. He turned to Sherry and gently rubbed her belly. "How are our boys doing in there?"

Sherry laughed softly. "They're feisty today. They've been kicking like crazy all morning."

"Really?" Peter grinned.

Sherry nodded. "Yeah, and I don't think they're kicking me. I think they're kicking each other!"

Peter and Nathan exchanged a grin. "Petrelli boys!" Nathan nodded.

"Definitely Petrelli boys!" Peter smiled.

Sherry smirked. "You say that AFTER seeing my brothers in action?"

* * *

Gabriel hugged Olivia as their elevator climbed to their floor. "Yeah, we have gotten into a bit of a rut lately. We used to have wild sex all of the time, now it's-"

"-Lights off, missionary position, doing it as quickly as we can before Faith wakes up, usually only undressing just enough to get the job done so we don't have to scramble for all of our clothes when Faith starts crying." Olivia shrugged. "I guess it's a trade-off: become parents, kiss your nights of wild, unbridled sex goodbye."

"The fuck it is!" Gabriel stared down at her. "Baby, when it comes to parenting versus sex, I want to have my cake and eat it too. We're just going to have to start making an effort, that's all. Let's agree to something now, okay? At least once a week, Faith has a sleepover with her grandma, or her Uncles Nathan or Peter or Hiro or her cousin Claire and we spend THAT night swinging from the rafters, deal?"

Olivia nodded, her head still resting on his shoulder. "Deal! I know Claire's probably chomping at the bit to have Faith to herself more, especially now that she's Faith's godmother and Hiro even said the other day that he felt left out because Faith was always spending the night with Mother and Kaito and he never gets to take care of her himself. Heck, Peter and Sherry even asked to watch her one night so they could get some 'training' in for when the boys are born."

"Exactly!" Gabriel nodded excitedly. "We've got TONS of family that would love to spend more time with Faith, people that love her and adore her, and people that she loves and adores back! She lights up every time she sees Hiro and Leilani. Once a week, one lucky person is going to get to have her for the night while you and I sex each other up in the freakiest way possible."

"Sounds like a plan." Olivia hugged him as they arrived on their floor. She walked with Gabriel to the Bennet's apartment door and rang the doorbell, smiling as Sandra answered it. "How's my girl?"

"Wonderful!" Sandra let Olivia and Gabriel into the apartment. "Tatiana slept over here last night with Molly, so when they woke up and saw that Faith was here, well-" Sandra nodded over to Faith's bassinette. Molly and Tatiana were leaning over it, giggling as they shook rattles in Faith's face. Tatiana erupted into peals of laughter as Faith reached out and grabbed a handful of her hair, tugging at it. Sandra grinned at Olivia. "They've been like that ever since they got up this morning, both of them cooing over her and playing with her. They almost got into a fight over who was going to give Faith her bottle." Sandra raised an eyebrow. "I won that round."

"I thought the girls were going to draw blood over that one." Noah walked into the room and threw an arm around Olivia's shoulders. "How's your head?"

"It's still on, even though I could swear that trolls were beating my brains out from inside my skull." Olivia smirked at Noah. "How's YOUR head?"

Noah lifted up the cup of coffee in his hand. "I'm feeling a little better than you, but not much."

"I heard that I missed another classic Noah Bennet karaoke performance last night."

Noah blushed and looked away. "I swear those guys brought that karaoke machine in on purpose. It wasn't there until I started drinking."

"Of course we did." Gabriel laughed. "It's an unwritten rule now. If there's a party with you and alcohol in attendance, a karaoke machine WILL be brought out!"

"Thanks." Noah said wryly.

"No, thank YOU!" Gabriel nodded. "One of these days, I'm going to get a video camera out to record you for posterity. There's nothing like watching Mr. Stoic turn into a rock star after a few drinks."

"The day you do that, will be the day I tag you and bag you again and make your last stay in Odessa seem like a visit to a five-star hotel!" Noah growled.

"Yeah, keep talking, Big Guy!"

Tatiana finally turned from Faith and noticed the new arrivals. "GAYBREEL! OLEEVYA!" She ran to Gabriel as he knelt down, throwing herself into his arms to hug him.

"And here's the girl who is in a three-way tie with my wife and daughter as my favorite girl in the whole wide world!" Gabriel hugged her tightly as Molly watched him warily. "How are you this morning?"

Tatiana hugged him again. "Good. How was the wedding?"

"It was very nice." Gabriel stood with Tatiana in his arms. "Japan was beautiful. If we'd stayed longer, I'd have gotten you and Molly a present!"

"Me?" Molly frowned. "Why would you have gotten something for me?"

Gabriel shrugged. "Why not? All pretty girls need souvenirs when their neighbors go off on a trip, don't they?" He smiled softly as Molly blushed and looked away. He turned back to Tatiana. "So are you and Molly having fun with Faith?"

Tatiana concentrated for a moment, trying to think about what Gabriel had asked. "She's very sweet and pretty."

"She's just as pretty as you are." Gabriel kissed her cheek and set her down. "I hate to take her away from you girls for now, but her Mom's missing her a bit, and so am I." He turned to Sandra. "Thanks for watching her this morning."

"No problem." Sandra shrugged. "I didn't do much watching, I just had to referee these two to keep them from fighting over who Faith smiled at first." She reached out to Molly, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. "You can bring Faith around any time you want."

Molly nodded. "You really can, she's fun to watch."

Gabriel winked at her. "Just wait until she starts walking and talking, then she'll be even MORE fun!"

* * *

Later at the reception, Gabriel chafed as he walked around the lobby of the apartment building. He turned to Olivia, sighing. "I really hate wearing this kimono, I HAVE told you that, right?"

Olivia shrugged. "Really? I think you look very sexy in it."

"You think so?" Gabriel stared down at the outfit and shook his head. "I think you're just saying that." He looked back up at his wife, smiling at her kimono. "YOU'RE the one who looks sexy as hell this afternoon." He leaned towards her. "I'd like to sneak off upstairs and show you just HOW sexy you look, by the way."

Olivia glanced down at the stroller beside her, nodding to the sleeping infant inside. "It'll be rather hard to do with Faith here, don't you think?"

"Please, all we'd have to do is ask someone to watch her while we dashed upstairs." Gabriel glanced around the room at everyone as they milled around. "You could simply throw a rock and find someone willing to watch over her for a while."

"Okay," Olivia winked at him. "How's this for an excuse then? I'd rather get through ONE reception without us embarrassing ourselves by getting busted because we slipped off to bump uglies."

"Babe, there's nothing ugly about either one of us." Gabriel slid an arm around her waist. "Come on, you know you want to head off somewhere."

"Later, after the party, you and I will tuck Faith in for the night and do things to each other that are illegal in many countries, agreed?"

"Promise?" Gabriel whispered as he nuzzled Olivia's neck.

"I swear on the life of our daughter." Olivia giggled. She turned, noticing a bar. "Oh! Drinks!"

"HEY!" Gabriel took the handles of the stroller as Olivia headed towards the bar. "No drinkies for you tonight, Wild Woman!"

"Relax!" Olivia laughed as she started mixing a drink. "It's a virgin daiquiri, I promise."

"It had better be. You're fun when you're drunk, but I'd like to have a sober night of sweaty passion with you, please."

"Will do." Olivia raised her glass to him before she sipped her drink.

Sherry walked over to them, raising an eyebrow at the drink in Olivia's hand. "Is it five o'clock already?"

Olivia shrugged. "It is somewhere, I'm sure. Doesn't matter, this drink is non-alcoholic." She raised an eyebrow as Lyle walked past them with Mina, both of them coyly holding hands. She turned to Sherry, her eyes widening. "Wait, have I missed something?"

"You mean Lyle and Mina?" Sherry leaned towards her conspiratorially. "I heard that they're sort of dating."

"How sweet." Olivia smiled softly.

"Yeah." Sherry nodded. "I just wonder how they'll handle a relationship that's long-distance." At Olivia's confused expression, Sherry's eyes widened slightly. "Katharina has filed papers to be Mina's legal guardian. After next week, they'll probably end up moving away to Brazil, that IS where Katharina's from."

"Oh yeah." Olivia whispered softly. "I forgot."

"Forgot what?" Sherry stared at her. "The big battle? If it starts now at the same time it started before in that Future Hiro's time, we have just a little over a week before we go off to kick some Linderman Army ass, remember? After that, those of us that survive are going to try to go back to our homes and pick up our lives where we left them, if we can. Katharina's already been talking about teaching Mina Portuguese and enrolling her in a private school near Rio."

"Wow." Olivia leaned against the bar, staring at her drink. "The last two years really have flown by. I'm so stupid."

"Why?" Sherry frowned.

Olivia laughed softly, a sad look in her eyes as she looked around the room at everyone. People from all over the building walked around, hugging each other and talking when they weren't walking over to Ando and Kimiko to congratulate them on their wedding. "This is going to probably be the last time that all of us are together, as a group, having fun before the battle, isn't it? Afterwards, those of us that survive will probably hug, promise to write and keep in touch and then go our separate ways. I knew that we'd all end up separating and moving on after this battle, but it just feels so final." She smiled as Anjelica Espinoza and her partner Christina walked past, their arms linked together as they laughed with Claude and Hana. She scanned the room, noticing all of the friends she'd made in the last two years. Trevor laughed heartily with Oscar, clapping a fatherly hand on Sanjog's shoulder as Mohinder walked past with Candice, Shanti staring out at everyone from her mother's arms. She laughed softly as Geoffrey stopped Candice and exclaimed over her new look, watching as Candice blushed and leaned on Mohinder. "Some of us aren't going to make it, Sherry. This is the last time we're all going to be together before then."

"Wow." Sherry's shoulders slumped as she turned to Olivia. "You know, you're right, but good lord do you know how to bring down a room!" As Olivia turned to her with tears in her eyes, Sherry smiled kindly at her and hugged her. "Oh, don't be so morbid, Livvie. What's that saying? This isn't the end, it's only the beginning?"

"I know." Olivia took a deep breath as she hugged Sherry back. "It's just-" She sighed "-I know this sounds so crazy, what with the threats hanging over our lives and having to train for a battle and everything, but these last two years have truly been the best of my life. I fell in love and got married, I found peace with a mother that I used to not think wanted anything to do with me, I gained two incredible brothers, I made so many new friends, I became a mother and finally found my way out of the shadow of that psychopath father of mine and found out what kind of person I truly am. I don't want to give any of that up."

"And you won't." Sherry smiled. "You're not the only one who's had a wonderful couple of years. I think Gabriel would agree that these last two years have been the best for him and I certainly have enjoyed falling in love, getting engaged, finding out there was more to me than being a Mafia princess and on top of all of that, I'm going to be a mother." She patted her gently swelling belly. "Candice fell in love and became a mother and has now discovered that underneath that little glamour she's been hiding behind all these years, a hottie was waiting to be discovered. Claude's gone from being a cranky homeless hermit to being a father. We've all changed, Olivia, most of us for the better."

"So what are you two talking about?" Claire's eyes widened as she noticed the drink in Olivia's hand. "Does that have alcohol in it?"

"Depends." Olivia grinned wickedly. "You planning on being a sorority girl?"

Claire laughed. "Well, now that you mention it, I WILL be graduating from high school soon." She nodded. "And I AM planning on going to college-"

"-stop right there!" Olivia wrapped an arm around Claire. "Have I ever extolled the virtues of Omega Beta Zeta? I was a sister there, and you could get in as a legacy."

"Really?" Claire frowned. "Wasn't there a murder at an Omega Beta Zeta house a few years ago?"

"Oh, just one at this college in California, Windsor College, I think, it was years ago." Olivia nodded. "It's a good sorority. You should think about rushing when you go to college. With an aunt as a sister, you'd be a shoo-in to get pledged."

"I'll think about it." Claire smiled.

She turned as Kaito rapped on his glass, calling everyone's attention to the front of the lobby. He turned and smiled proudly at his daughter and new son-in-law. "It is with great pleasure and pride that I welcome you all to celebrate Kimiko and Ando's happiness. For many years I have known Ando Masahashi. He and Hiro have been the best of friends for most of their lives. I have watched Ando grow from a directionless young boy, to a young man filled with promise." He smiled slyly. "And I watched for many years as he tried to turn my eldest child's head and win her heart. I knew that one day he would grow to be a good and kind man, and I hoped in my deepest of hopes that my daughter would see that as well and make him her husband. These two have grown to love each other over the course of many years, and this day is one of the happiest of my life, gaining another son who has as much grace, heart and courage as my own Hiro." He turned to Ando, nodding to him. "I would like to welcome you to my family and I am proud to call you my son. I know you will treat my daughter with the greatest of love and devotion and I would say that I wish your marriage to be a long and happy one, but I don't have to wish it, I know that you two will be wonderful together. Welcome to my family, Ando." He nodded to his new son-in-law and raised his drink. "I would like to make a toast to love. Family and friendships would not exist without it."

"To love!" Everyone cheered before sipping their own drinks.

Hiro raised his drink and stepped forward, smiling happily at his best friend and sister. "To my dearest friend and my beloved sister, my happiness cannot compare to yours today, but I am proud to call Ando my brother in life now, since I have thought of him as a brother since we were children. My sister could not have chosen a better man."

"To Ando and Kimiko!" Everyone cheered and sipped their drinks again.

Noah walked around the room as he sipped his drink, frowning as he scanned the crowd. Walking by Claire he leaned down to her. "Have you seen Lyle?"

Claire smiled and shrugged. "Um, maybe."

"Maybe you've seen him or you've DEFINITELY seen him?"

Claire giggled. "He's in the garden with Mina." She looked up Noah and winked. "I think they wanted to be alone."

Noah grinned and shrugged. "Well, who am I to interrupt the two of them then?" He pulled his shoulders back and walked away as Claire gasped, her eyes widening.

She turned to Olivia and Sherry. "What in the hell?" She glared at her father's back. "If it had been ME out in the gardens with Nikolai, you'd have thought he'd gained Geoffrey's power of super-speed, he'd be out there so fast, but if it's Lyle it's cool?"

"It's called a double-standard, get used to it." Olivia laughed.

"No, it's simply called this: you're Noah's angel, his Daddy's Girl who is not allowed to be touched by another being with a penis lest you lose your purity, sweetness and devotion only to him. Lyle's a little stud and therefore a chip off of the old block, making his old man proud."

"Like I said, a double-standard." Olivia nodded.

"Weak!" Claire grabbed Olivia's drink and gulped it, frowning as she stared at the glass. "This really was non-alcoholic, wasn't it?"

"Yes. It was." Olivia sighed.

Ando wove through the crowds, his expression growing nervous as he spotted Bridget. Taking a deep breath, he walked over to her and touched her shoulder. "May I speak with you in private for a moment?"

Bridget smiled softly at him. "Of course." Stepping away to a deserted corner with Ando, she raised a hand as Ando began to speak. "I want to apologize first for how I behaved after we broke up."

"No. I deserved it." Ando looked at Bridget sadly. "I led you on, Bridget. I led so many women on, but I felt worst about the way I treated you. I made you think we had a future when my future only belonged to one other woman."

Bridget nodded. "I knew when we were together that your heart was somewhere else. You didn't hurt my heart Ando, just my pride. I wanted to be 'The One', the girl who made you settle down and open up. You were a challenge around here. All of the women wanted to be that one girl who took your heart. What none of us realized was that your heart already belonged to someone else. It was my pride that got knocked around, that's all."

"I used you-"

"-Everyone uses someone at some point in their lives, Ando. I let you use me. I thought I could be that special girl. I thought you might possibly be that special guy." Bridget laughed softly. "The thing was, you weren't my special guy and I wasn't your girl. We weren't meant to be together, not as lovers anyway."

"You've found someone?" Ando's eyes widened.

Bridget nodded. "Geoffrey. I thought everyone knew that by now."

Ando blushed. "I've been a bit busy lately to listen to talk around the halls."

"Apparently!" Bridget grinned. "Congratulations, Ando. Kimiko's a lovely woman and you two belong together, and I don't mean that in a bitchy way. You deserve happiness and seeing you with Kimiko, you've found that happiness. I have too now."

"Congratulations to you as well, then."

"Thanks." Bridget sighed. "We're moving to Kingston after things settle down here. Geoffrey wants to marry me, isn't that crazy?"

"It's wonderful." Ando smiled at her. "I'm happy for you."

"Good." Bridget winked. "We're with the people we were meant to be with."

"Yes. We are." Ando took Bridget's arm and returned to the party with her. He nodded to Kimiko and smiled softly as Bridget walked to his bride and hugged her tightly.

"We're square. I'm glad that he's found someone to finally make him smile." Bridget whispered to her. "I wish you both so much happiness, I really do."

Kimiko hugged Bridget back, stunned. "Thank you."

Peter walked to the front of the room and raised his glass to get everyone's attention. His expression serious, he began to speak. "Today, we are all gathered here to celebrate the marriage of our dear friends Kimiko and Ando, but that's not why I'm here talking. My stepsister and my friend know that I wish them all of the happiness in the world, and I know they'll succeed in making a happy home and having a beautiful family. Now, I want to talk about what brought us all here in the first place." Peter looked around the room at everyone, his expression softening. "These last two years, I have grown so much as a powerful being, as a son, as a brother, as a friend and," he smiled at Sherry "as a man. Soon I'm going to be a father to two beautiful boys. I have met so many wonderful people that I now consider as close to me as my blood family, dear friends who I would die for in a moment-"

"-And you HAVE died for one or two of us on occasion!" Mohinder called out, causing everyone to laugh softly.

Peter joined in their laughter, nodding. "I know. Tell me about it!" He looked out over the crowd again, his eyes filling with tears. "Everyone here has become so dear to me. Our group started out so small on New Year's Eve, nearly two years ago, with a few of us banding together to agree to call forth others with powers to protect our futures, ours and the world's in general. I remember that night, it's kind of hard to forget. My sister eloped after our meeting with someone who I thought of as my nemesis at the time."

"At the time?" Gabriel smirked. "Bitch, I'm STILL your nemesis and don't you forget it!"

Peter mock-glared at Gabriel. "I'd tell you to go and fist yourself, but I know my sister does it to you nightly and you enjoy it!"

Gabriel laughed. "Hey! Stop listening in on my private time with your sister, perv!"

Peter shook his head. "But in all seriousness, I remember that after we agreed to travel the world and bring so many of you here, we all had a party. We joined in the New Year's Eve revelers here in town, considering it to be our last night to kick up our heels before we put our noses to the grindstone to build an army. Little did we know that we'd have plenty more occasions to come together, both in happiness and in grief. I think of everyone in this room as a loved one, as family. In just a little over a week, a battle is going to take place that will change history, it will change all of our lives and after that, we're all going to scatter to the winds, to return to the lives we left behind to come here to save the world. The thought of losing my family, either to the battle or to the exodus that will follow, breaks my heart. I want to know that we'll all be together again, as much as possible. I want us all to make a vow here, this afternoon, in the building where we all came together, to return here every year to remember those we've lost and to continue to be a part of each other's lives. I want us all to remain family, no matter how far we go after the battle. Who's with me?"

"I am!" Matt stepped forward with Janice and Matthew. "I agree with you, Peter." He turned to the crowd. "I love everyone here. I don't want to lose touch with a single one of you."

"We're with you too, Man!" D.L. stepped forward, raising his drink with Niki and Micah at his side.

"I'd fly here with my girl every year to catch up with all of you. I don't want to lose touch with a single person here!" Geoffrey called out, holding Bridget's hand.

Peter smiled and wiped away tears as others stepped forward, all raising their glasses and vowing to return to Las Vegas every year. Soon, everyone had stepped forward, raising their glasses to Peter. Peter nodded and lifted his own glass higher. "To family!"

"TO FAMILY!" Everyone cheered.

Peter stepped away and walked to Sherry and Olivia. Sherry shook her head and glanced at Olivia before turning back to Peter. "You two sharing the same brain or something? Olivia was just getting all maudlin about the idea of everyone scattering to the winds herself."

Peter shook his head. "No. It's been weighing on me for a while, knowing that we were all going to be leaving soon. It finally hit me a while ago that tonight was truly our last party before the battle. I wanted to say something to commemorate it and remind us all what we're fighting for. I wanted to know that after next week, we weren't just going to walk away and never see each other again."

"It was a hell of a speech, Little Brother." Olivia hugged him.

"Yeah, it was!" Nathan clapped Peter on the back. "Sure you're not interested in going into politics?"

Peter laughed. "I'm sure." He glanced over at Olivia. "Actually, I've been considering medical school for a while now."

"SHUT UP!" Olivia gasped. "Oh, tell me that you're not kidding!"

"I'm not kidding." Peter shook his head. "I'm already signed up to take the MCAT next spring. If I pass, I'm going to apply to medical school. Sherry and I have already discussed it." He laughed as Olivia hugged him again, tighter this time. "I take it you're pleased?"

"I'm suddenly having visions of a family-run family practice dancing through my head so yeah I'm pleased!"

"What about surgery?" Peter frowned.

Olivia shrugged. "I've been thinking about that. I'm changing my specialty to general practice with an emphasis on emergency medicine. I can still do it in Savannah, it'll just take longer, since I'll be starting over again, residency-wise. I think I'll have more time to be a wife and mother as a family practitioner instead of a surgeon that's on-call twenty-four seven."

"You've got a point." Peter nodded. He looked around the room again. "Everything's moving along, isn't it?"

"Yeah, it is." Nathan sighed. He noticed Claire pouting. "What's wrong?"

"Double-standards suck!" She glared.

* * *

Lyle and Mina hurriedly rushed back into the building from the gardens, blushing as they held hands, not realizing they were being watched. A young woman grinned as she took photos of the twosome before turning and walking down the strip to a hotel. As soon as she entered, she encountered Gota, who stared at her imperiously. "Well?" She asked.

"They've fallen back into a routine, the idiots." Kara Christensen smiled at her friend. "They seem to have been having a party today, but other than that, that place runs like clockwork."

"And Mina?" Gota raised an eyebrow at her.

"Everyone's gotten a bit lax in Mina's security." Kara grinned. "I've infiltrated the high school that she and the other teenagers go to as a library assistant. It'll be easy enough nabbing the girl back. All you have to do is give the word."

"Very good." Gota stood and walked towards the hotel room door. "Very good indeed, Kara. On behalf of Mr. Linderman, I thank you."

"So?" Kara spread out her arms impatiently. "WHEN do I re-collect Mina?"

Gota turned to her and smiled. "A team will be arriving soon to help you. You'll tell them how to get her back."

"Very well." Kara nodded. "This IS going to get me a few extra perks at the compound and with Mr. Linderman, right?"

"I'll be sure to let him know how well you've done." Gota rolled her eyes as she left the hotel room.

* * *

Friday November 7, 2008

"Hey Mina! Wait up!" Mina turned as she exited the high school, smiling as Lyle ran to catch up with her. He reached her and took her books, tucking them under his arm. "Bio was boring today, wasn't it?"

"Tell me about it." Mina rested her head on his shoulder as they headed towards the student parking lot. "I swear if Mr. Workman had continued for one more second about the Krebs cycle-"

"-I know. We get it already." Lyle smiled down at her as he took her hand. "What are you thinking about doing tonight?"

Mina shrugged. "Dunno. I was thinking about a movie, maybe?" She looked up at him. "Maybe we could rent something or just head out to the theater or-" She frowned as a car pulled into the parking lot. "-Whose car is that?"

Lyle shook his head. "Who knows?" He scanned the parking lot for Claire's car and checked his watch. "And where's Claire, anyway?"

"Miss Bennet?" As Claire hurried down the hall towards the parking lot, digging her keys out of her purse, she turned and frowned as a young woman approached her, her sandy hair pulled back into a bun. She recognized her as Miss Christensen, the new assistant to the librarian. She'd seen her whenever she had to go to the library for study hall.

"Yes?" Claire's frown deepened as the woman approached her.

Kara smiled softly at Claire and held out a textbook. "I've been trying to catch up with you since study hall this afternoon. You left this in the library this morning."

"Yeah, thanks." Claire took the book from Kara, her eyes widening as she suddenly read the woman's mind. "OH NO!" She turned to run towards the parking lot, her heart pounding as she heard the woman laughing behind her.

"YOU REALIZE YOU'RE TOO LATE, RIGHT?" Kara cackled as Claire ran.

Claire took a few running steps and screamed as she heard screams and gunshots from the parking lot. "NO!" She yelped as she ran quickly towards the lot. Her heart pounded as she spotted a crowd of students, huddled around a body, some yelling for help and others crying while a few called 911 on their cell phones. Claire recognized the strawberry blonde hair of the body lying in the lot in the center of the crowd. "LYLE!" She ran towards him, shoving students out of the way until she reached her brother, choking back sobs as she fell on her knees beside him. He struggled to breathe, blood pouring from the gunshot wound in his chest. Claire cradled him in her arms, wishing everyone would turn away long enough for her to heal him, terrified of what it would mean if she threw caution to the wind and healed her brother in front of everyone. Looking down at his face as he looked into her eyes, his own filled with terror and pain, she stroked his hair. "Lyle?" She whispered helplessly.

With blood trickling out of his mouth, he winced as he tried to take a breath. "Get Daddy. They took Mina. Linder-" he coughed, blood spattering on Claire's face "-I want Daddy-" his voice trailed off as he passed out in her arms.

"LYLE NO!" Claire began to cry harder as she held her brother in her arms. "WAKE UP LYLE! DON'T DO THIS!"


	95. Chapter 95

Chapter Ninety-Five: The Last Night

"Peek-a-boo! Peek-a-boo!" Olivia stood over Faith's swing with a small blanket, covering her face and peeking out at her daughter, laughing as the infant giggled and cooed. Olivia covered her face with the blanket. "Where's Mommy?" She pulled the blanket down. "Here I am!" She stopped the swing as the baby squealed and laughed, lifting her daughter into her arms to give her a kiss on the cheek. "That never gets old for you, does it, Pumpkin?"

"Wait until she's crawling and we can play it around the furniture." Gabriel watched his wife and daughter adoringly as Olivia sat beside him, snuggling against his shoulder. "Of course, if you really wanted to wig her out, you'd turn invisible and then back again."

"I have a few times." Olivia nodded. "Faith really got off on watching that, let me tell you!" She looked up, frowning as Gabriel's smile faded. "What's wrong?"

Gabriel grabbed her hand, his eyes widening as he stood up, pulling Olivia with him. "We've got to get over to Noah and Sandra now!" He pulled Olivia and Faith towards a wall. "Sandra just started screaming and crying." They phased through the wall quickly into the Bennet's living room, gasping as they spotted Noah and Sandra.

They were sitting on the couch, Sandra sobbing and clinging to a stricken-looking Noah. "Not my boy! Not my boy!" Sandra wailed.

Olivia quickly handed Faith to Gabriel as she ran to the couple, kneeling in front of them. "What's happened to Lyle?" She asked, her heart pounding.

Noah stared off into the distance, a blank expression on his face. "Claire just called. Lyle was shot in the high school parking lot. Mina was taken."

Olivia closed her eyes. "My father did this."

Noah nodded slowly. "Your father did this."

"Bastard." Olivia hissed. "And Lyle?"

"It's not good." Noah swallowed audibly as he stroked Sandra's back. "He's being taken to a hospital by ambulance. Claire's with him. She'll call and let us know which hospital as soon as they get there, then-"

"-Then we'll go there, the three of us and I'll heal Lyle." Olivia nodded quickly. "My father did this, I'll take it back."

"How?" Noah asked weakly. "Claire wanted to heal him in the parking lot, but there was a crowd, Olivia. Many people saw him get shot, they saw his injuries. Doctors, EMS, nurses, police, they're all going to see his injuries. There are going to be police reports-" Noah continued to stare ahead unblinkingly "-how can we explain a boy who was on death's door, suddenly getting up and walking out?"

"We'll find a way." Olivia nodded as she took Noah's hand. "Lyle's not going anywhere. That boy isn't going to be my father's latest victim." She stood and turned to Gabriel as he watched them, his cheek pressed against the top of Faith's head. "Call Nikolai. Tell him to get here as quickly as he can. He's going to have to teleport us to whatever hospital they've taken him to so I can get to him and heal him."

"Will do. I'll call Peter too." Gabriel pulled out his cell phone and walked into the kitchen, his voice hushed as he talked on the phone.

Olivia turned back to Noah and Sandra, kneeling in front of them again. "We'll find a way to heal him without word of our abilities getting out. I could heal him slowly, a little at a time if I have to. Maybe just enough to stabilize him until we can transfer him elsewhere, then I'll heal him again until he's recovered enough to come home. Then-"

"-Can you do that?" Sandra asked her, her expression hopeful. "Can you stabilize him and keep him alive without everyone knowing about-"

"-I can try." Olivia sighed. "Hell, at this point, I don't give a shit WHO knows what we can do. What is anyone going to do to us, huh? Let an army come for us, one's coming already."

"Olivia-" Noah's eyes snapped towards hers.

"-NO!" She sat back on her heels, shaking her head. "My father will NOT kill another innocent person. It's not happening, got it?" She reached out and took their hands, squeezing them. "We'll get Laurent and Hana to wipe minds and erase reports if we have to. I'm going to heal Lyle, I'm not going to let him pay the price for my father's-" her voice trailed off as she fought tears "-He's going to live, Noah. I swear to you that he's going to live."

Noah nodded slowly, then jumped as his cell phone rang. He answered it quickly, his voice trembling. "Hello?" His grip tightened on Sandra's shoulders. "Claire. Okay. Okay. We're on our way, Honey. No, he's not allergic to anything. I love you too." He closed his phone, his eyes slowly closing as well. "Lyle's been taken directly into surgery. He was shot in the chest."

"Okay." Olivia took a deep breath. "Where is he?"

"UMC." Noah looked up as Nikolai quickly entered the apartment with Laurent, Peter, Sherry, Claude and Hana quickly following him. "He's at the University Medical Center in surgery. Claire's there now."

"Where's Molly?" Sherry asked, tears streaming down her cheeks.

"Oh God." Noah closed his eyes. "She'll be home soon. The bus should be dropping her off-"

"-I'm on it." Sherry quickly turned and walked out of the apartment.

Claude walked over to Noah and sat beside him, placing a strong hand on his shoulder. "The night that Tatiana-" he took a breath "-you were a rock to me, my old friend. I could not have made it through the first few hours without you and Hana and Sandra standing beside me. I am here for you now, anything you need."

"Thank you." Noah stood up with Sandra still clutched to his chest. "Right now, I need to get to the hospital. I need to make my boy okay." He looked over at Olivia, Laurent and Hana. "And I'm going to need you three to help me."

Olivia's eyes widened for a moment, a smile spreading across her face. "I think I've just realized how we can save Lyle without anyone finding out about our powers." She turned to Peter. "Call Candice."

* * *

Mina sobbed as she was dragged off of the helicopter, her heart sinking as she spotted the compound and Linderman, standing in the doorway of the building. He stared down at her coolly as she was dragged by Gota and her minions towards him. "You didn't have to shoot him!" She wailed, struggling against the men that pulled her towards Linderman. "You've killed him! I know it!"

"You should have thought of the people you were going to hurt before you ran away, you stupid, stupid little girl." Gota snarled.

"Someone was shot?" Linderman asked, a touch of amusement in his voice at the spectacle in front of him.

Gota rolled her eyes. "Noah Bennet's son actually tried to stop us from taking her."

"YOU SHOT HIM, YOU BITCH!" Mina pulled an arm free and swung at Gota, her fist connecting with the older woman's cheek. As Gota fell, Mina kicked at her, struggling harder as the men around her grabbed her free arm and pulled her away.

Gota stood up, her eyes blazing as she advanced towards the young girl. "You'll pay for that, you little bitch." She hissed as the bruise on her cheek quickly healed. "I'll make you scream for mercy for striking me."

Linderman stepped forward, stopping Gota. "Darling, she's upset. You must take our poor child's emotional state into consideration." He turned back to Mina, clucking his tongue. "Poor thing has been trapped in Las Vegas, probably being brainwashed by those people there."

"The fuck I was!" Mina fought against the hands gripping her arms. "YOU'RE the one who's doing the brainwashing, not them! They're good people and you just killed one of them!"

Linderman's eyes narrowed as he studied her. After a moment, he glanced at the men holding onto her. "There's a room set up for her in my suite. Take her there."

"LET ME GO!" Mina struggled and fought against the others as she was dragged into the building. "YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND! HE'S GOING TO KILL ALL OF YOU, ALL OF US AT THE BATTLE! HE DOESN'T CARE ABOUT YOU OR ME OR EVEN GOTA! ALL HE CARES ABOUT IS BEING THE MOST POWERFUL PERSON! YOU HAVE TO LET ME GO! YOU HAVE TO STOP HIM!"

Linderman sighed and shook his head. "Poor thing. They really did do quite the number on her in Las Vegas, didn't they?"

Gota smirked at him. "She's not right with what she said, is she? You do care about me, don't you?"

"At the very least." Linderman wrapped an arm around her waist as they walked into the building together. "And what of our little spy that made this all possible?"

Gota nodded. "Kara is on her way here on the other helicopter. She said that Miss Bennet was so worried about getting to her brother, she didn't even think about attacking her first. She got off scot-free."

"Of course she did." Linderman grinned.

* * *

Olivia, Peter, Noah, Sandra, Nikolai, Hana, Claude, Candice and Laurent appeared out of thin air in an alley behind the hospital with another man in tow. Olivia and Peter nodded to each other resolutely as they began to quickly head into the emergency room entrance. As soon as they walked into the waiting room, Claire spotted the group and jumped up, her face streaked with tears as she ran to her parents, sobbing loudly. "Oh Daddy! It was my fault! I was running late after calculus and then this woman stopped me, saying she'd found my textbook, but I think she took it so she COULD stop me later. She was the library assistant, she just started a few weeks ago. I read her mind as I took the book and I realized that Linderman's people were in the parking lot to take Mina and I knew that she never went out there without Lyle so I started running and then I heard the gunshots and-" she gulped for air, struggling to breathe in between sobs "-I should have paid more attention to my books, and I should have left class as soon as the bell rang, but I just wanted to finish my notes before I left. If I'd been there-"

"-they'd still have taken Mina and you would have been shot too, possibly in the head." Noah stroked her hair as he hugged her tightly. "I knew that Linderman was probably going to try something. I should have insisted that someone pick all of you up at the school every day, especially now with it being so close to the day of-" Noah shook his head as he tilted Claire's chin up, making her look into his eyes. "-this wasn't your fault, Baby." Claire started sobbing harder as Noah wrapped his arms around her, squeezing her tightly.

"How's Lyle?" Sandra asked, her voice trembling.

Claire turned to her. "They haven't told me anything yet." She gulped for air. "They took him straight into surgery as soon as we got here."

"Okay." Sandra whispered.

Claire noticed the others standing behind her parents. She frowned as she noticed the thin, dark-skinned man standing between Candice and Laurent. "Mr. Swan? What are you doing here?"

The man tugged at his graying moustache nervously as he stared over at Peter and Candice. "I honestly don't know." Joshua Swan shrugged. "They told me that I was needed, but-"

"-You are needed." Olivia sighed. "But I need to do my part first." She turned to Peter and winked. "Wish me luck."

"Good luck." Peter smiled at her. Olivia took a deep breath as Peter glanced over at a security camera. He turned back to Olivia, winking at her. "I love Micah, I swear."

"It's off?" Olivia asked.

"I told it that it needed to be off for a moment." Peter nodded. "Have at it."

"Okay." Olivia concentrated for a moment and turned invisible. She quickly walked out of the waiting room and made her way down the halls of the hospital, searching until she found the surgical floor. She studied the O.R. assignment boards until she saw the name "Bennet, L." posted for operating room seven, then phased her way into the room. She winced as she spotted Lyle on the operating table, his chest spread open as doctors rushed around him to save his life. She noticed the monitor beside the table, shaking her head as she noticed his vital signs. Carefully, she made her way over to the table, searching for a way to touch him without being touched by the medical team working to save the boy's life.

"Clamp!" She heard one of the doctors bark to the nurses. As a clamp was handed to him, he sighed. "This kid is going to need a miracle. His lungs are shredded, the bullet is lodged in his spine and his vitals-" he frowned as the monitors began to beep "-we're losing him! Crash cart now!" He ordered. As someone stepped away from the foot of the bed to make way for the crash cart, Olivia saw her chance. She darted towards the foot of the bed and grabbed Lyle's foot for a moment, smiling as Lyle's vitals signs suddenly surged. The doctor stared at the monitor. "What the fuck?" He stared down into Lyle's chest cavity. "I could have sworn there was more damage than this in here just a moment ago." He reached into Lyle's chest with a pair of tongs and removed a bullet. "And wasn't this just stuck in his spinal column?"

Olivia grinned and covered a giggle as she stood back and waited as the doctor shook his head and continued to operate on Lyle.

In the waiting room, Peter looked around, grinning. "She's doing it."

"What's she doing?" Claire asked as she leaned against Nikolai.

"She's keeping Lyle's vitals strong during his surgery and repairing some damage subtly so he won't be in there as long." Peter nodded to Candice and Joshua. "And then it's our turn."

"Just WHAT are you guys going to do?" Sandra asked.

"I'm wondering that myself." Joshua mused.

"Simple." Peter grinned. "You'll see soon enough."

* * *

A few hours later, everyone stood up and waited nervously as a doctor walked into the waiting room and pulled Noah, Sandra and Claire aside to tell them about Lyle's surgery. Peter turned to the others. "He's out of surgery and in recovery."

"And doing very well." Everyone jumped as they heard a voice behind them. "He's a lucky boy." Olivia said, still invisible.

"Cute, Sis." Peter sighed. "So now it's our turn." He nodded to Joshua and Candice. "As soon as Lyle is moved to a room, we're up."

Joshua sighed. "I'm still a little shaky on this."

"It's easy." Candice nodded. "Trust me, I've been doing it for years. You can do it for a few days."

"Days?" Joshua moaned. "You mean I'm going to miss the fight?"

"Well, it's not like we're going to need a babelfish in a battle Josh." Candice quipped. "I think the only language we'll be speaking there will be the language of ass-whupping."

"You'll be doing something equally important Joshua." Peter clapped him on the shoulder. "You'll be allowing us to save Lyle AND let us all keep our powers a secret. If we tried to heal him now and just let him walk out of here, it would raise too many questions."

Joshua glanced over at Laurent. "But what about him? Can't he just wipe minds and make everyone forget that Lyle was even here?"

"He could, but a lot of people have seen and heard about this already. If we missed wiping the mind of even ONE person who saw Lyle's shooting or saw his injuries afterwards, the whole house of cards would fall down around us." Peter nodded. "Laurent's here to mop up any mistakes we might make, that's all. You can do this, right?"

"I hope so." Joshua sighed. "So how DO I get her power?"

"Easy." Peter smiled. "I was around Mina, so now I can transfer powers too." He took Candice's hand and then took Joshua's. He closed his eyes for a moment, then opened them, smiling. "You can now create illusions."

Joshua grinned. "I can't wait to try this out!"

* * *

An hour later, Noah, Sandra and Claire were shown to Lyle's room in the intensive care unit. He lay motionless on the bed, a respirator breathing for him. As soon as she saw him, Sandra began to cry, reaching out to stroke his hair. "My poor baby boy." She whispered.

"He's going to be okay, Mom." Claire took Lyle's hand, blinking away tears. "I just wish that I could have healed him as soon as he was shot. There were just too many people standing around."

"You did the right thing." Olivia whispered behind her, still invisible. "We're going to take care of this now and he's going to be as good as new without anyone finding out about our abilities." She glanced at Peter as he stood next to her, equally invisible. An invisible Candice stood behind Peter, her hand clasped in Joshua's to keep him from being seen as well. "Ready?" Olivia whispered.

Peter turned to Candice. "Do your thing."

Candice nodded and looked around. "Okay. If anyone looks in here, all they'll see is Noah, Sandra and Claire standing around Lyle's bed."

"First things first." Olivia reached out and carefully removed the tube from Lyle's throat before placing a hand on his head. She closed her eyes and smiled as she heard Lyle begin to cough. Opening her eyes, she looked down at the boy, smiling as his eyes fluttered open. "Welcome back." She whispered.

"Dr. Gray?" Lyle stared up at her. "Where am I?"

"The University Medical Center. You were shot." Olivia nodded as Lyle bolted up in bed, staring down at the bandages on his chest. "I just healed you. Are you ready to go home?"

"I'm not dead?" Lyle stared at his parents as they watched him with relief. "I'm okay?"

"You are now, Son!" Noah reached out and pulled him into his arms, ruffling his hair. Looking over his son's head at Olivia, he mouthed the words "thank you" to her. "Let's get you home."

"Wait." Lyle squirmed. "I've got a bunch of tubes and-"

"-Oh yeah, I'll get those." Olivia reached for Lyle and stepped back as he slapped her hands away. "What? I'm a doctor."

Lyle blushed as he glanced at his mother, Candice and Claire. "I know but there's a tube-" he cleared his throat and glanced in his lap as Peter and Noah suddenly shifted uncomfortably.

"-I know. I'm a doctor." Olivia glanced at the others. "Mind turning around for a moment, guys? Lyle needs a bit of privacy."

"Definitely wouldn't mind not watching this." Peter muttered as he turned his back to Lyle, everyone else following suit. He winced as he heard Lyle yelp for a moment.

"Sorry." Olivia's voice was apologetic. "I've heard those things do tend to pinch."

"No shit." Lyle moaned as everyone turned back around. He grimaced at his father. "Sorry."

"I think I'll let that slide for now." Noah shook his head. "If I had a catheter removed, I think I'd say a lot worse than shit, Son."

"I really am sorry. There's no comfortable way to take those out." Olivia sighed as she removed Lyle's I.V. "Or these. Deep breath and try not to yell, okay?" She quickly pulled out Lyle's chest tubes, wincing as he bit down on his lip to keep from yelling. She touched his shoulder, smiling as the wounds from those tubes quickly faded away. "Easy as pie."

"Yeah, if you're not on the receiving end of it." Lyle started to climb out of the bed and stopped. "Wait, how are we going to explain-"

"-Taken care of." Noah helped Lyle out of bed. Peter nodded to Joshua who sighed and climbed into the bed.

"How do I do this?"

"Just concentrate and think of the illusion. You want anyone who comes in here to think that Lyle's lying in this bed unconscious. Occasionally, put Noah and Sandra in here too, sitting with him." Candice nodded.

"And if they want to," Joshua stared at the used catheter hanging off of the end of the bed. Olivia grabbed it quickly and tossed it into a hazardous waste bin. "do stuff to me?"

Candice giggled. "Josh, I spent many years making people think they were interacting with a skinny schoolgirl, hugging me, shaking my hand. I think you can handle the other stuff. They'll reach out to do other stuff without even touching you and as far as they know, they're handling whatever it is they think they're handling. It's all in their heads. Get it?"

"I think so." Joshua sighed.

"If you get into trouble, call me and I'll take your place, okay?" Candice shook his hand. "But I have faith that you can do this."

"I will." Joshua sat on the bed and looked around. "Do I just stay in bed all day?"

"You can, or you can wander around the room and watch TV. Just don't stray too far from the room. You want people thinking that Lyle's in here."

"Okay." The older man closed his eyes and concentrated. Suddenly to everyone's eyes, he disappeared and the image of Lyle lying in bed with the respirator breathing for him took his place.

"Fucking creepy, Man!" Lyle shuddered as his parents wrapped their arms around him.

"Good job!" Candice grinned.

"Okay guys, let's roll." Olivia sighed. "It's getting late and Gabriel said something about wanting to go and poke the bear one last time."

"I'm all for THAT!" Peter nodded. He looked around. "Everyone invisible?"

Olivia grabbed the Bennets and nodded. "Everyone is now."

"Let's head down the hall as quickly and carefully as we can to get back to Nik, Hana and Claude before we teleport home." Peter led the way to their friends and they soon found themselves standing in the lobby of the apartment building.

Lyle looked up at Noah, his expression terrified. "Dad, they took Mina."

"We know." Noah sighed. "I think the battle is going to happen tomorrow night."

"We're going to try and get her back during the fight." Peter hugged the young man. "Your Lady Love will be returned safe and sound."

Lyle blushed. "Thanks." He started to walk towards the elevators and froze as Claire whistled at him. "What?"

Claire giggled and pointed to the open back of the hospital gown he was still wearing. "I haven't seen that little tushie since you were four years old and liked to run around the house naked!"

As everyone started laughing, Lyle quickly grabbed the back of his gown, pulling the ends together to hide his exposed rear, his face turning even redder. "Well, I can see how happy everyone is to have me back." He muttered.

Claire walked over to him and hugged him tightly, blinking back the tears that had sprung into her eyes. "We really are. You have no idea just HOW happy."

* * *

Linderman sat in his suite, rolling his eyes as Mina pounded on the locked door of her room, yelling and screaming to be let out. He sighed as he took a sip of the brandy in his glass and closed his eyes, leaning back in his chair. His eyes flew open as he heard a familiar voice booming in the courtyard.

"DANIEL LINDERMAN! THIS IS YOUR SON-IN-LAW GABRIEL GRAY! YOU TOOK MINA CUTHBERT TODAY AND CRITICALLY INJURED AN INNOCENT BOY!" Gabriel stood in the courtyard of the compound with a megaphone in his hand. Peter, Claude, Olivia, Nathan, Nikolai and Noah stood beside him. "LUCKY FOR YOU, THE BOY IS SAFE AND SOUND NOW! WE ARE HERE TO TELL YOU THAT THIS STOPS NOW! YOU THINK YOU CAN KILL US? YOU THINK YOU CAN TAKE OUR CHILDREN AND THREATEN US? THIS ENDS NOW! IF YOU HONESTLY THINK THAT YOUR ARMY CAN DESTROY US, TRY IT! THERE IS A VALLEY AND A DEEP GORGE IN THE DESERT NEAR LAS VEGAS! IT IS SITUATED A MILE TO THE EAST OF THE TESTING FACILITIES YOU USED TO OWN THERE! IF YOU AND YOUR PEOPLE HONESTLY THINK THAT YOU CAN FIGHT ALL OF US, IF YOU THINK YOU CAN DESTROY US, MEET US THERE TOMORROW NIGHT AT SUNDOWN! WE'LL BE WAITING."

"Give me that." Olivia grabbed the megaphone from her husband. "LINDERMAN, IT'S OLIVIA! IF YOU AND YOUR PEOPLE DON'T SHOW UP TOMORROW NIGHT, EXPECT TO BE HUNTED, YOU AND YOURS. WE ARE GOING TO BE THE ONES ON THE OFFENSIVE FROM NOW ON! WE'RE NOT THE ONES WHO ARE GOING TO STALKED AND SPIED ON AND HUNTED. EITHER BRING YOUR PEOPLE TO FIGHT US TOMORROW NIGHT, OR EXPECT A RAID ON THIS COMPOUND SOON AFTER! IF YOU TRY TO RUN, WE'LL FIND YOU! IF YOU TRY TO SURRENDER, WE'LL KILL YOU-"

"-Oh shit, she's really poking the bear big time, isn't she?" Claude muttered.

"That's my girl." Gabriel grinned.

"-IF YOU DON'T SHOW UP, WE'LL KNOW THAT EVERYONE HERE IS NOTHING BUT DICKLESS, PIECES OF SHIT COWARDS WHO DON'T HAVE THE BALLS TO BACK UP WHAT THEY SAY! WE'LL KNOW THAT EVERY ONE OF YOU ARE NOTHING BUT WHINY, MORONS WHO ARE HAPPIEST WHEN THEY'RE WORKING LIKE COWARDLY ASSES IN THE SHADOWS, SIMPLY BULLIES THAT DESERVE TO BE WIPED OFF OF THE FACE OF THE EARTH, WHICH WE'LL DO WITH A SMILE ON OUR FACES AND SONGS IN OUR HEARTS! IF YOUR PEOPLE SHOW UP TOMORROW TO FIGHT, THOSE THAT SURRENDER OR ARE INJURED WILL BE TREATED WITH DECENCY, BUT IF YOU REFUSE TO SHOW UP LIKE THE NUTLESS WONDERS THAT I THINK ALL OF YOU ARE, NO ONE WILL LIVE WHEN WE'RE FINISHED WITH YOU!"

"No, NOW she's poking the bear." Nathan smiled.

"SUNDOWN TOMORROW, ASSHOLE! WE'LL SEE YOU THERE!" Olivia handed the megaphone to her husband before turning to Peter and Nikolai. "Okay, let's teleport our asses out of here."

"Wait." Noah grabbed the megaphone. "MINA! THIS IS MR. BENNET! YOU WILL BE RESCUED! YOU WILL BE SAVED! LYLE WANTED ME TO LET YOU KNOW THAT HE'S SORRY THAT HE COULDN'T PROTECT YOU BETTER AND THAT HE CAN'T WAIT TO GO OUT WITH YOU AGAIN, IF YOU'LL HAVE HIM! YOU WILL BE RETURNED TO KATHARINA AND YOU WILL BE SAVED FROM THESE PEOPLE! YOU HAVE MY WORD ON IT!"

In her room, Mina collapsed on the bed, sobbing with relief. "Oh thank God."

Noah handed the megaphone to Gabriel and turned to Peter and Nikolai. "NOW let's get the fuck out of here!"

In his chair, Linderman smiled to himself as he took another swig of his brandy. "I've been waiting for this day for many years." He settled back in his chair, beaming as he thought about the battle that would take place the next evening.

* * *

Gabriel stood in the nursery, staring down at Faith as she slept, her hand tucked under her chin. He reached out and gently touched the top of her head, frowning as he thought about the battle that would be taking place the next night. He shook his head as he reached into the crib and pulled her into his arms. As she whimpered in her sleep, he cradled her against his chest, kissing the top of her head. "Go back to sleep, Princess. Daddy just can't let you sleep alone tonight." He whispered as he carried her into the bedroom. Olivia sat on the bed, frowning as he walked in with their daughter.

"Honey, I sort of planned-" she was cut off as Gabriel lifted a finger.

"I know what you were planning." Gabriel shook his head. "No. Not tonight." As Olivia took a breath to speak he smiled softly at her. "You're not going to get all scared like you did the night before Faith was born and think that tonight is our last night together. It's not. We're not going to make love tonight while thinking it's the last night we'll ever spend together. Tonight is just one of many nights that you and I and our daughter are going to have together and we're going to spend it that way. We're going to spend tonight as a family, nothing more."

"I really might die tomorrow. There's a very good possibility." Olivia nodded.

"And there's a good possibility that you're going to come home with me when this is all over. I won't accept anything less." Gabriel climbed into bed beside her, Faith snuggled against his chest. "And when we come home tomorrow night, we'll make love then, but not tonight. This won't be our last night together. I refuse to accept that." He stretched out on the bed and nodded to his wife. "Come on, cuddle up with me and our daughter. Let me spend tonight with my family."

"Okay." Olivia stretched out beside him, facing him as Faith slept between the two of them. She reached out, taking Gabriel's hand. "I love you."

"I love you too." Gabriel smiled at her. "And I'll love you for the rest of our very long lives together. You saved me more times than I can count, you gave me a child, you gave me love and you gave me the knowledge that I'm the most special man in this world. I'll always love you for that. Thank you."

"You're welcome. Thank you for loving me, too. Thank you for giving me the strength to face my father, for making me a wife and a mother."

"You're welcome, too." Gabriel closed his eyes. "We need to sleep. We have to get up early to start getting ready."

"Okay." Olivia watched him for a moment before she closed her eyes, dozing off beside him.

* * *

Early the next morning, Gabriel, Olivia, Peter, Sherry, Nathan, Heidi, Angela, Kaito, Hiro, Claire, Noah, Sandra, Lyle, Claude, Hana, Nikolai, Matt, Janice, Laurent, D.L., Niki, Mohinder and Candice all met up in the training room to discuss the battle.

Peter sat back at the table, nodding. "Sounds like we've got everything planned out. I've already destroyed Faith's blood samples to keep Linderman's people from getting them if things go pear-shaped with us." He looked at Sandra, Lyle, Janice, Mohinder, Candice, Laurent, Noah, and Heidi. "If that happens, it will be up to you and your team to try and find a way to escape with the children."

"Will do." Mohinder nodded.

"Are you sure where we're going is far enough away?" Heidi chewed on her lip nervously.

"I hope so." Peter sighed. "We're going to teleport you and the children an hour before the battle. Hopefully Linderman will be too busy preparing what passes for troops in that compound for the fight to track where all of you are."

"And even then, we're hoping that even if he does track you and send some people after you, we'll be able to end the battle in the desert and teleport to your sides to fight that group before they can reach all of you." Nathan squeezed Heidi's hand.

"But if we do have to fight, I have faith that we'll kick ass." Sandra grinned wickedly. "With Laurent there, he'll be able to suppress any powers the others have. We'll be able to fight them on even footing and with the training we've had, we should be able to make quick work of them."

Noah looked to Olivia. "You've been practicing how to swap back and forth with ease, right?"

Olivia nodded. "I have been since Faith was born."

"She's gotten quite good." Angela's eyes gleamed proudly. "She can bounce from body to body in a split second if she has to."

"And I will have to tonight." Olivia took a deep breath. "If I want to live, that is."

Candice's cell phone rang. After she answered it, she started cursing. "Well, count me out of the battle to protect the children. I'm sending Josh in my place. Apparently he's had some difficulty in keeping the illusion up with Lyle. A few nurses have called alerts because Lyle's 'disappeared' from his bed when he's supposed to be comatose, only to find him back in his bed moments later. They're starting to get suspicious." She stood up, shaking her head. "I had ONE task for that guy!"

Mohinder hugged her. "I'd rather you be safe in a hospital than in a fight."

"I'd rather be fighting beside you." Candice clung to him tightly. "Protect our daughter, protect yourself, come back to me so we can live a long life together. I love you."

"I love you too." Mohinder watched as she walked out of the room. "Shit." He muttered under his breath as he dashed for the door. "CANDICE WAIT!"

Candice stopped in the hallway, frowning as Mohinder ran to catch up with her. "What?" She gasped as he knelt in front of her, pulling a ring out of his pocket. "What are you doing?"

"I know you don't believe in marriage, but I also know that you believe in me as I do you. I want to spend the rest of my life with you, and I want to do it with you as my wife. Will you marry me?"

Candice smiled softly as she leaned down and kissed his cheek. "Ask me again when you and our daughter return to me." She winked at him before turning and walking to the elevator.

Mohinder grinned as she entered the elevator and watched as the doors closed behind her. "She's going to say yes." He turned and half-skipped down the hall back to the training room. As Peter, Gabriel and Nikolai smirked at him, he rolled his eyes. "What?"

"Big guy making the big romantic gesture right before a battle. How much more clichéd can you get?" Gabriel laughed. "For what it's worth Mo, I think she'll say yes too, AFTER the battle."

"I hope so." Mohinder sat down, smiling. "I just had to tell her where I stood, just in case-"

"-You'll see her again, Dude." Peter smiled at him.

Noah cleared his throat and turned to Olivia. "That body armor that Kaito made for you, you said you weren't going to use it, right?"

"Right." Olivia nodded. "Why?"

Noah leaned back in his chair. "I want it." He looked around at everyone. "I trust my wife and son to hold the fort with the children but I want revenge on Linderman for almost taking my boy away from me. I want revenge on the people who have been terrorizing us for the last two years. I'm fighting in that gorge beside all of you and I won't take no for an answer." He raised his eyebrows at the group as they stared at him in shock. "And if any of you object, I don't give a flying shit."

"We're not going to object." Sherry beamed as she stood and reached across the table, shaking Noah's hand. "Every army needs a general."

Noah laughed softly. "Well, you ARE always comparing me to Schwarzkopf, I thought I'd live up to it for now."

Peter nodded. "Just make sure you stay near someone with powers, especially when we get ready to start our force fields, got it?"

"Got it." Noah nodded.

Peter stood. "Well then, let's stop sitting around and start getting ready. Nikolai and I have a building full of people to imbue with Faith's force field using Mina's powers."

"Wait." Gabriel turned to Peter. "I want to donate a few things too, if there's time." He smiled softly. "Why shouldn't we all have telekinesis out there?"

Peter smiled. "We have time. Let's get to it!" Everyone stood and filed out of the room to prepare for the battle. "Sundown is in less than twelve hours!"


	96. Chapter 96

Chapter Ninety-Six: The Parting of the Ways

Olivia sat in Faith's nursery, smiling down sadly at her daughter as she nursed her, gently rocking the child as she stroked her cheek. Taking a deep breath, she shook her head. "You've grown so much, Honey. Already three months old and you've grown so much. I have to go in a little while, Daddy and I both do. Your grandfather, my father, is a very bad man and he has to be stopped. Daddy, our friends and I have to stop him. I promise I'm going to do everything I can to come back, but I can't promise that I definitely will, I wish I could. I wish I didn't have to go and do this, I wish we lived in a world where I could just take care of you and watch you grow up without having to worry about armies and evil bastards, and hopefully I'll create that world tonight. I hope I can help create a world where you don't have to go outside without having to look over your shoulder, without having to worry about your grandfather or his friends trying to take you away." Olivia stared down at Faith and struggled not to cry. "If I don't come back tonight, if I don't make it, I know that your daddy will. I know he'll raise you and take care of you with help from my mother and my brothers, your grandmother Angela and your uncles Peter and Nathan, not to mention Papa Kaito and Uncle Hiro. You're going to be the one to keep him from losing his mind and going dark again if I don't survive this battle, at least I hope you will be. If I don't come back tonight, I want you to know that I died to give you a better world. I died so you wouldn't live in fear. And even if I die tonight, I want you to know that I'll always love you and I'll always be watching over you in any way that I can, I swear." As Faith stopped feeding, Olivia nodded and adjusted her top before burping the infant. "I wish I could just sit here and hold you forever, and hopefully after tonight, I'll be able to do just that. Until then, you're going to go away with your Aunt Heidi and your cousins Montgomery and Simon, as well as a few others to be protected and kept safe. I trust the people that you're going with to protect you with their lives as quickly as I would." As Faith belched, Olivia laughed and cuddled her daughter, showering her tiny face with kisses. "God, I wish I didn't have to leave you, Honey." She looked up as Gabriel walked into the room. "How's the power transference going?"

Gabriel shrugged. "Peter and Nikolai took turns imbuing everyone with my power first. Now, they're trading off on giving everyone a force field, Candice's ability, and the ability to sense danger." He knelt beside the rocking chair, taking Faith's tiny hand into his. "She's so tiny."

"I know." Olivia nodded.

"And she's already grown so much."

"Don't remind me." Olivia fought tears again and looked away as Gabriel sighed sadly. As he reached out and placed a gentle hand on her shoulder, she shook her head. "I'm okay."

"No, you're not."

"I'll BE okay, once this is over with, if I make it."

"You WILL make it. You're going to live, Baby."

"You don't know that." Olivia closed her eyes as a sob escaped her lips. Gabriel stood and wrapped his arms around her and their daughter as tears began to escape from her tightly closed eyelids. "What if this is the last moment I'll ever have with the two of you? What if this is the end?"

"It won't be." Gabriel stroked Olivia's hair. "We're going to live through this and we're going to grow old together while watching Faith and the rest of our children grow up, you can count on it."

"How can I believe that?" Olivia struggled to compose herself as Gabriel knelt in front of her again, placing his hands on her shoulders.

"Look at me." Olivia shook her head as Gabriel's grip on her shoulders tightened. "Look at me, dammit!" As Olivia opened her eyes, Gabriel glared up at her, his dark eyes blazing. "I don't want to hear you talk about dying again; not tonight, not ever, do you understand me? We're going to live through this and do you know HOW I know this?" Olivia shook her head again as Gabriel winked at her. "Remember that faith you always had in me? Two years ago tonight, I was in a very dark place. I was a cold-blooded murderer who didn't give a wet fart about anything but collecting powers to be the most 'special' person in the world. I didn't have a game plan, I just wanted powers so I could be special and be a hero. I was willing to let Manhattan blow sky high just to be a fucking hero. Then, after I got skewered by Hiro, everything changed. I met you. The first thing that went through my mind when I realized that you had powers was that I wanted to kill you. I admitted it once before and I'm admitting it again. I wanted to come out of my coma to slice your head open and take what you had in there for myself. Then, something happened. I talked to you, I spent time with you while I struggled to pull myself out of my coma. I got to you know better than I'd gotten to know anyone in a long time. I hadn't had a connection close to that with someone since I traveled with Mohinder while pretending to be Zane Taylor. My connection with you was even closer. You knew who I was, you knew what I'd done and what I was capable of still doing, but you didn't condemn me or treat me like less of a person because of it. You used that silly faith that you had, the faith that was so strong in you that we named our daughter after it, to make me realize that I was already special, that I was a worthy human being that deserved better than prowling in the darkness, killing anyone that crossed me. That faith of yours taught me that love and family and belonging is more important than all of the powers in the world. You had faith, now I have it too. I have faith that we're going to survive tonight. I have faith that we're going to leave here tomorrow for Tybee Island with our daughter and I have faith that we're going to remember this night as the night we stopped being scared and fought for what's important: the future of our children and the future of our lives together. Tell me that you have that faith too, Baby."

Olivia smiled softly at him. "When you put it that way, I can't deny it. I have faith that we're going to live through this too.""That's my girl." Gabriel kissed her softly before standing up. "Can I hold my daughter for a few minutes before Heidi shows up to take her away for a while?"

"Sure." Olivia gently handed Faith to him and left the room. She quickly dressed in black jeans and a black turtleneck sweater, pulling her long dark curls back into a ponytail. As she reached for her sword, she frowned to hear the doorbell ring. "Oh, don't be Heidi. Not yet. I'm not ready to let her go." Olivia whispered as she walked into the living room to answer the door. Her eyes widened to spot Laurent standing in front of her. "Hello."

"Hello." He answered her. Stepping into the room, he turned to face her. "I have a request for you, a promise that I need for you to make to me tonight."

* * *

"SIMON! MONTY! COWBOY UP, GUYS!" Nathan strode through the apartment, dressed in black jeans and a black turtleneck as he strapped different knives and swords to his body. He turned to Heidi as she watched him. "How do I look?"

Heidi smiled at him. "Like a hero." She walked over to him and hugged him tightly. "Come back to me."

"I will. You do the same." Nathan kissed her and hugged her back, his arms tightening around her. "Be safe."

"I will." Heidi rested her head on his shoulder as she closed her eyes. "Is it safe, where we're going?"

"I think so, I hope so." Nathan sighed as he stroked Heidi's hair. "Hiro and Peter consulted together on it, we don't know where you all are going, but they swear it's someplace far away and secluded. They're going to tell Nikolai about it right before they teleport everyone there."

"Okay." Heidi sighed. "I wish I didn't have to go."

"It's for your own safety."

"I know, but still." Heidi shrugged. "I hate this. The boys do too. They've been holed up in their rooms all day. I know they're worried about you and Peter and Olivia and everyone else, and they're worried about themselves as well."

"We're going to be okay. We're ALL going to be okay." Nathan kissed Heidi again. "Want me to talk to them?"

"No. You need to get your head together so you can come back to us when this is over. You need to get into a frame of mind to fight." Heidi looked up at him. "You know, I've dealt with this before, watching you get ready to go off to war, but I've never had this feeling that I have now. I just have this strong sense of doom and I can't figure out why."

"It's because of Peter's visions of the battle and of Future Hiro's warnings of what happens. The difference between what Peter saw and what Hiro experienced and what we're going to do tonight is that unlike the 'us' of that time, we're forewarned. We know what tricks Linderman's going to try, we know what he's got up his sleeve and we're ready to counteract all of that. We're going to make it, Heidi."

"You keep telling me that and I'll start believing it." She smiled and kissed him again. As she pulled away, she turned to see Simon walk into the room. "Where's Monty?"

Simon shrugged. "Dunno. I haven't seen him most of the day. He's been shut up in his room acting weird."

"I'll go talk to him." Nathan kissed Heidi one last time before walking down the hall to Monty's room. As he reached it, Monty walked through the door, startled to see his father standing in front of him. "You doing okay there, Son?"

Monty nodded. "Yeah, I'm okay, Dad." He ducked his head down and tried to walk past him. Nathan placed a hand on his arm and smiled down at him again.

"I know you're a little freaked out and worried," he frowned as he noticed Monty's eyes widen for a moment "is there something you need to talk to me about?"

"No, I'm cool." Monty nodded. "I'm just a little freaked out and worried about this big battle and all, that's it, really."

"You sure? You know if there's something you want to talk to me about, you can, right?"

"I know." Monty nodded again as he ducked his head down and quickly ran down the hall to the living room.

Nathan watched him leave, shaking his head. "What's gotten into HIM?"

* * *

Olivia smiled at Laurent. "What do you need?"

"As I've told you, I need a promise from you." Laurent placed his hands behind his back and stared down at Olivia. "You know that I have a strong belief system, it is something that you and I have in common."

"I know." Olivia nodded.

"And I've seen that you can do more than just heal the living, you can also resurrect the dead. You've done it with your husband and brother and little Tatiana. I want to extract a promise from you. If I am killed this evening protecting the children, including your own daughter, and you survive the battle, I do not wish to be resurrected. If I am killed tonight, it is God's will that my life end and I will meet him proudly at the hour of my death. I don't want to have that meeting interrupted."

"Okay. I promise that if I survive and you don't, I won't interrupt your meeting with God."

"Thank you." Laurent bowed to her before he left the apartment. He stopped at the doorway and turned to her, smiling softly. "And I am going to make a promise to you. I promise to protect that child in there with my life. I promise to die for her and all of the other children here if I have to. They are the future of our kind, they must survive at all costs."

"Thank you." Olivia smiled at him as he left.

* * *

Noah looked up from the couch as he polished his sword, a variety of knives and guns scattered on the coffee table in front of him, to see Sandra walk into the living room. His eyes widened to notice how she was dressed. "Is it 'twin day' in the Bennet house?"

Sandra laughed as she stared down at her black jeans and turtleneck, identical to the outfit that Noah was wearing. "If you're going to dress for war, so am I!" She placed her sword across her back. "And I do mean DRESSED for it! I've got every weapon I ever thought about having strapped to me. I dare anyone to come near our kids or anyone else's."

Noah raised an eyebrow as he pulled off his glasses. "All I see is the sword on your back, the gun holstered on your hip and the knife tucked in your belt. What other weapons are you packing?"

Sandra winked at him. "Come home to me tonight and we'll play a special game of hide-and-seek. You can seek all of the weapons I've hidden on me."

"Sounds like a date. I wouldn't miss it for the world." Noah stood and began to strap body armor onto himself, wincing as Sandra helped him tighten the straps. "Olivia's gained a bit of weight in the last two years, but she's still a bit smaller than I am."

"Oh hush, it'll keep you safe, that's all that matters." Sandra pecked him on the cheek. "Just a tease for later."

"Gee, thanks. No hot, steamy kiss before I go off to war?" Noah pulled his sword on, strapping it to his back before he began to tuck the weapons in front of him into his clothes.

"I'd rather give you a doubly steamy kiss when you come home." Sandra smiled at him as Claire, Molly and Lyle entered the room.

Claire giggled as she heard the end of the conversation. "You two, I swear." She hugged her parents before holding out her arms, showing off her matching body armor over her black jeans and turtleneck, various weapons strapped to her body. "How do I look?"

"Like you're ready to kick ass!" Lyle laughed at her. He reached out and hugged her tightly. "Smack around a few of those jerks that shot me, okay?"

"I'll be sure to do just that." Claire watched as Lyle and Molly took turns hugging Noah.

"And try to go after that crazy woman with the black bowl-cut that snatched Mina. She's the one whose bullets actually hit me, I think." Lyle sighed. "And bring Mina back?"

"We'll try." Noah ruffled his hair.

Sandra hugged Claire. "Take care of yourself and come back to me with your Daddy."

"I will. You be careful too." Claire nodded.

Sandra laughed as she showed off the weapons strapped to her belt. "Oh, I dare ANYONE to cross me, Honey!"

* * *

Gabriel walked into the living room with Faith cradled against his chest. "I heard what Laurent wanted. Rather stupid request, don't you agree?"

Olivia shrugged. "He has a right to ask it."

"Still, I'm telling you this right now. If I die and you live, you'd better resurrect my ass again." Gabriel shook his head. "I'm not exactly ready to meet my judgment at the hands of my maker. I don't even want to know the chewing he'd give me for the things I've done."

"Honey, if you died, you wouldn't have any choice but to BE resurrected by me." Olivia kissed his cheek. "I can't raise our daughter on our own." She checked her watch and sighed. "It's four o'clock."

"I know." Gabriel glanced down at his daughter again. "I really don't want to give her up, even if it's just for a few hours and even if Heidi and Sandra are going to be part of the team standing over her and all of the other children."

"Me neither." Olivia stroked her daughter's head. "We just have to tell ourselves that it's going to be a few hours, that's all. We have to tell ourselves that this is no different than any of the other times we've let someone take Faith for a while. It's the only way we'll get through the separation." She looked into Gabriel's eyes. "Do you have her bag?"

"It's still in her room."

"I'll get it." Olivia stepped past him and made her way to the nursery. She grabbed Faith's overnight bag and checked inside of it to make sure that there were extra diapers and bottles inside. Nodding to herself, she shouldered the bag before she turned to leave the room, after giving the nursery a final look. "I'll be back here and I'll be back with my husband and my daughter. I have to believe that." She whispered to herself before walking back into the living room. "We're meeting the children's group in the lobby."

"Let's go then." Gabriel followed Olivia out of the apartment and to the elevator.

* * *

Linderman looked up from strapping on his sword to see Gota striding into the room. "Well? What has Mina finally told you?"

Gota rolled her eyes. "Apparently, according to Mina, your daughter has the power to resurrect the dead. I think she's full of shit, just saying something, anything so that we'll finally feed the little brat."

Linderman's eyes gleamed. "Raise the dead, eh? It doesn't sound like a lie to me. It explains why, after seeing that idiot son-in-law of mine die in front of me with a gunshot wound to the head, he's still walking around. It also explains why young Mr. Petrelli is still amongst the living, even though I had reports from the few team members that survived that he was also dead from a gunshot to the head."

"Mina claims that your daughter resurrected the child that was murdered by Collette."

Linderman snorted with derision. "Probably because that husband of hers begged her to do it." He sighed. "So Olivia can cure not only the living with my power, she can bring back the dead as well. I wonder if she can resurrect someone who's been reduced to a pile of ash. Make sure to tell the troops that, after they strike down someone with a killing blow, to blast them with Ms. Gordon's fire power. We'll give anyone who dies a proper cremation to make sure they remain dead. Let's see my daughter attempt to resurrect THAT!" As he turned to grab a knife, he glanced back to see Gota still standing in front of him. "What is it now?"

"Mina? Since she told the truth, should she be allowed something to eat? We haven't fed her since she arrived. She complained about feeling sick."

Linderman shrugged. "Give her a bowl of soup in return for her cooperation. I don't need her passing out beside me when I'm going to need her the most." He glanced at Gota again. "Well? Get to it!" He rolled his eyes as Gota left the room. "Ineffectual idiots. I'm surrounded by them. I'll be glad to be rid of them all once this night is done, especially THAT clingy one." He muttered to himself.

* * *

Olivia and Gabriel arrived in the lobby to see that most of the children's team, as well as most of the children had arrived. Gabriel noticed the nervous way that Janice Parkman held her son as Matt hugged and kissed them both goodbye. Scanning the room, he saw how Heidi and Nathan were hugging each other, and how Sandra smiled at her husband and daughter as Lyle and Molly stayed close to her side. Mohinder walked around the room carrying Shanti, gently shushing her as she started to cry in his arms. Gabriel watched as Olivia walked over to Simon and Monty and knelt down beside them, hugging them tightly for a moment before letting them go. "You guys nervous?"

"A little." Simon nodded. "But we're going to be okay, right?"

"You guys are going to be just fine." Olivia looked up as Oscar, Trevor, Sanjog and Laurent arrived with Bridget, Katharina and Christina. She nodded to them before turning back to her nephews. "You guys have been training to fight for a long time now, and I know that you'll do fine, just fine."

"I hope we don't HAVE to fight anyone at all." Simon whispered.

"Me neither." Monty looked away nervously, licking his lips. He glanced back at Olivia and started to speak. "Can I tell you a secret?"

"You can tell me anything. What's up, Champ?" Olivia asked him.

Monty bit his lip for a moment, then shook his head. "Nothing. I'll ask you about it later."

"Yeah, you will." She gave her nephews another quick hug and stood up as Niki and D.L. arrived with Micah, followed by Claude, Hana and Nikolai with Tatiana. "You guys ready?"

"I guess so." Micah shifted his feet for a moment as he fingered the small sword tucked into his belt. "As ready as I'll ever be."

Everyone turned as Peter arrived with Sherry, Anthony and Tulia. Anthony hugged Tulia goodbye, whispering words of encouragement to her before she joined the group that was quickly assembling in the lobby. After Hiro arrived, Peter and Nikolai began to start towards everyone. "WAIT!" Gabriel stepped forward, Faith still clutched in his arms. "They're not ready yet."

Peter sighed. "Gabe, I know this is scary, having to hand Faith over, but-"

"-That's not it." Gabriel shook his head. "They need something else, the children need something else." Gabriel pulled Peter and Nikolai aside and started whispering to them as Peter and Nikolai nodded.

Noah leaned towards Olivia. "What's that lunatic you married up to?"

"I have no idea." Olivia shrugged as the three men turned and gestured to Micah, Molly, Sanjog and Tatiana. Her eyes widened as Peter and Nikolai took Gabriel's hands and then took each child's hand, one by one. "Oh my God."

"What?" Noah frowned.

"They're giving the children extra powers." Olivia whispered.

"EXCUSE ME?" Noah's eyes widened. "That's just, it's just-"

"-Brilliant." Olivia whispered.

"I was going to say insane!" Noah turned to Olivia and shook his head. "It's also irresponsible as hell."

"They're going to need anything they can in order to fight an attackers that show up and get past the adults. They have weapons and they have training, but they need extra powers as well. I think it's a pretty wicked move." Olivia nodded. "Imagine attacking those kids, thinking they're defenseless and suddenly-"

"-one of them goes nuclear?" Noah muttered.

"I was thinking what if they threw down with some telekinesis and cryokinesis, not to mention a force field, cellular regeneration and electric manipulation. I pity whoever makes an end run past the adults to come after them."

"You may have a point." Noah sighed. He glanced at Olivia nervously. "You don't think your father will be able to send a team to attack them in time, do you? They're going to leave here by four-thirty and sundown is at six. Do you think your father can send a group to wherever the hell our families are going to attack them before we can kick their asses and teleport enough of us there to provide back-up?"

"I don't know. I hope not. I hope he doesn't have people that can fly fast enough. The only thing that Peter would say about where they were going was that it was far away. I hope it's far enough where Linderman's men can't reach them before we can show up to bring them back home." Olivia watched as the children re-joined the group with Hiro, Peter and Nikolai. She walked over to Gabriel and stroked Faith's head one last time. "It's time."

"I know." Gabriel looked down at the baby and kissed her cheek. "Do you want to hand her to Heidi or-" As Olivia shook her head, fighting tears, Gabriel nodded. "-I understand." As Olivia watched, he took Faith's diaper bag from her and slowly walked to Heidi, handing the baby to her. "She's precious cargo."

"I know." Heidi smiled softly at him. "She's going to come back to you guys, we all will." She took the bag from him and nodded reassuringly. "It'll just be for a few hours. You'll see us all again very soon."

"Okay." Gabriel turned and knelt in front of Tatiana. "See you soon too, Sweetie." He closed his eyes, fighting tears as Tatiana threw her arms around his neck. "Oh, I'm going to be praying for you, for all of you." He kissed Tatiana's cheek and stood up to kiss Heidi and his daughter again before stepping back. At Noah's wry expression, he rolled his eyes. "What?"

"You pray?" Noah teased.

"Kiss my ass." Gabriel closed his eyes as he felt Noah reach out and squeeze his arm for a moment. He opened them as Olivia hugged him, burying her face in his chest as Peter, Nikolai and Hiro made sure that everyone was holding hands before closing their eyes and grabbing the shoulder of the person in front of them. Within an instant, the group disappeared. Gabriel took a deep breath, struggling to remove the feeling of a lead weight on his chest. "They're gone."

"They'll be back." Sherry nodded. "I know it." She sighed as her cell phone began to ring. "Oh GOD! It's my mother. Just when this day couldn't suck more." She answered the phone, rolling her eyes. "Yeah Ma? What do you mean Pop called you from a cab? He's here in Vegas? What?" She and Anthony exchanged a confused look then glanced at the doors, their eyes widening as Johnny Bombano strolled through them. "Holy mercy fuck. I gotta call you back, Ma." She hung up the phone as Madeline's voice wailed in protest. Sherry stepped towards her father, shaking her head. "What the HELL, Pop?"

Johnny Bombano shrugged. "It's the eighth, right?" He looked around the room, nodding. "Everyone looks like they're getting ready to beat some Linderman ass. You guys really think I was gonna let you all have all the freakin' fun? When do we meet that silver-haired fucker to send him to Hell where he belongs?"

* * *

Linderman sat on his couch, closing his eyes and concentrating as his hands flipped through pages of an atlas, finally, he stopped, his finger landing on an area of a map. Opening his eyes, he stared at where his finger had stopped and laughed softly. "The Ukraine, Odessa. Cute."

He stood and left his suite, strolling with purpose into the lobby of the compound. He smiled at the group assembled there, the group he'd handpicked. They were his fastest fliers and fierce fighters. "They're in Odessa, the Ukraine. There's a train yard there where Noah Bennet and Claude Raines once had a training session. They'll use the trains to hide the children, including my granddaughter. Kill everyone that you come across, but bring the infant back to me. If a single hair on my granddaughter's head is harmed, you will face the consequences and if you return empty-handed, you'll wish you never returned at all." He watched as the team turned and wordlessly marched out of the compound before taking flight into the skies above. Linderman turned and watched as the rest of his army filed into the lobby, dressed warmly in jeans and parkas. He smiled at all of them. "If it's a fight they want, it's a fight they'll get, right?" He laughed softly as everyone nodded, their expressions vacant from Gota's mind control. "Don't leave anyone alive and burn whoever you kill. I want piles of ashes remaining where their army stood. The only person you are NOT allowed to kill is my daughter. Leave HER to me to dispose of." He turned and walked onto the patio with everyone following behind him. Ombassa appeared from a side-entrance, carrying Mina as she struggled against her bindings and gag. "Please, try not to drop her." Linderman laughed as he leaped into the air, taking flight as his army followed suit.

* * *

"Anyway, you have no idea how freakin' hard it was to get away from that annoying bitch mother of yours." Johnny leaned against a wall, chomping on a cigar as Sherry and Anthony stared at him in shock with the rest of the group. "First I told her that I had to go into the city to do some 'work', which she usually doesn't give me any lip about, but I think she knew that something was up, 'cause she kept calling me to check up on me, silly cow. Finally, after I arrived here and got a cab to come to this place, which is seriously swank, by the way" he nodded to Olivia "kudos, Hon. Anyway, after I got here, I knew she couldn't follow me for a bit, at least not until they could find a plane big enough for her fat ass, so I told her where I really was and hung up on the bitch."

"And you're here to-" Sherry closed her eyes, shaking her head.

"-Fight the bastard who kept little Johnny's murderers on his payroll!" Johnny nodded. "Sure, I ain't got the powers you kids have got, but I'm a dirty fighter. I could probably kill all their asses in seconds."

"Pop-" Anthony started to speak.

"-I know what you're going to say and you might as well save your breath. I ain't going nowhere and I ain't gonna let my two best kids get into a scrap without their old man standing behind them to beat down whoever threatens 'em, especially with Sherry Baby being pregnant and all. I'm gonna smash anyone who comes near my baby girl and her babies." He looked proudly at Anthony. "Or my smartest boy." He nodded. "So that's that. I ain't leavin' and youse people aren't makin' me so when do we meet up with Linderman?"

"Sundown." Sherry sighed with resignation.

"The sun's getting pretty low in the sky already. Six?" Johnny asked.

"Yeah." Anthony shrugged. "Peter's off with Nikolai and Hiro, dropping off the kids and a team to protect them. He'll be back in a minute and he'll be able to power you up."

"Power me up with what?" Johnny's eyes widened. "I thought that to get more powers you had to get put into a coma and shit."

"He found a way around it." Anthony shrugged and turned to Sherry. "What do you think?"

"Telekinesis, force field, regeneration-"

"-regener-what?" Johnny frowned.

Sherry nodded. "The ability to heal from injuries almost instantaneously."

"Oh, skip that one, I like getting scars, my comares think they're hot." As Sherry glared at him, he shuffled his feet, blushing. "Continue."

"Pyrokinesis and mind-reading?" Sherry turned to Anthony. "Think that'll do the trick?"

"And flight. He's gonna need flight to get to the fight zone." Anthony nodded. "And super-strength."

Johnny's eyes widened. "You kids got all that?" As Sherry and Anthony nodded, he glanced at the others. "All of you got that?"

"And then some." Gabriel added.

"Mercy fuck!" Johnny grinned. "Power me up!"

Sherry turned as Peter, Hiro, Nikolai and Sanjog reappeared in the foyer. She frowned as Sanjog quickly jumped away from the men. "What the hell are you doing back here?"

Sanjog looked around at the adults. "I'm sixteen years old. I'm fighting with all of you and I won't take no for an answer."

"See?" Johnny stepped forward as Peter's eyes widened. "The kid wants to fight too and he ain't taking no for an answer either!" He approached Peter. "Sherry Baby says that you can give me a bunch of powers to kick Linderman's ass. As my favorite singer Mick Jagger says, 'Start Me Up'!"

* * *

An hour later, the rest of the group assembled on the roof, dressed in matching black turtlenecks and jeans, covered in body armor and carrying weapons. Peter smirked at the ax Gabriel carried in his hand. "And what's that for?" He asked.

Gabriel hefted the ax in his hand. "Saw it, decided to get it. I wanted it and I'm gonna use it on that fuck Linderman."

"Okay then." Peter stepped forward as Gabriel reached out and took Olivia's hand.

"Ready?" He whispered to her.

"As ready as I'll ever be." Olivia nodded. "I want to finish this so I can get back to our daughter."

"Me too." Gabriel winked at her as everyone gathered into lines, with Gabriel, Peter, Nathan, Hiro, Olivia, Niki, D.L., Sherry, Anthony, Matt, Claude, Hana, Claire, Nikolai, Noah, Angela and Kaito all in the front row. "Generals assembled?" He asked jokingly.

"We're ready." Peter nodded as he watched the sun start to go down. "Let's fly."

Everyone quickly lifted off, flying off of the roof into the sky above, towards the desert as the sun set over the Las Vegas Strip.


	97. Chapter 97

Chapter Ninety-Seven: The Battle to Save the World, Part One

As everyone landed in the desert, Noah groaned as Claire and Nikolai set him down. "Thanks." He grumbled, rubbing his underarms. "That was-" he shook his head "-I think I prefer teleporting."

D.L. looked around nervously. "No one else is here yet."

Peter frowned. "They'll be here soon enough. According to Molly's power, Linderman's near, but I can't get a lock on him."

"Which means he's flying, right?" Olivia whispered.

"Yeah." Peter nodded as he turned to the group. "The first thing I remember from the dreams I've had, the dreams that Sanjog showed me of this battle as it took place in another time was Linderman and his group arriving and taunting Olivia, taunting her with Gabriel. He used it to make her lower her guard long enough to let him use the telekinesis he'd obtained once to pull her to him and kill her. Gabriel's here with us, so he won't be able to use that as leverage to rattle my sister, however, I think he'll still try SOMETHING. If he can kill Olivia, he can rattle Gabriel long enough to kill him and then end Mama Alice's prophecy, the prophecy that Gabriel and I kill Olivia to destroy him. If HE can kill Olivia and then Gabriel, not only will he be able to circumvent the prophecy and possibly win this fight, he can possibly get his hands on what he wants most: Faith. We're not going to let him do that. We're going to stop him from snatching Olivia using Candice's powers which have been given to all of you here. The unfortunate side effect to that will be, I think if he can't kill Olivia outright, he'll try and kill us all soon using Ted Sprague's nuclear power. That's where our force fields and shared telepathy will come in handy. The minute someone notices Linderman going nuclear, that person needs to send out a signal to us all so we can activate a force field. If all of us do it at the same time, we can keep him from nuking us all and then rush him to end this." Peter looked around at everyone. "Does everyone understand what I'm saying?" They all nodded as Peter turned and scanned the skies. "He's getting closer.""I know." Nikolai shuddered. "I'm sensing danger, so he's close."

"Then let's all get ready for step one." Peter glanced at Noah. "Who are you standing beside when this starts?"

Claire raised her hand. "He's not leaving my side, if I can help it."

Peter grinned. "Good, project an image to make him disappear when you activate Candice's power, got it?" He winked at her as she nodded. "Good girl."

Olivia reached out and squeezed Gabriel's hand. "Gabriel-"

"-Don't say it, don't say anything."

"Shut up, it's important." Olivia turned to him. "After you swing that sword at my, Linderman's," she sighed "my head-"

"-Linderman's body and head, your consciousness." Gabriel whispered.

"Yeah, that." Olivia nodded. "We need a sign, YOU need a sign or a signal, something that you can ask me, the REAL me to make sure that I made the jump okay. If I can't answer it, you'll know it's Linderman still in there and that-"

"-And that you're dead." Gabriel refused to look at her, staring instead up at the skies. "Okay. We need a signal so I know that you're really you in there and not Linderman." He smiled softly. "I know what you can tell me."

"What?"

"The same thing that I told you when I first came out of the coma. Do you remember what it was?"

Olivia smirked. "How can I forget? They were the first words you said to me out loud. It was the same thing that Mrs. Appleton said to me when I helped her come out of her coma." She started to repeat it when Gabriel finally turned to her, smiling enigmatically as he shook his head.

"Tell me later." He whispered.

"They're coming! I can see them!" Olivia and Gabriel tore their gaze from each other's eyes to turn to the skies as Peter shouted. They spotted a thick cloud approaching them in the night sky. Brandishing his sword, Peter turned to everyone. "Activate Candice's power now!" Everyone concentrated and within a moment, the entire army turned into a sea of Olivias, everyone taking her image as Linderman landed in the desert, his army behind him. Peter glanced over to Anjelica. "Mind making it a bit foggy? We don't want any innocent passer-bys seeing what's about to go down out here." He grinned as the valley suddenly became filled with a thick, damp fog.

Linderman smirked as he approached the group, shaking his head. "Oh how cute, every one of you is trying to look like my daughter." He sighed. "But I know which one is mine, a father always knows." His eyes slowly going over the group, he shrugged. "My Dear, I hope when you and your husband kissed that sweet baby of yours goodbye, that you made sure to remember what she looked like. It'll be the last time you ever see her, unless you decide to finally ditch all of these people, drop your weapons and join with me. I'll allow you both to help raise her, how's that sound?" He scanned the group as they stared back at him wordlessly. "I see." He grinned malevolently, his mouth twisting at the edges as he glanced over at Niki, his eyes boring past her disguise. "And you, Miss Sanders. Did you say goodbye forever to dear Micah?" He spotted Nathan. "And your wife and sons, I hope you gave them all a farewell kiss to last an eternity." Chuckling he sighed. "No, I can't see past your disguises, but using a little power I took from a blood sample of one Molly Walker, I still know who each and every one of you are, all the same." He clucked his tongue as his eyes met Sherry's. "And you, Miss Bombano, I can understand wanting to stand by your man, but you have two little lives to worry about. You're carrying twins, aren't you? Why young Mr. Petrelli would even allow you to come here and meet not only YOUR doom, but the doom of two defenseless, innocent lives before they barely even began is beyond me to comprehend." Linderman clapped his hands together. "So I'm going to make an offer for whoever wants it. Leave now and my people won't chase you down. Leave your friends behind to meet their doom while you continue with your life and you will never have to worry about me or mine coming after you ever. Stay here, and you'll die alongside everyone else here tonight. Any takers?" As the group remained silent, staring out at him defiantly through their disguises, Linderman sighed. "Don't say you weren't warned."

As he turned to walk back to his army, he twitched his fingers. Olivia gasped and clutched at her throat before an unseen force began to drag her towards him as another force shoved Gabriel, Peter and Nathan back onto the ground. Olivia fought, struggling for breath as she was dragged towards her father, her feet making twin trails in the dirt as she kicked and tried to escape the force that pulled her away from her group. Gabriel quickly stood, his eyes widening as he watched his wife getting snatched away from him, then narrowed as he noticed the way Linderman turned to her, one arm outstretched as the other clutched at the scimitar at his side. Snarling, Gabriel threw the ax in his hand towards Linderman, pushing it along with his telekinesis as it whipped through the air until it buried itself in the older man's forehead. Linderman fell backwards to the ground as Gota shrieked and darted towards him. Olivia fell to the ground, gasping for air as Gabriel reached out and quickly pulled her back towards the group with his telekinesis. Turning to everyone as he dropped his disguise, Gabriel smirked. "I think I just started the fight."

Peter adjusted his stance as he brandished his sword. "Yeah, I'd say you did." He muttered. Everyone dropped their disguises as Linderman's army began to charge towards them. The two armies collided with a metallic clash, and the battle began.

* * *

In Odessa, Heidi stomped her feet, trying to warm them as she patrolled part of the train yard with Trevor. Smiling nervously as she touched the knife in her belt again, she glanced at Trevor. "Think it's sundown in Vegas by now?"

Trevor nodded, his expression grim. "Think so, Luv. May God help our loved ones there." He shook his head. "I can't believe Sanjog took off like that to join with the adults."

"They'll need every hand they can get, possibly." Heidi scanned the side of the yard, staring at all of the deserted trains.

"We might, too." Trevor glanced over at the train car they were guarding. It was a huge boxcar that had been closed. The children were hidden inside of it with Bridget and Mohinder keeping watch over them. "Let's just hope the battle ends quickly-"

"-But only because our people kicked ass." Heidi whispered.

Trevor grinned. "Of course they will." He glanced at the train car again, then glanced up at the roof of it. Laurent paced back and forth on top of it, scanning the skies. "And let's hope that our power-halting friend there can help us kick the ass of anyone that shows up here."

"You think Linderman was able to send people?" Heidi asked.

"I'm almost sure of it. He's got wee little Molly's power, yes?" Trevor asked as Heidi nodded. "Then he sent a team here, I'm sure. The question of the night will be, will they get here before our group wins and shows up to provide backup?"

"I think the true question will be, can Laurent dampen the others' powers so we'll be on an even playing field?" Heidi spotted movement near an abandoned car and gasped, then breathed a sigh of relief as Sandra and Janice walked past them. She waved to them nervously and tried to smile as they waved back and continued to patrol their side of the box car. "Where is everyone else?"

"Tulia and Oscar are sitting on top of another car in the dark on the east side, watching through infrared glasses." Trevor whispered. "We're on the south side of the car, Jan and Katharina are on the west side, Sandy and Christina are on the north while Bridget and Mohinder are guarding the children inside."

"Right, right." Heidi closed her eyes for a moment. "Please let us get through this night."

* * *

The battle raged in the desert as Gota dragged Linderman's lifeless body away from the fray to a ridge overlooking the fierce fighting. Pulling the ax out of Linderman's forehead, Gota watched nervously as the gaping wound quickly closed. She breathed a sigh of relief as Linderman gasped for air and quickly sat up. "Thank God." She moaned as she hugged him.

Linderman rolled his eyes as he let her hug him. "Very well, I'm fine." He looked around. "Where's Mina?"

Gota nodded to a higher ridge behind them. "Ombassa dropped her off there before joining the battle. She's been tied up."

"Good. I'll join her, YOU need to get out there and fight!" Linderman stood and turned as Gota stared at him. He glanced at her and glared. "GO!" Shaking his head as she unsheathed her sword and ran into the battle, he muttered to himself. "Idiots, I'm surrounded by idiots."

* * *

Laurent paced the top of the boxcar, grinding his teeth as he clutched at the unsheathed sword he carried. "Please God, let me do your will tonight, whatever it may be. If I am to join you tonight, let me not have died in vain. Let me have found a way to protect the children from the evil of the man I once thought of as your greatest servant."

In the boxcar, Mohinder and Bridget watched over the children as they sat together, huddled in a corner of the car. Shanti, Matthew and Faith were curled up together in a playpen, sleeping as Micah, Molly, Tatiana, Monty, Simon and Lyle stared up at the two adults nervously. Mohinder cleared his throat and tried to smile as he sat on the floor and pulled out a deck of cards. "Who's up for a game of 'Go Fish'?"

Outside, Sandra stopped her patrol, frowning as Christina reached her. "What's wrong?" Christina asked.

Sandra shook her head. "It's quiet."

"I know." Christina whispered.

"Too quiet." Sandra's eyes narrowed as she suddenly heard the signs of a struggle. Grabbing Christina's arm, she pulled her towards the east side of the building. Her eyes widened as she spotted Tulia and Oscar in hand-to-hand combat with a group of five men. Sandra glanced up at the roof of the boxcar and nodded to Laurent, realizing that he was blocking the powers of the attackers. "Come on!"

With Christina, Sandra ran into the fight to help. They quickly dispatched all but one with fluid strokes of their swords and knives. Oscar knelt in front of the lone survivor, burying his sword into the man's guts, letting him scream as he twisted the blade. "Is this all of you?" He asked softly.

"GO TO HELL!" The man screamed as Heidi, Trevor, Janice and Katharina ran over to them.

"Is everyone okay?" Heidi asked.

"Everyone that matters." Sandra muttered. She kicked at the man as he writhed and thrashed on the ground, screaming. "TALK TO HIM AND TELL HIM WHAT HE WANTS TO KNOW, YOU SORRY ASS!"

"Fuck yo-" The man's eyes rolled back in his head as he died.

"Shit." Sandra muttered. "Should we make Laurent lift his power so the guy can regenerate and talk?"

Oscar pulled his sword from the man's gut and swung it, decapitating him. "No need." Oscar turned to them, his expression filled with fear. "I read his mind before he died. There are twenty of them, fifteen left now. They've broken into four groups."

"Shit." Heidi whispered. "What do we do?"

"Defend the car." Before Oscar could finish the sentence, he heard the screams of the children from the boxcar. "GO TO THEM!" As Oscar spoke, another group of five landed in front of them and began to attack.

* * *

Gabriel swung his sword, quickly decapitating the man in front of him before taking on another attacker, dispatching him with ease. He searched the battle for his wife and shook his head. "OLIVIA!" As another woman ran towards him, he twitched his fingers, smirking as her head rolled from her shoulders onto the ground. He stalked through the crowd, slicing and swiping at anyone who attacked him while decapitating others with his telekinesis. He jumped as a bolt of lightning crashed down near him, incinerating an attacker. He turned and nodded to Anjelica as she passed him. "Good one. Thanks."

"Welcome!" Anjelica muttered as she passed him, swinging her sword as the skies thundered overhead.

Olivia fought on the other side of the field, flinging sai knives at one attacker while engaging another with her sword. With a twitch of her hand, the sais flew back into her hand, only to be flung again at another man that ran towards her. She quickly decapitated him with her sword before using the telekinesis that Peter had bestowed on her earlier to return the sais to her hand. Searching the crowd, she spotted the man she was looking for. Slashing and stabbing her way across the sea of people, she found Hiro and helped him fight off his attackers. "Hiro" she gasped as she swung her sword "you need to get to the children, they're in danger."

Hiro decapitated a man and shook his head. "The children are safe."

"I read Linderman's mind, right before Gabriel put an ax in it. The children aren't safe." Olivia threw her sais at a woman, smirking as they buried themselves in the woman's eyes. She decapitated her and grabbed her knives, wiping them off on the leg of her jeans before tucking them into her belt. "He knows they're in the Ukraine, Odessa." Hiro turned to her for a moment, his eyes wide before he continued to fight again. "They're in a train yard, he knows this. He's sent twenty people to kill everyone. Our people there are outnumbered." Olivia quickly killed Hiro's attacker and grabbed him. "Hiro, please. Save the children, let us take care of the rest here. Be the man that you were in that other time, be that Hiro. Save the future by saving our children."

"Okay." Hiro whispered. He closed his eyes and disappeared as Olivia turned and started fighting again.

* * *

Mohinder lay on the floor of the boxcar, wondering how he could have let his guard down so stupidly. As he had begun dealing the cards to play with the children and get their mind off of the imminent danger, a group of five individuals had phased through the wall on the far end of the car. As Bridget and Mohinder stood to fight them, another group had arrived, quickly stabbing both of them before turning to the children. Mohinder lay on the floor of the boxcar, feeling his life's blood draining out of him through the gash in his chest, struggling to breathe as the children had begun screaming. It had been Molly who had quickly rallied the children, grabbing Matthew as Lyle grabbed Shanti and Faith before all of them held hands and ran, phasing through a wall of the boxcar into the night beyond. Mohinder turned and watched the children flee, quickly followed by all of the men save one. He smirked as he decapitated Bridget before burning her body to ash with quick, potent blast of flames. Mohinder moaned as the heat from the man's hands scorched his own body, twitching and thrashing as he felt himself burning beside her. Shivering with pain, Mohinder closed his eyes, waiting for his own death. His eyes opened as he heard the man yelp and watched as his head rolled from his shoulders, before his body collapsed to reveal Molly standing behind him, her eyes narrowed and glittering as she lowered her hand. "I saw Mr. Gray do that to my Daddy." She whispered softly as she skirted Bridget's charred remains to kneel beside Mohinder.

"Molly?" Mohinder whispered.

"I came back for you. Tatiana has Faith, and Lyle still has Shanti and Matthew. They're hiding in another car for the moment. The other grown-ups are being attacked." Molly placed her hands on Mohinder's chest. "You saved me from that virus once, now it's my turn." Mohinder gasped as he felt his burns and stab wound heal under her hands. "Mr. Gray insisted that those of us kids with power got a few extra things, one of them was the ability to heal others." As Mohinder started to sit up, Molly took his hand. "We have to be quiet. Those bad men that were in here are still looking for us." She quickly led him out of the boxcar and into the night. Mohinder looked back and saw the others in his team fighting a group. He winced as he saw Katharina fall, and then nodded appreciatively as Sandra defended her, quickly killing the attacker as Katharina healed and got to her feet. He turned back to Molly as she pressed her lips against her fingers and nodded, letting her lead him quickly down a set of train tracks to the children.

* * *

D.L. and Niki fought together, taking on Ombassa as he swung at them with a scimitar in each hand. The two of them attacked him parrying his thrusts with jabs of their own. Suddenly, Ombassa kicked out at Niki, sending her flying as he swung at D.L., removing his head from his shoulders. He quickly blasted D.L. with fire, incinerating his remains as Niki ran blindly towards him, sobbing and screaming as she watched her husband die. Ombassa smirked and turned away, running into the crowd to attack others. Niki ran past Nathan and Peter as they fought, chasing Ombassa as he ran from her. Nathan turned and chased Niki, defending her as others tried to kill her as she ran past, shoving them back with telekinesis. He finally reached her and swung out his sword with one hand to kill one attacker, while pulling Niki towards him with the other. Niki struggled against Nathan as he held her tightly, screaming with heartache and rage. "LET ME GET HIM! HE KILLED D.L.! HE KILLED D.L.!"

"I know, I saw, I'm sorry." Nathan continued to hold her as Peter joined them, fighting off anyone who tried to come near them. "We'll get him, but you've got to focus, Niki. I've just saved you countless times from being killed yourself. You have to focus and fight, if not for yourself then for D.L.'s memory and for Micah. Do you want him to lose a mother as well as a father here tonight?"

"Where's Olivia?" Niki sobbed. "She might be able to-" She glanced behind her shoulder, her face crumpling as she saw D.L.'s remains "-but not even she could bring back THAT, could she?"

"I don't know. We'll see." Nathan held her tightly. "We'll see. Right now, we have to win though, can you do that?" He kissed her cheek as she nodded, her face hardening. "Let's kill them all, anyone who crosses us."

"Lead the way." Niki stepped away from him, brandishing her sword.

* * *

In Odessa, Sandra, Katharina, Oscar, Heidi, Trevor, Christina, Janice and Tulia fought their attackers, quickly dispatching with them before running into the boxcar. Janice's eyes filled with tears as she spotted Bridget's charred body. "Where are the children and Mohinder?" She asked.

"I don't know." Oscar knelt in front of the body of Bridget's killer. "But it looks like they killed one of their attackers."

"There's blood on the floor here." Heidi shined a flashlight on a streak of blood near Bridget's body. She shook her head. "Where are the kids?"

Trevor closed his eyes and concentrated. "They're nearby."

"I know." Oscar closed his eyes as well, concentrating on Molly's power. "Another car? Hiding perhaps?"

"All of them?" Tulia asked softly. "They're okay?"

Oscar nodded as they breathed a sigh of relief. "I'm sensing all of the children and Mohinder." He opened his eyes. "Let's track them and defend them. I'm sure the others are searching for them as well."

Everyone jumped as they heard a noise, and sighed again as Laurent climbed into the car. "The children?"

"Hiding." Trevor muttered. "We're going to find them now, come on." As they climbed out of the boxcar, they gasped as Hiro appeared before them. Trevor cursed under his breath. "Bloody fuck, Mate! You really should be careful who you do that in front of!"

"So sorry." Hiro looked around. "A battle has happened?"

"It's not over." Tulia shook her head. "While we were attacked by one group, another attacked the boxcar. The children and Mohinder escaped and are hiding. Bridget's dead."

"How many?" Hiro asked as he began to look around.

"Twenty originally, we've killed eleven so far." Sandra nodded.

"Good." Hiro turned to them. "We'll split into two groups to find the children. Whoever finds them first needs to telepathically inform someone from the other group and give their location. As soon as we're all together, we'll teleport to The Cayman Islands, where Ando and Kimiko are on their honeymoon and wait for our people there."

"How's the battle going there?" Heidi asked.

"It has barely begun when Olivia told me to come here. She read Linderman's mind and knew he'd sent a group for you all. She bade me to come here." Hiro looked at the group. "We'll split into a group of four and a group of five. Sandra, Tulia, Oscar, and Janice are with me. We will search the south side beginning at the gates and work our way to the center." He pointed to Laurent. "You, Trevor, Heidi and Christina will start on the north side and work your way to the center. Agreed?"

"Agreed." Laurent nodded. "If you find a group of attackers, I won't be there to dampen their powers."

"Then we'll have to fight with everything we have to survive." Hiro sighed. He turned to his group. "Let's go."

* * *

Meredith fought a group of men and Gota, grimacing as she blasted at them with her fire power before swinging her sword at them. As she fought them, another man crept up behind her and, with a swipe of his scimitar, separated her head from her body. As she fell, Gota stepped forward and blasted her with fire, reducing her remains to ashes as the other men stepped away to attack others.

Claire turned as Meredith fell, her eyes filling with tears. "MEREDITH!" She turned and quickly killed her two attackers before she bolted towards Gota with Nikolai joining her as they fought through the crowds to get to her mother's killer. Using martial arts, powers and their swords, they soon found themselves leaping towards Gota, Claire's face twisted in heartsick pain as she engaged the woman in battle with Nikolai helping. Gota quickly got the upper hand and knocked the pair to the ground with a sweep of her legs.

She stomped towards them and smirked. "First the mother, then the daughter." She sneered. She lifted her sword and then quickly swung downwards, stunned as it was blocked by another sword. She looked up as Noah glared at her, shaking his head, his sword blocking hers from killing Claire and Nikolai.

"Not MY Claire-Bear!" Noah snarled as he began to fight Gota, quickly joined by Nikolai and Claire. Gota fought against the trio, shrieking in anger as Hana and Claude jumped into the fray as well. Between the five of them, they made quick work of her, hacking her to bits before finally decapitating her and stomping away.

Nikolai turned back to glare at her dead body. "That was for my father and my sister, Natalia. They have now been avenged, you horrid bitch."

As the battle progressed, a few of Linderman's army began to stare around at their surroundings, confused as Gota's thrall began to wear off with her death. As Matt attacked one man, he quickly dropped his sword, holding up his hands. "What am I doing here?" He cried.

Matt faltered from giving him a killing blow. "You're fighting for Linderman." He growled.

The man backed away, shaking his head. "No. I wanted to leave! I wanted to leave the night you arrived at the compound and asked us to come with you. My friends were killed when they tried to escape, killed by Linderman's guards."

"If you don't want to fight," Matt smirked "then I suggest you run like hell and get anyone else who wants to leave as well. That way, we'll know WHO to kill and who to spare." The man nodded and turned, running through the crowds as he tried to escape. Matt shook his head. "What the fuck was that all about?"

* * *

Mohinder and Molly wove through the maze of abandoned trains with Molly leading him. They stopped and backed away, hiding behind a train as a group of men walked past them. "They've got to be around here somewhere!" One of them snarled. "Fucking kids!"

"Why couldn't Mr. Linderman have given us that power he's got, the one where he can find anyone by just thinking about them?" Another man asked.

"Because he THOUGHT we could handle killing a group of kids to get to a baby, that's why!" The man barked. "Now shut up and keep looking!"

As they passed, Molly shuddered. "That was too close." She whispered.

"I know." Mohinder nodded.

"No, THEY were too close. To the others." Molly turned and pointed at a train car the men had passed by. She took his hand and quickly led him into it. It was an abandoned dining car. Molly searched the car until she found the kitchen and opened the door, smiling softly at the others as the crouched on the ground. "We're back."

Lyle closed his eyes and nodded. "Mom?"

"She's being attacked, they all are." Molly crouched beside him, hugging him as Mohinder knelt beside the children. "How's everyone here?"

"Okay." Lyle nodded over to the babies as they slept on the floor in a corner. "I put my jacket under them and Monty covered them with his jacket." Lyle shivered for a moment until Mohinder pulled off his coat and draped it over his shoulders.

"Don't worry about the blood on the back." Mohinder whispered. "It's mine."

"Where's Bridget?" Micah asked. His face fell as Mohinder shook his head. "Oh."

Mohinder turned and did a mental head-count, relieved to see that all of the children were there. "I'm so glad you children ran to a safe place. You did the right thing."

"We were cowards." Monty whispered as Simon huddled beside him, his jacket draped over them both. "We should have stayed and fought. It's what we've been taught to do this whole time isn't it? Fight?"

"You've been taught to defend yourselves if there's no other choice." Mohinder shook his head. "You had a choice, run. In doing so, you protected your cousin, little Matthew and my daughter, not to mention the others here as well."

"What do we do now?" Tatiana asked softly.

"We stay here and wait." Mohinder sat on the floor and motioned for the children to gather around him. He wrapped his arms around as many of them as he could, smiling as a sleeping Shanti, Matthew and Faith were placed in his lap. "We wait and hope that your parents win the fight in the desert so they can come here and find us all. Soon."

"What do we do until then?" Lyle whispered.

"We stay as quiet as we can and hope the men don't find us."

"And the other adults here?" Monty asked. "What about my mom?"

"Your mother has the same training that the other grown-ups have gotten. She can fight and defend herself and I'll stay here and defend all of you. I'll not lower my guard again, I promise." Mohinder nodded to the children as they huddled near him, looking at each other with terrified faces.

* * *

As the thick fog surrounding them suddenly lifted, Peter ran through the crowd, fighting the ones that were still willing to fight and shoving away the ones that cowered when he came near them. His eyes searched for Sherry and he finally spotted her in a far corner of the field, fighting a group of men with Angela, both of them swinging their swords and throwing their sais as quickly as they could. Peter felt his heart drop as he realized that it was the same fight he'd seen in the dream, the fight where Sherry died soon after his mother. He charged towards them, his sword raised and fell as he stumbled to the ground. He stared at the two burned bodies, frowning as he tried to recognize them.

"It's Anjelica and Geoffrey." Peter lifted his head as Kaito helped him up. "They fell just moments ago." Kaito followed Peter's gaze over to Sherry and Angela. "You've seen this before?"

"We have to get to them. Mom's about to fall and then-" Peter shook his head as he started running towards them, Kaito quickly following behind him.

"TAKE THAT!" Sherry threw her sais at one man and spun around, decapitating another with a fluid motion before she turned and helped Angela attempt to overtake the next wave of attackers that ran at them. Before Peter and Kaito could reach them, Johnny joined the women and helped them kill the group just as Ombassa stalked towards them, his sword swinging as he smirked, his eyes glittering. Sherry brandished her sword as she stepped forward. "Think you're gonna kill me?"

"What's a little girl like you going to do to a man like me?" As Ombassa smiled evilly, he stepped towards her and began to swing his sword. Sherry stopped him with a parry of her sword and the two began to fight, with Ombassa beating Angela and Johnny back, stabbing them both before taking Sherry on again. He laughed as she kicked and ducked the knives she threw, finally knocking her to the ground in front of him. "You and your babies are heading to hell." He whispered as he raised his sword.

Suddenly he stopped, gasping for a moment before he collapsed, his head rolling away from his body. Anthony stepped into view and lowered his hand. "You first, fucko!" Anthony helped Sherry stand as Peter and Kaito reached them. Sherry hugged Anthony and then turned to Peter, smiling as he pulled her into his arms.

"You lived through it. I was so scared, Baby." Peter whispered into her hair. He turned and watched as Angela regenerated, then watched as Anthony grabbed his father's hand, healing the knife wound in his chest. Angela and Johnny both stood, sighing with relief to see that Sherry had survived.

"Good boy, Son!" Johnny clapped Anthony hard on the back. "Protecting your sister like that, good boy!"

They heard a scream and ran towards Sanjog, stopping and watching in anguish as he was killed and burned before they could reach him. Peter cursed and looked around, realizing that many of Linderman's people were either dead or had run. He glanced up at the ridge, smirking as he saw Linderman pacing. "You're next, Old Man." He muttered.

Linderman snarled as he watched his army fail. "Idiots and cowards, the lot of them. Fuck this." He turned to Mina as she struggled against her bindings and chains. "We DID give you the serum to allow you to regenerate, yes?" Her eyes widened as he smiled. "Of course we did. My army has either deserted me or allowed themselves to be killed, even my two best fighters, Gota and Ombassa have fallen by the wayside. There are still a few of my people fighting valiantly, but no matter. I'd have killed them all afterwards anyway, including Gota and Ombassa after they'd served their purpose, just as I will you. Until then, it's time to just take matters into my own hands and end this my way." He took a deep breath and turned back to watch the battle. "I'll kill them all temporarily and then I'll go down there and take my time killing them all permanently as they try to regenerate. You I'll keep around until I'm done, as my contingency plan, Mina." He closed his eyes and concentrated as his hands began to glow.

Matt turned and saw Linderman, he quickly turned back to his group and closed his eyes. _He's doing it, guys. As they say on Star Trek, shields up!_

Everyone turned mid-fight and saw Linderman's hands begin to glow brighter as his entire body followed suit. They quickly grabbed the person they were fighting and shoved them to the ground as they concentrated on their force field. As Linderman blew up the valley in a small nuclear explosion, the valley glowed blue as everyone protected themselves and the person they had just been battling. As the explosion died down, they stood, lowering the field. Linderman's people stared at their saviors, the people they'd just been trying to kill.

Olivia nodded at the man she'd just saved. "Yeah, your boss just did that, asshat. Linderman just tried to blow not only our team up, but yours as well. What do you think of your big hero now, huh? You ready to join us?"The man nodded and looked around as other members of Linderman's army nodded in assent. On the ridge, Linderman closed his eyes and groaned as his army joined ranks with the other team and began to charge towards him as one. "Oh fuck." He muttered.


	98. Chapter 98

Chapter Ninety-Eight: The Battle to Save the World Part Two

Molly closed her eyes for a moment, then opened them as she turned to Mohinder, terrified. "Someone's coming, someone that's not part of our group!"

Mohinder sat up as he looked around the kitchen of the dining car they were hiding in. "How close are they?"

Molly shivered. "Close. There's five of them." She stared at Mohinder with tears in her eyes. "What if they find us?"

"We'll try and get away again." Mohinder nodded reassuringly. "We just have to keep running and hiding for now." He hugged her gently. "But that's only if they find us."

Laurent, Trevor, Heidi and Christina slowly made their way through the train yard, checking the cars as they walked along. As they approached one train car, they gasped as a group of five attackers descended on them. Laurent fell first, his throat slashed as Trevor, Heidi and Christina began to fight against the rest of their assailants.

Inside the train car, Monty lifted his head. "I hear MOM!" Before Mohinder could stop him, Monty scrambled to his feet and climbed onto a counter to look out the window of the car. He watched, his eyes widening as Heidi and her two companions tried to fight.

Simon stared up at Monty, his eyes narrowing, then widening. "Dr. Suresh?"

Mohinder turned to Simon and then followed Simon's gaze to his younger brother. He stared in shock as he noticed Monty's hands turning color, taking on a metallic sheen. "Montgomery?" He whispered.

Outside of the train car, Heidi and Trevor continued to fight as Christina took a sword to the stomach and collapsed on the ground, moaning in pain. Her attacker smirked and turned to help his four friends battle the duo. Trevor fell first, his head flying from his shoulders with a sweep of one man's sword before they all turned on Heidi. Inside the car, Monty screamed as Heidi died, her attackers torching her and Trevor's bodies with flames. They lifted their heads and grinned as their eyes locked with the boy's. "Look what we have here." One of the men smirked.

"MONTY!" Simon yelped as Monty quickly changed, his arms and body turning to metal as he began pounding angrily on the glass. Everyone shrieked as the glass shattered, then the wall as Monty charged through it, screaming angrily. The men's smiles disappeared as Monty tackled all of them with a metallic clang, beating two of them to a pulp within seconds as the other three scrambled away from him and turned to climb into the gaping hole he'd created in the car to get to the other children.

Mohinder and Lyle scrambled to grab the children and herd them out of the car. Mohinder turned as Molly, Micah and Tatiana stood together, glaring angrily at the men advancing on them. He adjusted a screaming Matthew on his hip as Lyle handed Faith to Simon and ushered him towards the door. "What are you doing?" Mohinder asked.

"Screw running." Micah shook his head. "We're not going anywhere."

"WHAT?" Mohinder yelped as Micah, Molly and Tatiana suddenly sprang at their attackers, the three of them catching the men off-guard and knocking them back through the hole onto the ground outside. As the men tried to fight back, Micah, Molly and Tatiana pummeled them as a shocked Mohinder, Simon and Lyle looked on. Tatiana shrieked angrily as she placed her hands on one man's head, shocking him as he jittered and convulsed before slumping to the ground, dead. Molly flung one man away from her with telekinesis as Micah ducked a swing that was thrown at him.

He grabbed the man's hand, smiling wickedly as the man began to scream, his hand turning to ice in the boy's grip. "Got that one from Mr. Gray, jerk!" He yelled before he let him go and pulled his hand back. "And this I got from my MOM!" He punched the man hard, watching as he sailed through the sky before landing on his back. As the man struggled to stand again and charge the children with his remaining friend, Molly and Micah stood together and slashed their hands through the air. The two remaining attackers collapsed to the ground, their heads detaching from their shoulders as they fell.

Mohinder quickly climbed out of the car through the hole with a stunned Lyle and Simon behind him. Tatiana turned and spotted Monty, kneeling beside his mother's charred remains and sobbing. She quickly ran to him and threw her arms around his shoulders, hugging him tightly as he cried. "I should have changed earlier." He whispered. "I knew that something was happening. My fingers turned to metal yesterday, then went back to normal, it was scary and I wanted to talk to Dad or Mom or Uncle Peter or Aunt Olivia about it, but I was scared."

Micah approached him and knelt beside him as Tatiana rubbed his shoulder gently, her cheek pressed against his back. "It's always scary when you first manifest." Micah whispered.

"I should have changed as soon as I saw Mom was fighting them. If I'd busted through that wall just a minute earlier, I could have saved her." Monty moaned.

Tatiana sighed. "When Papa died, Nik made us run." She frowned, struggling to find the words in English. "He saw Papa die and then we saw Natty die. We wanted to fight. I wanted to fight the bad woman. She shot Natty. We ran. Scared. We are children we get scared."

"I could have saved her." Monty cried.

"Maybe you weren't meant to save her. Maybe you had to see her die in order to finally be strong enough to accept your power and change." Monty whispered as Simon lifted his head, glaring at him. "She died doing what she was supposed to do. She died protecting all of us."

Monty choked back a sob as he shook his head. "She didn't have to protect me. If I'd manifested sooner, I could have protected HER. I have a power, she didn't." He slowly stood and wiped his eyes as Mohinder slowly walked over to him and hugged him tightly as Simon started crying beside him.

"We need to find another place to hide." Mohinder whispered.

"No." Monty stepped back and shook his head. "I'm not going to be scared and hide anymore. That's what got Mom killed." He turned and watched as Molly knelt beside Christina, healing her and helping her stand. "It's time to fight back, if there are any more bad guys out there."

"Monty-" Mohinder started to speak and stopped, his eyes widening at the angry look in the boy's eyes.

"No, Dr. Suresh!" Monty turned to Molly, Micah and Tatiana. "We have powers, strong powers! We CAN fight back and we WILL! If you need to hide somewhere to protect the babies, you're more than welcome, but they're looking for Faith. You'll be safer with us and we'll all be safer if we can fight back and get rid of these guys before they kill anyone else!"

Mohinder sighed and nodded. "Do you have a plan?"

"I do." Micah grinned up at him.

* * *

Linderman's eyes narrowed as the remains of both armies, now combined as one charged up the valley towards him. Rolling his eyes, he pushed out with his telekinesis and shoved the first wave of them down the ravine wall, smirking as they brought others down with them as they fell. "Just like bowling." He laughed softly.

"You think you're so clever, don't you?" He turned as Olivia approached him from behind, her arms crossed in front of her chest. "When are you going to figure out that we've been three steps ahead of you for months now?"

"You'd like to think that, wouldn't you?" Linderman smirked.

"Yeah." Olivia nodded. "You thought you could kill our children, but we've already sent someone to help fight off your mercenaries that you sent. Plus, the kids have powers. I'd love to see the looks on the faces of anyone who tries to attack them. You thought you could blast us all to kingdom come and then take your sweet time killing us one by one, but we knew what you were going to do before you did, so we activated a force field. The only thing you did then was just piss off your followers and cause them to turn against you. Now I have to ask you, just what do you think your next move will be and do you HONESTLY think you're going to win in the end? Don't you think we know what you're about to do and don't you think that we've already got a back-up plan set up for that too? Just give up, Linderman! If you give up now and let us put you away, we won't have to kill you."

"I don't think so." Linderman's arm shot out as Olivia began to gasp for air. He pulled her to him with his telekinesis as he smirked. "You think you know what my next move is? You HONESTLY think you know what I'm going to do NEXT? I don't think you do, Darling." He pulled her to him, laughing. "If I can't win in this body, I'll just take yours." He whispered in her ear as she tried not to smile knowingly. "We'll do a little switcheroo, you and I and then I'll watch as everyone kills you, thinking that they've finally destroyed mean old Mr. Linderman, after I have little Mina there transfer ALL of my powers to your body." Olivia glanced at Mina over his shoulder, watching the way the young girl cringed against the rock she was chained to. "Then dear sweet 'Olivia' will go home with her husband Gabriel where she'll be happily reunited with her baby daughter. Later that night, he'll die in a tragic 'accident', along with everyone else that she knows before she disappears to raise her daughter alone."

Olivia tore her gaze from Mina as she regarded her father with a raised eyebrow. "Do you really think anyone that knows me, even just a little, won't be able to tell that it's YOU in this body and not me?"

"They won't live long enough for it to matter." Linderman laughed. He glanced down into the valley again at the people trying to scramble up its side to get to him. "Wonder when they'll remember that they can fly?" He chuckled as he knocked them all down again with a wave of his hand.

"WE already figured it out!" Linderman glanced over his shoulder as Peter and Gabriel landed behind him, their swords drawn.

Linderman's eyes narrowed as he pulled out his sword, holding it to Olivia's throat. "Take one step near us, and she loses her head." He snarled.

* * *

Mohinder walked with Christina and Lyle, each of them toting a baby as Simon walked beside them. He sighed as he studied Monty and Tatiana walking ahead of them, then glanced over his shoulder to make sure that Molly and Micah were still following them. "We're sitting ducks." He muttered.

"We're bait." Christina took a deep, shuddering breath. "I just hope that the children's plan works."

"It will." Lyle nodded as he glanced down at Faith. She slept peacefully in his arms. "It's better than hiding and waiting for them to find US."

"If there's any 'them' left." Mohinder looked around at the dark train yard and the deserted cars that flanked them. "I wonder if there's any left from our team as well out there."

They stopped as they noticed Monty and Tatiana stopping ahead of them. Mohinder cradled Shanti protectively as Monty glanced over at him. "Someone's coming." He whispered.

Mohinder noticed the sword gleaming in Monty's hand, recognizing it as Heidi's. "Let it be our friends." He whispered.

Their hearts pounding, they waited until the people came into view and breathed a sigh of relief as they recognized Hiro, Katharina, Sandra, Janice, Oscar, and Tulia. "MOM!" Lyle quickly walked over to her and hugged her.

"Oh thank GOD!" Sandra hugged him, taking Faith from him to check her over as Janice ran over to Christina and Matthew. She looked around at the children. "When we realized you had gone missing-"

"-I know." Lyle smiled softly and nodded Micah, Molly and Tatiana. "They phased us through the car and we ran to another one to hide." His smile faded. "Mom, Mrs. Petrelli, Mr. Duvall and Father Kelly are dead. They were attacked near our car."

"Heidi?" Sandra closed her eyes for a moment. "Did the boys see?" She opened her eyes and moaned as Lyle nodded. "Those poor things."

"Monty saw it all happen." Lyle whispered. "Then he-"

"-he what?" Sandra asked.

Lyle raised his eyebrows. "He manifested. He turned into solid metal, crashed through the wall and beat two of Heidi's killers to a pulp. There wasn't anything left but a pile of meat when he was finished."

"Good lord!" Sandra's eyes widened.

Hiro took a quick head count of the children and adults before turning to Lyle. "You said that three of ours were killed?" Lyle nodded. "Heidi was one of them?" Lyle nodded again as Monty and Simon sniffled. "Then the ones of us that are left are all together now. We need to go to the Cayman Islands. Now."

"No." Monty stepped forward. "I'm not going, Uncle Hiro."

Hiro turned to him. "Montgomery-"

"-NO!" Monty shook his head. "If there are others left out here, they can't live! They'll just keep looking for us and looking and looking until they DO find us! We have to take a stand here, just like our families are doing in Las Vegas! We have to stay here and we have to fight! We have to stop them now!"

Hiro sighed and shook his head. "Monty-"

"-I'm not going anywhere!" Monty crossed his arms in front of his chest, his green-blue eyes blazing as Hiro sighed.

"NONE OF YOU ARE GOING ANYWHERE!" They spun around to see the final five attackers descending on them.

Hiro shook his head as he pulled out his sword. "You really picked the WRONG people to start a fight with! YATTA!" He yelled as he ran towards them.

* * *

Gabriel watched in anguish as Linderman's sword pressed harder against Olivia's neck. "Baby-"

"-Just stay back." Olivia smiled softly at him. "We knew this was coming."

Without taking his eyes off of Gabriel and Peter, Linderman waved his hands, cutting Mina's chains. As she tried to bolt for the two men, he twitched his fingers, pulling her towards him. "You know what you have to do, Little Girl." He muttered.

Mina shook her head, placing her arms defiantly behind her back. "NO!"

"Don't piss me off, Girl!" Linderman's eyes snapped towards her for a moment before he returned his gaze back to Gabriel and Peter. "Do it or I'll kill you!"

Mina struggled against him and finally stopped as Olivia spoke to her. "Mina. Do what he asks and he'll let you go, forever. Won't you, Father?"

Linderman smirked. "Sure."

"WITHOUT killing her!" Olivia turned her head as much as his sword would allow, glaring at him.

Linderman rolled his eyes. "Fine. Do what I want you to do and you can join the others in the valley below, alive."

Olivia looked down at the young girl and smiled reassuringly. "Do it and run as quickly as you can, Honey."

"But Dr. Gray-"

"-Do it, please." Olivia winked at her. "It's okay."

Mina struggled not to cry as she placed her hand on Linderman's arm, then placed another on Olivia's. Olivia gasped and sagged as Linderman's powers were sent to her. As soon as she was finished, Mina quickly took off running and climbed down the valley, searching for Noah Bennet. The moment she found him, she flung herself into his arms, crying as he hugged her. "It's okay, Sweetie." Noah hugged her before handing her over to Claire. "You're safe now, just like I promised you that you would be."

Claire glanced up at the ridge, watching the standoff between Linderman and Gabriel and Peter. "Dad? Do you think their plan is going to work?"

Noah watched the events unfolding above them, noticing that the others had stopped trying to climb up the valley to reach them, opting instead to watch the events as well. "I hope so." He whispered.

* * *

As Hiro fought two men, Sandra, Tulia and Janice guarded Mohinder, Christina, Lyle, Simon and the babies. They watched as Oscar and Katharina joined the fray with the children also joining in. Sandra gasped as Molly and Micah brought one man down, killing him together as Tatiana and Monty killed another. Within a moment, the final five attackers had perished. Hiro turned to them all, nodding. "That is all of them." He leaned against a box car and sat on the ground, exhausted.

"What do we do now?" Monty asked softly? "Do we go to Uncle Ando and Aunt Kimiko?"

Hiro shook his head. "Our threat has ended. Now we wait for our friends to arrive and tell us that they've won in the desert." He reached out and pulled Monty and Simon to him, hugging them both tightly before nodding to Lyle. "My niece?" Lyle walked over to him and placed Faith in his arms. Hiro smiled softly as he gazed at the infant, still sleeping peacefully. "She slept through it all?"

"Most of it." Lyle nodded.

"Good." Hiro kissed her forehead. "No future growing up in the past for you, My Dear. Not if we can help it."

* * *

Olivia sagged against her father for a moment, feeling the new power of nuclear manipulation coursing through her veins. "It's a powerful feeling, isn't it?" Linderman whispered to her. "The knowledge that with a wave of your hands, you could cause so much destruction, it's absolutely intoxicating, yes?"

"It's nothing that my husband and brother don't have." Olivia quipped.

Linderman sighed. "Before I finish this, I have to tell you something. You have been my singularly greatest disappointment. Over thirty years ago, when Angela told me that she was carrying my child, I was thrilled. I had always wanted an heir. Then you were born and handed over to Jack and Sally."

"Yeah, and you killed them, you sick son of a bitch." Olivia muttered.

"I actually tried to find a way to kill them years earlier, but I never could get it right. You don't remember this, but there was another car accident with your parents when you were a year old. Their brakes failed. Unfortunately, they walked away with barely a scratch. I had to have my scientists create a rough version of the serum first so I could acquire telekinesis. Once I did that, it was quite easy for me to simply wait for the right time to not only kill them, but injure you so gravely that Angela would have no choice but to turn you over to me in exchange for my saving your life. I should have tried to find another way to kill them earlier, though. They ruined you."

"HOW?" Olivia glared at him. "Just HOW did my parents ruin me, you hateful bastard? Did they ruin me by loving me and teaching me to love others? Did they ruin me by nurturing me and showing me that this world is a good place with good people that just need a chance?"

"This world is a cesspool and the people in it are sheep!" Linderman spat out. "They need a leader, someone to tell them when to take a shit and when to wipe their noses! I will be that leader and if your parents hadn't instilled that bullshit in your brain about being conscientious and having ideals, you could have led with me!"

"You say that I was YOUR biggest disappointment?" Olivia laughed bitterly. "It's nothing compared to the disappointment I feel every time I'm reminded that you're my father! It makes me sick to know that half of my DNA comes from you. You're a sick, hateful, cruel, cold, unfeeling piece of shit and the sooner you die, the sooner this world will be a brighter place!"

"Oh, that hurt." Linderman quipped. He lowered his sword as Gabriel and Peter ran towards him and laughed as he stared into his daughter's eyes. Suddenly, Linderman's mouth closed as Olivia started laughing maniacally. Gabriel and Peter froze, staring at father and daughter.

"They did it." Peter glanced at them both. "Shit, he did it."

'Olivia' turned to Peter, raising an eyebrow as she pointed to 'Linderman'. "Well? What are you waiting for?" 'She' asked. "He's right there! KILL HIM! Just like Mama Alice said you would, kill him, both of you!"

Peter stepped up to 'Olivia' and shook his head. "You're not my sister." Before 'she' could react, Peter shoved his sword into 'her' chest, twisting the blade as 'her' eyes rolled back in her head and 'she' collapsed. He turned to Gabriel. "DO IT! DO IT NOW BEFORE HE REGENS!"

Gabriel stared into 'Linderman's' eyes, frozen. In all of his fights with Linderman, he'd never noticed the old man's eyes before, but now, he couldn't stop staring at them. They were so much like Olivia's, the same bright, sparkling blue. As he looked deeper into them, he could almost see Olivia staring back at him, the eyes were filled with the same love that he saw daily in her own. 'Linderman' nodded softly and took Gabriel's hand, squeezing it. "Do it, Baby." 'He' whispered. "You know you have to."

"I can't, Liv." Gabriel moaned. "I can't kill you."

"You're not going to kill ME." 'Linderman' whispered. "You don't trust me to jump fast enough? You don't think I'll switch back in time?"

"I can't do it." Gabriel shook his head and started to turn away. 'Linderman' grabbed his arm, turning him back around.

"You have to. Remember how much you wanted to kill me when you first met me?"

"That was before I knew YOU. That was before I fell in love with you." Gabriel whispered. "I can't kill you now."

"Don't be Gabriel right now, be Sylar. Sylar wanted me dead when we first met. Be Sylar again now. Remember what Linderman's done. Remember all of the horrible things that he's done and strike! Be Sylar and kill us both, me and Linderman! Do it now!" 'Linderman' turned and noticed 'Olivia' starting to come around as Peter twisted his sword in 'her' chest again. "DO IT!"

Sylar avoided 'Linderman's' eyes as he lifted his sword. "Promise me you'll make the jump." He whispered.

"I promise to try." 'Linderman' closed his eyes. "Do it."

Gabriel took a deep breath as he raised his sword, pressing it against 'Linderman's' neck before drawing it back to swing. "God help me." He moaned as he swung the sword as hard as he could, decapitating the man's body that stood in front of him.


	99. Epilogue Part One

Epilogue: Ten Years Later Part One: Tybee Island

November 8, 2018

Gabriel Gray lay in the small sailboat, his eyes closed as he felt the Atlantic Ocean bounce his small craft along the water. He shivered as he sat up, sighing as he began to steer it towards the dock outside of his home. Glancing at the small brown dog that sat at his feet, he grinned. "Guess that's it until springtime, huh Cara?" He laughed softly as the dog barked in agreement and huddled near him for warmth. He stroked her wavy chocolate brown fur. "You cold, Girl? I thought dogs like you were bred for this kind of weather. Go on! Get out there and swim to shore!" He laughed again softly as the Boykin Spaniel gave him reproachful look with her sad amber eyes. "Bred for swimming in cold water my ass!" As the boat approached the dog, Gabriel threw out a line, guiding it with his telekinesis to wrap around a post before he used it to pull the craft in. He climbed out of the boat onto the dog with the dog quickly following him. With a wave of his hand, the boat quickly moved into the accompanying boathouse to prepare for winter storage. Gabriel grinned as he started towards the house, then stopped as he heard some soft voices in the boathouse. He laughed softly as he heard the whispering, then quickly marched over to the building, rapping his knuckles against the wall and hearing the yelps of surprise inside. "Hey! Pete and Repeat! You two had better not be getting into any trouble in there!"

"We're not!" He heard Petey Petrelli's voice ring out from the building. "I swear we're not, Uncle Gabe!"

"Your mom know where you two are?" Gabriel glanced over at the house that had been built next door to his where Sherry and Peter had moved with their children. He sighed as the two boys walked out of the boathouse and looked up at him. They were nine years old and identical, right down to the heavy black bangs that hung in their golden brown eyes. "Well? Does Sherry know you two are out here doing God-knows-what in the boathouse?"

John-John, the oldest of the twins by five minutes shrugged. "Ma just told us to go out and play before she put her foot up our rears!"

Petey nodded. "She said we were getting in her hair and she was about to lose her shi-" he stopped "-she was about to lose it." He grinned sheepishly.

"I can see how that could happen." Gabriel tried not to grin as he glanced at the house again. Sherry and Peter had built the home soon after the battle in Las Vegas and moved in the following May, when the twins were nearly two months old. Three years ago they had been followed by another brother Paul. Now Sherry was pregnant again and due any day, swearing to anyone who'd listen that this child would not only be their last, but had better be a girl. He turned back to the twins, marveling as usual at how much they resembled Peter. "Try not to get into too much trouble in there, got it? If you sink another sailboat of mine, I'll have your butts!"

"Yes Sir!" The boys said in tandem.

Gabriel started to walk away and stopped as he heard movement again in the boathouse. Turning back to the twins he sighed. "And if there's SOMEONE ELSE in that boathouse, tell them that they need to go home soon and get ready for the party, got it!"

"Yes Sir!" The boys repeated together again. As Gabriel turned to go into the house with his dog at his heels, he heard John-John exclaim. "How does he ALWAYS know?"

Gabriel laughed to himself as he approached the house and stopped, listening to the sounds of piano music. He smiled softly as he entered the house, glancing down at the tiny black ball of fluff that yipped and danced at his feet as he opened the door. "Good afternoon, Mia." He addressed the Cockapoo puppy. He watched as the puppy tried to get Cara to play and chuckled as the older dog snapped at the puppy, making it yelp and run quickly from the kitchen, yipping as she ran from Cara's jaws. Gabriel followed the puppy towards the sound of the piano music, stepping past an array of dolls scattered along the hallway. As he walked into the living room, he saw the puppy sitting under the piano bench, staring up at her mistress adoringly as she practiced her piano lessons. At ten years old, Faith Gray was a pretty little girl who showed promise of being a stunningly beautiful woman. She resembled her cousin Claire more than she resembled anyone else in the family, with her wide-set eyes and rounded cheeks. Her hair was her own though, a light strawberry blond shade that hung down her back in fat ringlets. Gabriel leaned in the doorway, silently watching as she practiced her lessons. She hit a wrong note and sighed, shaking her head.

"Oh, shit on a stick." She muttered.

Gabriel raised his eyebrows. "What did you say?"

Faith spun around on the bench, smiling sheepishly at her father before springing up and running to him, throwing her arms around his waist. "When did you get back? How was the water?"

"Just a few minutes ago and cold! There won't be any more sailing until springtime." Gabriel grinned down at her, hugging her back as he stroked her curls. "But don't change the subject. What did you just say?"

Faith blushed, her dark brown eyes twinkling. "I said 'oops, I made a mistake'!"

"Yeah, right." Gabriel sighed. "Don't let your grandma catch you saying that, you know she'll wash your mouth out with soap again."

"I know." Faith blew a stray curl out of her eye in frustration. Gabriel swallowed down the lump that formed in his throat as he remembered how her mother did that whenever she got annoyed.

He brushed the curl back away from her face. "Are you almost finished with your lessons?"

"Finished enough." Faith shrugged. "I know Gram wants me to be this cultured pianist, but I think I'm a lost cause with that thing."

"Don't tell her that or she'll buy that violin she was threatening you with." Gabriel laughed.

"I won't. I'll let her give the stupid violin to Jackson!" Faith giggled. She hugged her father one last time before letting him go. "I'm going to head up and get ready now."

"You do that." Gabriel watched as she sprinted out of the room and bounded up the steps, her tiny dog gamely following behind her with her tiny pink tongue hanging out of her mouth. He grinned as he remembered how excited Faith had been when he'd handed that puppy to her for her birthday just three months earlier. As Faith disappeared from view, Gabriel turned and walked into the living room with his own dog trailing behind him, watching him as he collected Faith's sheet music and placed it inside of the bench. He turned and walked over to the mantelpiece, picking up a framed photograph. He sat down on the couch and studied it, smiling softly. It was a photo taken of himself, Olivia and Faith the day they'd come back to Las Vegas after Faith had been born. They had sat on the couch together, their daughter cradled in their arms as they smiled at the camera. Gabriel sighed as he remembered how happy they had been that day. He jumped as he felt something cold and damp touch his palm and looked down to see his dog Cara staring up at him. She nosed his hand again and he smiled, rubbing the top of her head. "I'm not sad, Pooch, just remembering a happy day."

"You've certainly had your share of those, how could you pick just one?" Gabriel turned as Angela breezed into the room, straightening throw pillows on the chairs before taking the photograph from him. She stared down at it. "Remembering when it was just the three of you, before this house became stuffed to the rafters?"

"It would be a lot less stuffed if you and Kaito moved somewhere else. You know, Nathan was saying just the other day how much he missed having you around and how quiet the house has gotten with Monty finally going away to college. The only ones left there now are himself, Niki and Jessie."

Angela pursed her lips together as she placed the photograph back on the mantel with the others. "I promised Olivia that I would stay here to help raise my granddaughter and I'm keeping that promise, you jackass!" She turned to him and started to talk more when she heard the front door open and close. Gabriel turned on the couch and watched as his wife walked into the living room, setting her purse down before sitting beside him to kiss him. Angela rolled her eyes. "-as I was saying to your husband when he threatened to evict me yet again, I promised you that I'd stay and help raise Faith and now with the extra additions the two of you have added, not to mention the one that you're expecting in April, I wouldn't DREAM of leaving you two alone to try and handle your brood by yourselves. God only knows how you two will handle trying to raise FOUR children all under the age of ten!"

Olivia leaned back against the couch as Gabriel rubbed her belly, smiling as he realized that she was starting to show. "Mother, I've had a long day at the clinic and then I had to go to the hospital to check on the patients that Pete and I admitted there, and now I have to get ready for this party. Can I please have five minutes alone with my husband WITHOUT you picking a fight and reminding us once again how lost we'd be without you and Kaito here?"

"In my defense, I didn't threaten to evict her from the east wing, I just strongly suggested that she share her company with Nathan and Niki for a change. Heck, Jessie misses her grandma like crazy. She told me so when we went to Manhattan to visit them last week." Gabriel grinned at his wife.

Olivia smiled softly at Gabriel. "And you were only suggesting it out of the goodness of your heart, I'm sure."

"Of course I was." Gabriel smiled innocently.

"The only goodness that you have in his heart-" Angela started to speak. She closed her mouth as Kaito walked into the room, lowering his head as he regarded his wife. She sighed. "Excuse me, I'm going to my room with my husband to get ready for that party tonight. I suggest you find a way to round up those three hellions you call children and get them ready as well. Peter said he was going to be arriving to teleport us to Las Vegas at six. It's four now."

"Yes Mother." Olivia said tiredly. As Angela left, she turned to Gabriel. "How terrible is it, that on the tenth anniversary of this day, I really would rather just stay at home and spend it in bed with you?"

Gabriel pulled her into his arms, burying his nose in her dark curls. "It's not terrible at all."

He closed his eyes as he held his wife, remembering that night ten years earlier when he'd nearly lost her. As soon as he'd decapitated Linderman, Peter pulled the sword out of Olivia's chest and waited for her to heal. Gabriel turned and knelt beside her, holding her close to him as he stroked her hair. "Please be in there, Baby." He begged. "Please be Olivia. Please tell me that I didn't just kill my wife."

Olivia moaned softly and opened her eyes. "Did I do it?" She whispered. She lifted up her hands and stared at them before touching her hair. "Oh thank God!"

Gabriel looked down at her. "Is it really you? You're not Linderman in there, it's really you?"

Olivia looked up at him, nodding. "It's really me."

Gabriel frowned. "Prove it."

Olivia smiled softly. "Sugar, I dreamed of you the whole time I was out."

Gabriel laughed and burst into tears as he pulled her into his arms again. "It's really you!"

"Of course it is!" Olivia laughed with him as they stood. She turned and hugged Peter before heading down into the valley with them to reunite with their friends.

"What are you thinking about?" Gabriel snapped out of the past and back to the present to see Olivia staring at him.

"You know." Gabriel whispered. "I came so close to losing you forever that day. I think every day about what I'd have lost if I lost you. I wouldn't have you or Jack or Gracie-" He kissed his wife passionately. "-every day I remember how lucky and truly blessed I am."

Olivia looked around, frowning. "Where ARE the kids?"

"Faith's upstairs getting ready and I know Jack is probably down at the boathouse with the twins. I caught them messing around in there and I thought I heard someone else bumping around in there too."

"And Gracie?"

Gabriel shrugged. "Got me." He stood up and walked out of the living room with Olivia following him. "Knowing her, she's probably curled up in a corner somewhere with her dolls or a book. You know how quiet she is."

Olivia frowned and walked to the foot of the stairs. "FAITH?"

"YEAH?" Faith called down from her bedroom.

" Come here, please so I don't have to scream from the stairs?" Olivia sighed as Faith walked to the top of the stairs, brushing her hair. "Have you seen your brother and sister?"

"I'm not their keeper!" Faith turned to leave as Olivia groaned with exasperation.

"Excuse me, but you're the oldest and you're SUPPOSED to keep an eye on them. Where are they?"

Faith turned back to her mother and shrugged. "You know, I'm only older than Jack by a little more than eleven months, seeing as how he was born a week before my first birthday, it's not like he's this little baby that has to be watched all the time-"

"-That's not answering my question, Young Lady." Olivia turned to Gabriel. "YOU ask her, I can't do anything with that girl."

Gabriel groaned inwardly as he thought about the mother-daughter battles he was preparing for once Faith hit puberty. "Faith Honey, when's the last time you saw them?"

Faith smiled. "Oh, Jack said something about going down to the beach with Petey and John-John. Gracie was hanging around, messing with my sheet music so I told her to go play somewhere else. She said something about going to see what Jack was up to."

"You couldn't have said that earlier?" Olivia asked, exasperated. "Honestly Faith, I ask you ONE simple question and you have to sass me-" she glared as Faith sighed and rolled her eyes "-oh, don't you roll those eyes at me, Missy!" She turned and stomped towards the kitchen, muttering under her breath. "Rolling those damn eyes at me. Roll those eyes at me again and I swear to God I'll roll that head off of your shoulders and don't think I won't do it, too! I brought your ass into this world and I'll take it out and make another one that looks just like you. In labor for over eighteen hours and this is the thanks I get from that ungrateful little-"

Gabriel stared up at Faith, shaking his head. "Why do you have to always test her?"

Faith shrugged. "I dunno." They jumped as they heard the back door slam shut. "I ticked her off, didn't I?"

"When your mother asks you a question, just answer it, stop giving her lip." Gabriel sighed as he started towards the kitchen.

Faith shrugged. "Always worrying about her precious Jackie-Boy." She muttered. She frowned as she heard her mother yelling outside and started to run down the stairs, hearing the urgency in her mother's voice. She ran faster as she heard her father's voice join her mother's, then her Aunt Sherry's and her Uncle Peter's. As she reached the back door, her father ran through it, almost knocking her down, his eyes frantic. "Daddy? What's wrong?"

Gabriel turned to her. "Get a blanket! NOW!" He dashed back out the back door as Faith ran into the living room, grabbing a throw blanket from the back of the couch. As she returned to the kitchen, her father ran inside, carrying a sopping wet figure as Olivia ran behind them, crying. Peter and Sherry followed them inside with Petey, John-John and Faith's five year old sister Gracie bringing up the lead as Sherry balanced a three year-old Paul on her hip. Faith ran with everyone else towards the downstairs bathroom, clutching the blanket as Gabriel placed the figure in the bathtub and quickly began to run water.

"Don't get him too warm too quickly." Olivia whispered.

"I won't." Gabriel began to strip his son's wet clothes off and began to chafe the boy's blue skin to warm him up. "What were you thinking, going swimming in the ocean? It's freezing out there!"

"Just had to prove that I could do it and I could." Jackson Oliver Gray said softly, his teeth chattering. At nine years old, he was the carbon copy of his father, with dark brown hair and deep brown eyes. He shivered as his father rubbed his arms to help the blood flow.

"And what did you think you had to prove, that you could cheat hypothermia? You didn't prove that one bit!" Gabriel sighed.

Jackson glanced over his father's shoulder and spotted his older sister as she peeked at him from behind her uncle's back. "YOU!" He pointed a shaky hand at Faith. "YOU OWE ME FIFTY BUCKS!"

"WHAT?" Faith's eyes widened as the adults turned to her.

Jackson nodded, his teeth chattering. "I told you I could breathe underwater and you said you didn't think I could and I told you I could do it and you said if I proved it, you'd give me fifty bucks!" He smiled at his sister, his lips pale blue. "I DID IT! WHERE'S MY MONEY!"

"Faith Gabrielle Tatiana Gray!" Olivia shrieked at her. "Did you do that?"

"What on earth is going on in here?" Angela walked into the bathroom and gasped. "Oh Jack-Jack! What happened!"

"I'm not paying you ANYTHING!" Faith crossed her arms in front of her chest as she glared at her little brother. "First of all, I told you to prove it in a bathtub, not out in the freezing ocean you dork! Second of all, I didn't see you do it so I'm not paying!"

"You can breathe underwater?" Peter asked his nephew, his eyes wide.

"Why would you tell your brother something like that in the first place!" Olivia yelled at Faith.

"I didn't think he'd be stupid enough to go into the freakin' ocean, MOM!"

"I can totally do it!" Jackson nodded at Peter. Before Gabriel could stop him, he fell back into the water, submerging himself completely. The adults all leaned over the tub as Gabriel pulled out a watch and started timing the boy.

"He needs to come up." Olivia shook her head. "Gabriel, pull him out of the water."

"Hang on." Gabriel stared at his watch for a moment as John-John tugged at Sherry's shirt.

"He totally did it outside, Mom! He was underwater for ten minutes and didn't come up once! We made him stay underwater near the dock while we watched him."

Sherry glared down at her son. "You made your cousin stay UNDERWATER in the FREEZING COLD?"

John-John shrugged. "He said he could do it."

"And he nearly DIED you little-" Sherry shook her head as she started cursing in Sicilian. As Paul started crying on her hip, she groaned and shook her head. "Please be a girl, a quiet, sweet little girl." She whispered as she patted her swollen belly.

"Holy crap, is he BREATHING?" Peter stared down at his nephew's chest, watching it rise and fall under the water. "He's breathing underwater."

"And he's been under for a minute now." Gabriel nodded.

"Bring him up!" Olivia begged.

"Hang on, Honey. He's warming back up. See? He's turning pink under the water now." Gabriel turned back to his son and grinned. "Look at my boy go!"

"Manifesting at nine years old, just like Monty!" Peter laughed softly.

"I manifested before I was even born." Faith smirked as she reached down to pick up the black puppy that had ambled her way into the room. "Nine years old." She snorted. "And a war even started because my grandfather wanted me so badly. He's not so special." Faith muttered.

Olivia turned and fixed Faith with a steely gaze. "You are so grounded!"

Faith gasped. "What did I do?"

"You bribed your brother!"

"No I didn't! I told him I'd pay him if he could prove that he could breathe underwater. He's always going on and on about what power he's gonna get, and when he started bragging about being the second coming of Aquaman or something lame like that, I told him he was full of it. I didn't know he'd prove it out in the ocean."

"You bribed your brother, Faith. You're grounded for two weeks and when your brother finally comes up, he's grounded too, for being stupid enough to try to go swimming in the ocean in November!"

"This SUCKS!" Faith slumped against a wall as Olivia turned to Gracie.

"And you're grounded too, Little Girl."

Gracie sighed and nodded as she adjusted the glasses on her face. At five years old, she was an equal blend of her mother and father. Her long dark hair was straight and hung down her back. Her mouth was her father's, but her eyes were her mother's with the same rounded shape and dark blue coloring. "I figured I would be."

"You should have come into this house to get an adult as soon as you realized what Jack was about to pull." Olivia sighed. "Really, Sweetie, why didn't you tell someone?"

"Oh SHE gets called 'Sweetie'?" Faith rolled her eyes.

"Little Girl, you are PUSHING IT!" Olivia turned on Faith.

"Wait, wait, wait!" Angela stepped between mother and daughter raising her hands. "Before this gets any uglier, Faith go to your room. When your mother has cooled down, she and your father will discuss this with you in a rational manner." She sighed as Faith turned and stomped out of the room. Turning to Gracie, she tucked a strand of hair behind the girl's ear. "Now tell us, why didn't you come to me or Grandpa when you found out what Jack was up to?"

Gracie shrugged. "Didn't want to be a tattletale. The boys won't let me play with them if I'm a snitch."

"Well, there you go." Angela smiled down at her. "I wouldn't have blabbed either, in that case." She whispered to her before taking her hand. "Come on, Darling. Let's go to your room and pick out a pretty dress for you to wear to the party tonight, shall we?"

"Okay Gram!" Gracie beamed at her grandmother before turning to her mother. "I'm really sorry, Mommy. If the boys hadn't told me that I couldn't play with them anymore if I blabbed, I would have told someone, honest I would've."

"I know." Olivia nodded as she watched Gracie leave the bathroom with Angela. She turned back to the bathtub, gasping as she realized that Jack was still submerged. "Gabriel! How long has he been down there?"

"Five minutes and counting." Gabriel grinned up at his wife. His smile faded as he saw the look on her face and sighed. "Which means he's more than proved that he can breathe underwater." He turned to Jack and reached under the water, pulling the boy up. "Okay, we believe you, you're Aquaman reborn!"

Jack coughed up water and smiled at his father. "Pretty cool, huh?"

Gabriel nodded, smiling proudly. "Pretty cool indeed!" He leaned down to his son until their foreheads touched. "Just use that noggin next time to remember this: you might be able to breathe underwater, but you can still freeze to death in it if it's cold enough, so no more scaring your mother with this swimming in the ocean in November bit, got it?"

Jack nodded. "Got it." He looked around. "I'm feeling warmer now, can I get out?"

Gabriel shrugged. "Well, you no longer look like a Smurf and you're not shivering anymore. I think I'll leave it up to the doctors in the family." He turned to Olivia and Peter. "Dr. Gray, Dr. Petrelli, what do you think?"

Olivia and Peter turned to each other and nodded. "Let Aquaman out of the tub." Peter laughed.

"Good!" Jack started to get out and blushed as he realized he was naked. "Mom? Aunt Sherry?"

"You've gotta be kidding me, Champ!" Sherry laughed as she turned her back. "I live in a house filled with men! I've seen more woo-woo's and wee-wee's the last ten years than any woman has a right to!" She stared down at her belly again as Paul wriggled against her hip, whining to be let down. "Please, please, please be a girl." She moaned.

"Mama! PUT DOWN!" Paul shrieked.

"Fine, you little monkey, your little sister, I hope, is kicking the crap out of me anyway." She sighed as she set the three year-old down, rubbing the small of her back.

Jack covered himself with his hands as he gave his mother an imploring look. "Moooom!"

"Okay." Olivia turned her back on him as he climbed out of the tub and was wrapped in a blanket. "You do realize though that I diapered that bare behind for over a year, right?"

"But I'm not a baby anymore." Jack shook his head as he started to walk past her.

"No, but you're still my baby." Olivia pulled him to her and hugged him tightly, tears squeezing out of the corners of her eyes. "When I saw you climbing out of that water all blue, I-" she shook her head "-don't do that to me again, Little Man!"

"I won't! Sheesh!" Jack shrugged. "Where's Faith? I want my damn money!"

"LANGUAGE!" Olivia sighed. "And Faith's upstairs. She's grounded and so are you and Gracie, for two weeks."

"Okay." Jack nodded. "That's fair as long as I get my money." He frowned. "Wait, when does the grounding start?"

"Right now." Olivia crossed her arms in front of her chest. "When we get to the party, for the first hour, you and your sisters will NOT be allowed to do anything but sit at a table and watch everyone else play, got it?"

"What else can't I do for the next two weeks?" Jack asked nervously.

"No computer, no video games-"

"-NO HOLO-WII?" Jack gaped as Olivia shook her head.

John-John snorted. "Sucks to be you!"

"Not so fast!" John-John and Petey turned as their parents glared down at them. Sherry raised an eyebrow. "You two let your cousin go down to the beach and submerge himself in freezing cold water for ten minutes. You're just as grounded as he and his sisters are."

"No Playstation Nine?" John-John moaned.

"No computers or television?" Petey whispered.

"Nothing but you two boys, four walls and an impeccably cleaned bedroom at the end of two weeks." Sherry nodded.

"Crap." John-John muttered as he trudged out of the bathroom.

"Wonder how long that'll stick." Peter laughed softly. As Sherry turned to him, he nodded. "I'm just saying, I wonder how long it'll be with you stuck at home all day with the boys before you crack and tell them that they're un-grounded, just to get them out of your hair."

"Actually, I was thinking that they should come and visit the clinic with you for a few days a week until they're no longer grounded." Sherry smirked as Peter's eyes widened.

"Honey, you remember what happened the LAST TIME they were there, right? Micah and Hana had to doctor a LOT of police reports to cover their tracks."

"Well then, I guess this time you'll keep a better eye on them while they're there, won't you?" Sherry stepped past him as she herded her three boys towards the door. She turned to Olivia. "See you at six?"

Olivia nodded, her eyes heavy. "I'm seriously considering a quick nap before I start to get ready."

"Great, we'll probably only be two hours late then, since I know what happens with you and Gabriel when you try to lie down for a 'nap'." Peter laughed softly. "You two have been married for almost eleven years, you have three kids and another one on the way and you still act like horny teenagers."

"Says the man with three boys and another child on the way." Gabriel quipped.

"Hey, two of those three boys are twins. Olivia had her three one at a time."

"Don't remind me." Olivia laughed as she touched her stomach. "At least Jack and Gracie had the sense not to keep me in labor for a whole day. Hell, Gracie came flying out almost as soon as my water broke. It's like she thought my womb was a slip and slide. God only knows how quickly this one's going to come when it's time."

"Anyway," Peter shook his head "please try and let my sister actually rest instead of tackling her like a horny linebacker. You think you can do that, Bro?"

"I'll try, BRO!" Gabriel watched as Peter and his brood left. He turned to Olivia and followed her up the stairs with his arm around her shoulders. "Hell of an afternoon, huh?"

"Tell me about it!" Olivia shook her head. "That Jackson, I swear!" She frowned. "And Faith-"

"-Don't go too hard on her, okay?"

"You let her off too easily!" Olivia glared at him. "I really hate being the bad cop with her all the time while you get to be the good cop!"

"I'm not always the good cop." Gabriel shrugged. "I just think you're too hard on her sometimes, that's all."

"She's the oldest-"

"-By a little less than a year to Jackson. They're practically twins themselves, actually I think they're called Irish Twins when they're born less than a year apart like that. She shouldn't have to always be in charge of him, you know."

"But she shouldn't also goad him into doing things like he did today. She knows how he is. He's impetuous, just like you and Peter."

"And like you, too. I seem to remember someone wanting to test someone's healing powers by allowing her hand to get smashed with a hammer." Gabriel nodded. "Jack takes after YOU, Honey! When he wants to prove something-"

"-He goes all out, just like his father!" Olivia sighed and shook her head. "He can breathe underwater."

"Yep, he sure can." Gabriel smiled softly. "I wonder what Gracie's power is going to be?" At Olivia's frown, he nodded. "You know she's going to manifest soon, too."

"Simon never manifested."

"Simon had one parent with powers and one parent without, may Heidi rest in peace." Gabriel's mouth turned down sadly for a moment. "He had a fifty-fifty shot of manifesting. Gracie has two parents with powers. She's going to manifest soon, no doubt about it." Gabriel patted Olivia's belly as they entered the bedroom. "And this little whippersnapper will too." He stretched out beside Olivia on the bed, lying on his side as she lay on her back. "So tell me, what does this one feel like? Boy or girl?"

Olivia rolled onto her side until she and Gabriel were facing each other. "I think it's going to be a boy."

"That would be cool. It'll help balance things around here." Gabriel chuckled.

"But after this one-"

"-I know. No more kids." Gabriel sighed. "No matter how much fun they are to make and raise."

"FUN? Today wasn't fun, Honey. Today scared the shit out of me."

"Yeah, but it was cool once we realized that Jack was going to be okay." Gabriel smiled as he leaned forward and kissed Olivia. "But we're not getting any younger-"

"-I'm forty now. This baby is it, the last one. As soon as this one comes out, I'm telling the OB/GYN to stick an IUD up there for good."

"Yeah, because getting your tubes tied or me getting a vasectomy would be a waste of money!" Gabriel chuckled.

Olivia laughed with him. "It definitely would, but it would be worth it to try just to see the look on the doctor's face as his handiwork is reversed right before his eyes!"

"Tell me about it!" Gabriel grinned. He leaned forward and kissed her forehead. "You need to take a quick nap."

"Okay." Olivia yawned. "Wake me in an hour?"

"Will do." Gabriel smiled softly as he watched his wife close her eyes and drift off to sleep.

* * *

At six that evening, the family gathered in the living room to wait for Peter to arrive. Olivia turned and smiled at her oldest daughter, tucking a curl behind the girl's ear. "You look very pretty." She whispered to her as she studied the girl's dark green dress.

Faith turned to Olivia and wrapped an arm around her mother's waist. "You do too, Mom."

"Where are Angela and Gracie?" Gabriel turned around and looked towards the door, frowning. "They should have been down here already." He turned back to stare at Jackson, sighing as he wiped away a smudge of dirt from the boy's nose. "You've been up in your room all this time, how on earth did you get dirty?"

The boy shrugged as his father straightened out the sleeves on his sweater, wriggling to get loose. "I dunno, I just do."

"We're here!" Angela swept into the room with Gracie following her. She turned and presented Gracie with a flourish of her arm. "Presenting one Miss Grace Elizabeth Gray!" Angela smiled down at her granddaughter, admiring her pink dress. She stroked her hair, tied back with a pink ribbon. "You look so much like your mother did at your age. Being around you is like I'm getting that second chance to raise her."

Gracie shrugged as she adjusted her glasses. "Mommy had curly hair and she didn't have glasses."

"She most certainly did, she just took them off for pictures because she was self-conscious." Angela sighed. "Or so Jack and Sally told me in the letters they'd occasionally send." She knelt down to her granddaughter, smiling happily at her. "She also had braces when she was a teenager."

"Really?" Gracie stared up at Olivia.

Olivia nodded. "Afraid so, Sweetie. I suppose THIS is what you're going to have to look forward to when you grow up." She shrugged. "Without the irritation of taming a mess of curls."

Gracie grinned. "I could handle that."

"Oh, you could handle that, huh?" Gabriel scooped her up as she giggled and nuzzled her neck, making her giggles turn into peals of laughter. "Think you can handle growing up to be a knockout like your mommy? Think you can handle that?"

"I GUESS SO!" Gracie gasped in between fits of laughter. She wrapped her arms around Gabriel's neck and smiled at him. "I think I can, anyway."

Gabriel sighed as he held his daughter. "There's nothing wrong with glasses, Toots. Mommy and I both wore them, and we'll probably end up having to wear them again before long. We're not getting any younger."

"You're young enough." Gracie smiled and rubbed noses with her father before she rested her head on his shoulder.

Gabriel raised an eyebrow as Peter appeared in the living room. "Took you long enough."

"Eat me." Peter sighed. "I saved you guys for last in the pick-up rotation. I knew you'd all be running late."

"And yet we were all here, waiting for you." Gabriel quipped.

"But Gram and I just did get down here." Gracie piped in. "Gram took FOREVER trying to find a ribbon to perfectly match my dress."

"Gracie," Gabriel sighed as Peter gave him a gloating look "when Daddy's trying to shine Uncle Peter on, it's not nice to rat him out."

"Okay." Gracie grinned.

"Don't listen to him, you can rat your daddy out to me any time you want." Peter ruffled her hair affectionately before nodding to the group. "So is everyone ready now?"

"Wait!" Faith knelt down as Mia ran into the room. She scooped the puppy up in her arms, laughing as it bathed her face with its tongue.

"NO!" Gabriel turned to Faith. "Mia's not coming with us."

"But DAD-DEEEEEE!" Faith pouted as she clutched the puppy to her chest. "I was telling Shanti just the other day how big she was getting and she's been dying to see her and-"

"-Okay, it's fine." Olivia nodded. "Just keep an eye on her, got it?" She turned to Gabriel. "You know Noah and Sandra will most definitely be bringing Muggles III."

"Who's being the good cop NOW?" Gabriel sighed as Peter groaned.

"Are we ready to go NOW?" Peter asked. As everyone grouped together and held hands, Peter placed a hand on Angela's shoulder. "Next stop, Las Vegas!"

The family disappeared from the living room as Gabriel's dog watched from her perch on the couch.


	100. Epilogue Part Two

Epilogue: Ten Years Later, Part Two: Memorial

November 8, 2008

Within an hour of killing Linderman, Peter teleported to the Ukraine with Sherry, Olivia, Nathan, Gabriel, Kaito, Angela and Niki, with Nikolai preparing Matt, Mina, Hana, Claude, Noah and Claire to follow them. The moment they appeared in Odessa, Nathan broke from the group and started running towards the box car. "HEIDI! SIMON! MONTY!" He searched the car and stepped back, his face a mask of anguish. "There's a body in there." He whispered.

"The children?" Olivia looked around as Peter turned to her, his expression grim.

"I'm sensing the kids. I can find them using Molly's power so I know they're okay." He glanced back over at Nathan as he stared at the burned body in the box car. "But I can't find-" He took a deep breath as Olivia and Gabriel moved closer to him. "-I can't find Heidi." He whispered.

Olivia gasped and covered her mouth with her hand. "Pete, what does that mean?"

Niki closed her eyes. "It means that Heidi's-" She looked over at Nathan as he ran his fingers through his hair in frustration. "-it means that she's dead, doesn't it?"

"I think so." Peter stared at the ground for a moment, his eyes filling with tears as Nathan ran over to him. Just as he returned to the group, Nikolai's team arrived. Peter glanced over at Claire, sending her an unspoken message. She quickly ran over to them and wrapped an arm around Nathan's waist.

"Where's my family?" Nathan asked, his voice filled with desperation.

"I'm sensing some of the team here." Peter wouldn't meet his eyes as he pulled a flare gun out of his pocket. "I'm setting this off so they'll know we're here." He quickly fired the gun into the sky, watching as the flare exploded in red sparks high above them.

Nathan's eyes narrowed as he tried to make Peter look at him. "What do you mean you're sensing SOME of the team?" He grabbed Peter's shoulder and pulled him close until their foreheads were touching. "Pete, who are you sensing here? Is there someone gone, someone you can't detect?" Peter nodded slowly as Nathan fought to stay calm. "My boys?"

Peter looked Nathan in the eye. "I'm sensing the boys, but I can't find-" He choked back a sob. "-Heidi's not here, she's not anywhere. She's gone, Nathan."

"No." Nathan whispered. He shook his head for a moment, then sagged against Peter, clinging to him as his younger brother hugged him tightly. "Not my wife."

Angela closed her eyes as she leaned against Kaito. "Poor Heidi." She whispered.

Gabriel wrapped his arms around Olivia as she began to cry. He pulled her close, hugging her as she sobbed quietly. "She promised to protect Faith with her own life." She whispered.

"And she did it." Gabriel buried his face in Olivia's hair. "She gave her life to protect all of the kids."

"I SEE SOMEONE!" Claude shouted out. He yelled happily as he spotted the group and knelt down, his arms held out as Tatiana spotted him and broke away from everyone, running to him quickly. "Oh my girl!" He hugged her tightly as Hana knelt beside him, hugging them both.

"JANICE? JANICE! MATTHEW!" Matt ran to his wife and son and hugged them both, smiling with relief.

Christina glanced through the crowd for a moment, then closed her eyes. "Where's Anjelica?" She turned to Noah, her eyes filling with tears. "Anjelica?" As he shook his head sadly, she bowed her head and began to cry softly, turning to bury her face in Oscar's shoulder.

"Oh Noah!" Sandra reached him, hugging him tightly before pulling Lyle and Molly into the hug as well. "It was just-" she shook her head "-we lost Heidi, and Trevor, and Laurent, and Bridget."

"D.L.'s gone." Noah whispered softly. "And Anjelica and Sanjog."

"Sanjog's dead? And Father Kelly?" Oscar asked. He looked away as he held Christina. "My roommates. Trevor was talking about adopting Sanjog once this was over. They're together in a better place, I suppose."

Noah nodded his head towards Claire as she, Sherry and Nikolai tried to help comfort Nathan. "Meredith died too."

"Did you get him?" Sandra asked, her eyes narrowing. "Is HE gone?"

Noah nodded. "Linderman will never darken anyone's door again."

"MINA?" Katharina pulled the young girl into her arms. "Oh you poor thing! I'm so glad you're okay!"

Niki spotted Micah and slowly walked to him, her eyes filling with tears as she reached her son. She hugged him tightly. "Oh my little genius, I'm glad that you made it through this."

"I'm glad to see you too, Mom." He let her go and searched the groups. "Where's Dad?" As he turned back to his mother, his face crumpled. "No."

Niki choked back a sob as a tear slid down her cheek. "I'm sorry, Baby." She hugged him again as he began to cry.

"Dad?" Nathan lifted his head from Peter's shoulder. He turned and pulled Simon and Monty into his arms, hugging them both. Monty cried, his face buried in his father's chest. "Dad, I manifested, but I didn't do it in time to save Mom."

"He can turn to metal. He pounded Mom's killers until they were chunks." Simon shuddered.

"Metal?" Nathan stared down at him. "That's pretty cool."

"But I didn't do it before Mom died." Monty's chin quivered. "I'm sorry, Dad."

"Don't be. Your mother didn't expect you to save her, she was here to save all of you and she died doing that." Nathan embraced his son, squeezing him tightly. "We all did what we could."

Mohinder walked over to Gabriel and Olivia, Shanti sleeping in his arms. "I nearly died tonight, but Molly saved me. Thanks for having Peter and Nikolai give them more powers."

"You're welcome." Gabriel turned and smiled softly as Hiro approached him, cradling Faith in his arms. "Good to see you." He whispered.

Hiro bowed slightly and placed Faith in Olivia's arms. "This Faith will grow up with parents, not her uncle." He whispered.

"But you'll always be a part of her life as her uncle and her godfather." Olivia smiled at him.

"I'd like that." Hiro looked around nervously. "Leilani?"

"She's fine." Olivia nodded. "She stayed behind to help take everyone home. She asked me to bring her 'Big Kahuna' home to her and that she'd be waiting for you. She wanted me to tell you that she's very proud of you and knows you kicked butt here."

Hiro looked over at Nathan sadly. "But I couldn't protect my own sister-in-law. I wish I could have." He turned to Olivia. "Could you heal her? Bring her back?"

Olivia stared at the ground sadly as Nathan turned, looking hopefully at her. "I tried healing D.L., Sanjog, Anjelica, Geoffrey and Meredith. They were burned practically to ash and decapitated. I couldn't do it, no matter how hard I tried."

"Damn." Hiro muttered.

"We lost so many good people tonight." Olivia closed her eyes, tears sliding down her cheeks. "We should find a way to memorialize them, never forget them."

"We will." Noah nodded. "Even if the rest of the world can't know what we've done and why, WE will always know. We'll always tell our children and maybe one day when people with special powers can finally come forward, they can tell what happened here tonight and let the people that we lost become memorialized as the true heroes that they were and always will be."

Sherry smiled softly. "Someone's getting his Schwarzkopf on again."

"You know it." Noah grinned.

* * *

November 8, 2018 

The Gray family arrived in the gardens outside of the apartment building and made their way inside. They greeted their friends one by one, hugging them and catching up with stories of how they'd been doing since they'd met the previous year. Olivia turned as Faith tugged at her arm. She raised an eyebrow as her three children stood together, looking imploringly at her.

"Okay, the three of us have been talking and we want to negotiate." Faith announced.

"Negotiate?" Olivia tried to cover her amused grin as the three of them stood together, holding hands.

"We understand that we all screwed up this afternoon and because of that, Jack almost died. We realize the severity of the situation and we are prepared to accept our punishment, but tonight, we'd like the grounding to be lifted, just for one night. In exchange, we'll agree to be grounded for three weeks instead of two, starting tomorrow." Faith said, her voice firm.

"Oh really?" Olivia crossed her arms in front of her chest, studying her three children. "Are you all agreed to this?" Jack and Gracie nodded.

"Three weeks, starting tomorrow." Gracie sighed. "If we don't have to wait an hour tonight to start finding our friends."

Olivia sighed. "I have a counter-negotiation for you. I realize that none of you meant to cause any harm this afternoon and I realize that this will never happen again, ever-"

"-what are the odds, really?" Jack snorted. His eyes widened as caught the stern look his mother gave him. "Sorry Mom. Continue."

"-and I realize that I flew off the handle and freaked out just a tad this afternoon so you three can go ahead and see your friends now, and you'll only be grounded for one week, starting tomorrow."

"JUST ONE?" Faith asked, stunned. As Olivia nodded, she squealed. "OH! THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!" She hugged Olivia quickly before running through the crowd, searching for her best friend Shanti, her dog clutched to her chest.

"You're the coolest, Mom!" Jack turned and scampered off, searching the crowd for his friends as Gracie tagged along behind him.

Olivia felt Gabriel's arms as they wrapped around their waist. "Softie."

"I know."

"Marshmallow."

"I know." Olivia turned to him. "It's fun to occasionally be the good cop."

Gabriel winked at her. "You know, since you're in such a giving mood-" he wiggled his eyebrows at her.

Olivia rolled her eyes. "Oh, you've GOT to be kidding me!"

"Oh, why not? I let you actually nap earlier and you know, a party isn't a party until we're caught having sex somewhere." He nuzzled her neck, pressing against her. "What do you say?"

Olivia sighed as she glanced around the room. "A quickie wouldn't hurt, just try not to be so loud."

"I'm not the one who got dubbed 'Lassie' at the last party." Gabriel grabbed her hand and quickly led her through the lobby, heading with her towards the stairwell.

Peter walked over to Matt and shook his hand. "How's this town been treating you?"

Matt laughed and shook his head. "Great! There's still so many of us continuing to live here and work at the Greene Technologies genetics branch that it still feels like old times, sometimes." He turned and watched as Janice talked with Candice and Mohinder. "We're doing great." He turned and spotted Sherry, laughing. "Knocked her up again, did ya?"

"She's still wanting to try for a girl." Peter grinned. "I used telepathy yesterday to touch the baby's mind."

"And?" Matt asked.

Peter laughed softly. "She's going to have to try again. It's another boy."

"Oh shit." Matt chuckled. "She's going to freak out when that kid arrives."

"Yep, especially since she painted the nursery pink!" Peter nodded as Matt doubled over with laughter.

"You and Sherry keep having boys and Anthony and Tulia keep having girls." He looked around the room. "Speaking of Lieutenant Bombano, where is he?"

"Nikolai brought them a while ago." Peter scanned the room and caught sight of Johnny Bombano, walking around with two identical little girls in his arms. "I see Johnny with Bridget and Tracy. Tulia and Anthony are probably chasing Mary and Maddy around here somewhere." He turned to Matt. "You know Big John's living with them now, since Madeline died last year."

"I heard. Stroke, wasn't it?"

"Yep." Peter sighed. "Sherry took it pretty hard. She always acted like her mom got on her nerves, and she did, but she did love that crazy old lady."

"Sorry to hear that." Matt sighed. He smiled as he spotted Noah and Sandra walking along as Sandra cradled a Pomeranian puppy in her arms. "I see Sandra's got a new Muggles."

"It's Mr. Muggles' grandson." Peter laughed. He turned and hugged Sandra and Noah as they approached. "How's it going?"

"Great!" Sandra smiled. "Have you heard the news? Micah popped the question yesterday!"

Peter shook his head. "He and Molly are going to make it official, huh? That's great."

"Took him long enough." Noah muttered. "Those two," he shook his head "dating from the time I allowed Molly TO date until now, going away to the same college together, they've been living together for the last year, if he hadn't finally proposed, I'd have throttled the kid."

Peter grinned. "Well, they had to graduate college first, you know!"

"Micah graduated four years ago! He's been wanting to get his master's first." Noah sighed. "At least he's finally decided to marry our girl."

"Our youngest." Sandra sighed. "Our baby."

"Now, now." Noah hugged her. "We have grandchildren to look forward to. Hell, we've already got ONE that we've practically raised for the last nine years!"

"Where are Lyle and Mina?" Peter asked.

"Around here somewhere, chasing Katie." Sandra smiled. "That child is just the sweetest thing."

"I'm just glad Lyle and Mina finally got married last year." Noah frowned.

"Oh hush!" Sandra rolled her eyes. "We agreed to take care of those two and that child until they finished high school and college if they promised NOT to get married until then, you know that! It was hard enough on those two trying to raise a baby while graduating high school, much less college as well! Honestly, they were only sixteen when that girl was born."

"I still can't get over Lyle's face when he walked up to me the Christmas after the fight all shame-faced and wanting to have a 'talk'. I thought I was going to have a heart attack when he told me that Mina was pregnant. I suppose I should have kept an eye on him and Mina when we got back here that night. And I thought Claire was the one I was going to have to worry about." Noah smirked.

"Did someone say my name?" Claire walked over to them and hugged everyone, careful of her swollen belly. She gasped and grabbed her stomach. "Man is this kid KICKING!"

Noah touched her stomach lovingly. "How's my grandson doing in there today?"

Claire sighed as she covered her dad's hand with her own. Noah blinked back tears as he stared at the engagement and wedding rings on her hand. "He's good for the most part, except when he starts kicking my bladder. I wish December 15 would hurry up and get here." She turned and smiled as Nikolai reached her, handing her a glass of punch. "Thanks, Honey."

"You're welcome." He kissed her cheek gently as he smiled at Noah and Sandra. "Mom, Dad."

"How's your internship going at Columbia Hospital?" Peter asked.

"It's good." Nikolai smiled wickedly. "I'm at the top of my class and my instructors are surprised at my success rate with my patients."

"When you're finished with your internship, you know our family practice in Savannah is waiting for you if you want to do your residency there." Peter teased.

"I'll think about it." Nikolai turned to Noah and Sandra. "Actually, I've been offered a residency in Houston. I'm considering it."

"Oh don't tease me!" Sandra grasped his arm. "Do you know how much I'd love to have you guys just across the state from us?"

Nikolai nodded. "I know. You guys want us in Texas, Peter and Olivia want us in Savannah and Nathan and Niki are trying to bribe us to stay in New York." He sighed. "You realize though that I can simple teleport us wherever, whenever."

"But it's not the same as having you guys so close." Sandra hugged him. "And the Medical Center in Houston is really world-class!"

"That's why we're probably going to move there. There's a Primatech Nakamura Branch there as well for Claire to transfer to." Nikolai nodded. He laughed as Sandra squealed happily and hugged him. "Dad and Hana have been talking about transferring to Odessa from here if we move to Houston." Nikolai smiled. "I'd like that. I don't get to see them as much as I'd like."

"We've missed out on so much with Chester." Claire laughed. She turned and watched as a group of children ran past. "So many nine year-olds."

Peter grinned. "So many that were born in August."

Claire giggled. "Well, we know how SOME people celebrated after the fight!" She turned and laughed harder as Matt blushed. "BUSTED!"

Matt shrugged. "Jan and I were talking about having another one when Matthew was three, Ashley just arrived a year earlier than planned."

"As well as Mary and Maddy, and Sulu, and Jackson, and Dharma, and Katie, and Chester, and Ishi-"

"-Ishi wasn't a victory baby, she was a honeymoon baby!" Ando joined the group. "But there was quite the baby boom that following August, wasn't there?"

"I just can't get over all of the dueling hormones we had when we all got together after Sherry had the twins." Peter sighed. "Tulia, Leilani, Olivia, Candice, Janice, Mina, Hana and Kimiko all pregnant at the same time? I hope we NEVER have to go through that again!"

"I'm surprised this building was still standing after that weekend." Ando laughed.

Peter spotted Nathan and Niki. "Excuse me." He walked over to them and hugged them both. "I hear congratulations are in order. Micah finally proposed."

Niki smiled softly as she held Nathan's hand. "I was so proud of him. I gave him the ring his father gave me." She looked away for a moment, her expression sad. "I can't wait for the wedding."

"So when should we be expecting Simon to follow suit with Tatiana?" Peter asked Nathan.

Nathan grinned. "Let Simon finish law school first before you start marrying him off, okay Hot Shot?"

"UNCLE PETER!" Peter turned and knelt down, beaming as his niece Jessica ran to him.

"HEY GORGEOUS!" He scooped the five year-old up in his arms and kissed her cheek, running his fingers through her long blond hair. "I hear big brother's getting married!"

"I'm going to be a flower girl!" She giggled. "Did you bring Gracie?"

"Yep! She's tagging along chasing the boys somewhere."

"Okay." As soon as Peter set her down, she turned and ran off, searching for her cousins.

"HONESTLY!" Everyone turned as Gabriel and Olivia walked out of the stairwell with Angela behind them, glaring at them. "Why must you do this at EVERY party?"

As everyone started laughing, Faith turned from Shanti and stared. "Oh gross! NOT AGAIN!" She locked arms with her best friend and marched outside in a huff.

Claude's laughter boomed over everyone else's. "NOW IT'S A GREENE TECH PARTY!" He turned to Hana and nuzzled her neck. "Good thing Angie wasn't checking the manager's office a few minutes ago though, eh?"

"Definitely." Hana winked slyly at him. As a lanky blond boy ran past them, Hana collared him. "Manchester, try not to knock everyone over, please."

"Okay Mama." He sighed as he turned to a group of kids. "Let's go play in the garden outside!" He led them out as Gabriel approached his parents.

"Manager's office, huh? I should have thought of that."

"It was occupied." Claude snorted.

"Gabriel?" Gabriel turned as he heard the feminine voice with the slight Russian accent and smiled, hugging the petite young woman that stood beside him. She hugged him back just as fiercely before letting him go. "It's good to see you."

Gabriel swallowed down the lump that formed in his throat as he studied Tatiana. At twenty-one she had grown to be a lovely young woman with long light brown hair and brilliant green eyes. "How have you been, Kiddo?"

She nodded. "I'm good! I'm about to graduate from school here with my degree in art, I just have one more year left."

"Still swimming?" Gabriel asked.

"Got three medals at a competition just two weeks ago." She leaned forward. "I'm thinking about trying out for the Olympics in 2020."

"That's great." He hugged her again. "I'm so proud of you. I heard that you and Simon have started seeing each other, too."

She blushed. "We have." She looked away, her face turning redder. "Molly got an engagement ring from Micah."

"I heard. You're going to be maid of honor, I'm sure." He smiled as she nodded. "Try not to outshine the bride. I know it'll be difficult, but just try."

She giggled. "You're incorrigible!"

"She's my pride and joy!" Claude wrapped an arm around her slim shoulders. "Girl's gonna get the gold in 2020, just wait and see!"

"The kids all finally decide to take it outside?" Gabriel watched as a group of them ran out through the front door.

"Had to before they tore the bloody building down." Claude smirked. "Crazy lot of them!"

Outside, Jessica found Gracie and the two ran off to play together, hand-in-hand as they were joined by their cousin Yaeko Nakamura. Meanwhile, another group of children stood together. A dark haired boy crossed his arms in front of his chest. "Okay, so we're playing dodgeball?" As the others nodded, he turned to Faith. "NO POWERS!"

Faith rolled her eyes as she sat down with her puppy. "You're a fine one to talk, Matthew. You keep making people stand still so you can hit them, it's the only way YOU can win!"

Matthew shrugged. "Fine, I won't use my power either, sheesh!"

"I don't want to play anyway." She shook her head as she was joined by Shanti and two other dark-haired girls. "Ashley, Ishi, Shanti and I are just going to play with Mia."

Matthew looked away. "Didn't want you stupid girls playing anyway." He snuck a glance at them again, regarding Shanti as she sat beside his younger sister. "You sure YOU don't want to play?"

Shanti shook her head, her dark bobbed curls bouncing. "Nah, I haven't seen Faith since her birthday."

"Okay then." Matthew grumbled. "I see you every day anyway."

The girls watched him and the others walk away, Ishi shaking her head. "I think he likes you, Shanti."

Shanti rolled her eyes. "Oh, he's just a dork."

"Try living with him!" Ashley muttered as she tried to straighten the dark braid that hung down her back. "Mr. Wonderful!"

Ishi watched him walk away, her dark eyes narrowing. "I think he's kind of cute. Too bad I don't live here instead of in Tokyo."

Faith giggled as Ishi blushed. "Someone's got a crush."

"Do not." Ishi muttered, her cheeks turning red. "Besides, you think Chester's cute."

Faith looked away. "Do not. Shanti's got a crush on Sulu!"

Shanti gasped. "You blabbermouth!"

"MY COUSIN?" Ishi made a face. "EW!"

Ashley giggled. "Oh hush! Sulu's adorable!"

Olivia and Gabriel stepped outside for a moment to watch the children playing. She laughed as Matthew, Jackson, Dharma and Chester tried to dodge the balls that Katie, John-John, Peter and Sulu threw at them before scooping them up to throw them back. "Look at those kids go." Olivia mused.

"The next generation is going to be hell on wheels, I can see that now." He grinned. "Katie and Dharma are quite the little tomboys." He grinned at the two girls, one with short blond hair, the other with straight dark hair, as they knocked a couple of the boys over with the balls. "They're kicking butt with the best of them."

"Watching the kids?" Nathan walked outside with Monty, his arm throw across the young man's shoulders. "They're having a lot of fun, aren't they?"

"They sure are." Olivia hugged Monty. "Didn't see you earlier."

"I was around." Monty hugged her back tightly. They turned as five more children ran past them. "The Bombano girls." Monty laughed. "Well, the boys are definitely in trouble now!"

Olivia giggled as one girl stopped to pick up the little boy that ran with them. "Oh, and they've got Paul with them, too." She laughed as the three year-old squirmed to get down from the girl's grasp and ran towards his older brothers, tackling John-John and knocking him to the ground with a delighted giggle.

"Ah, a little football player in training." Nathan grinned.

"All the kids out here?" Noah grinned. "We're about to make a speech and then eat, they need to come on in."

"I'm on it!" Monty ran towards the kids, laughing as he corralled them all together. "Come on guys! Dinner time!" He grinned as he picked up Paul and tucked him on his hip before turning to grab his little sister Jessica's hand. "Last one in is a rotten egg!"

"How's he doing?" Olivia asked Nathan.

Nathan stared at the ground for a moment. "He still has nightmares, but-" he nodded "-he's doing okay. He's getting his teaching degree. He wants to teach. Heidi talked about doing that when they got older. He remembered that."

"He's good with kids, he'll be a great teacher." Olivia nodded.

"It's been a tough day for him today." Nathan locked eyes with his sister. "You know."

Olivia hugged him tightly as he tried not to cry. "I know. It's tough for all of us."

"Niki's great though." Nathan took a deep breath. "I never thought in a million years that I'd even consider being with another woman," he smirked "I mean, I know that Niki and I once." He sighed. "But Heidi was the one and I never considered spending my life with someone else. Then she died and D.L. was gone and Niki and I just-"

"-you found comfort in each other."

"And love." Nathan smiled softly. "She's been great. We've been married for seven years now and we have a beautiful little girl. I couldn't be happier." He turned to watch Monty sadly. "But he's been having a tough time since Heidi died. I'm glad he's finally finding some direction."

"I am too." Olivia wrapped an around his waist. "Ready to grab a bite to eat and hear Noah run his yapper?"

"I'm standing right here!" Noah rolled his eyes.

"Hey, we tease because we love, General!" She winked at him as they followed the children into the building.

In the basement of the building, the training room had been remodeled as a banquet hall. Everyone filed in to sit down at the tables that had been set up there, watching as Noah stood and walked to the podium at the front of the room. Smiling down at everyone, he adjusted his glasses. "Ten years ago tonight, we changed history. Together, the people in this room stood up as one and fought against a man that attacked not only us, but humanity as a whole. Though we lost so many people that were close to us, people like Laurent Francoise Duvall, Bridget Elizabeth Cooper, Heidi Grace Montgomery Petrelli, Geoffrey George Jameson, Daniel Laurence Hawkins, Sanjog Manoj Iyer, Anjelica Diandra Maria Espinoza, Trevor Ciaran Kelly, Meredith Elaine Gordon, and so many others, we know that their deaths were not in vain. In the last ten years, we've watched our families grow," he grinned "boy HAVE they grown!" Everyone laughed softly as he continued. "and we've watched a bright new future unfold in front of our eyes. Dr. Olivia Gray built a branch of her company Greene Technologies here to research genetics, where many of our friends continue to work and Kaito Nakamura's company has taken over the day-to-day operations of Primatech Paper, where others of us are now agents, tracking down others of us that have powers and teaching them to use those powers towards the greater good and to help mankind. The sacrifices that we've made, which for some of us that are no longer here was the ultimate sacrifice, will be remembered forever. One day soon, people with powers will be able to come forward without fear of recrimination or prejudice. When that day happens, as I said ten years ago, the battle that we fought not only in the desert near here, but also in a train yard in Odessa Ukraine, will be remembered all over the world and our fallen friends as well as everyone in this room, will be considered heroes. Today, on the tenth anniversary of those battles, I would just like to say how proud I am of each and every one of us, for forging ahead and creating this bright new future. I'm proud to call all of you my friends and to think of all of you as my family." He lifted up a glass of punch as everyone else did the same. "TO US!"

"TO US!" Everyone cheered as they drank.

"Now, I'm going to shut my yapper, as Dr. Gray called it outside so we can eat!" Noah laughed and stepped down as everyone stood and headed towards the buffets that had been set out.

Everyone sat together at the tables, laughing and joking as they ate their meals while children scampered around the room.

* * *

November 9, 2008 

"You asleep?" Gabriel climbed into bed beside Olivia, wrapping his arms around her. The sun was starting rise in the east as he finally lay down.

"Nope." Olivia turned in his arms, tears streaming down her cheeks. "I just keep thinking about Nathan and the boys and-"

"Sssssh!" Gabriel kissed her softly.

"I should probably go back downstairs to check on them."

"They're fine. I just came from down there." Gabriel smiled sheepishly. "Nathan's still sleeping off that sedative you gave him, Niki too. Monty, Simon and Micah are all curled up together on the floor in the living room and Peter and Angela are watching over all of them. Get some sleep."

"I can't." Olivia sighed. "Every time I close my eyes, I see Heidi's body, what was left of her. I can't believe she's gone. I can't believe any of them are gone."

"I know." Gabriel held his wife tightly. "Every time I close my eyes, I remember how terrified I was when I cut off Linderman's head. I can't imagine what Niki and Nathan are going through right now. I don't want to imagine it. I know it's selfish, but I'm glad you're alive. I can't stop being glad every time I look at you."

"It's not selfish, it's human." Olivia buried her face in his chest. "I watched you die once in front of me. I never want to do that again." She lifted her head. "So now it's over."

"It's finally over." Gabriel smiled softly at her. "No more Linderman."

"What are we going to do now?" Olivia asked him.

Gabriel kissed her passionately, moaning as she responded to him. "We live."

* * *

**The End**

* * *

**A note from the author:**

WHEW! _New Alliances _has now ended and what a ride it was, huh? There are so many people that I'd like to thank for encouraging me since May to continue on with this story and to basically just want to keep writing in general. OnyxRiver, Smithsbabe, Synch, take a bow, guys! You three were just a handful of the people who have really pushed me to keep writing this story! I'd also like to thank everyone who has sent in a review on this story, whether it was praise or derision. Feedback is feedback and it helped me gauge how I was doing, whether it was right or wrong. Now that this story is over, I can say a few things. First of all, Claude and Candice were not supposed to live to see the epilogue. I "saved" them at the last minute after realizing that D.L. and Heidi were enough and killing Claude and Candice would be a little much. Besides, Candice was needed at Lyle's hospital room to "pretend" to be him.

So as you know by now, Olivia DID survive to the end of the story and she and Gabriel ended up with a pretty happy ending with their three hellions and another on the way. I was originally NOT going to let Olivia live, I'll be honest. One of the endings I had toyed with dealt with Gabriel going completely loco after Olivia's death and finding a way to get Hiro's teleportation/time travel power to return to New York in 2006 to keep his past self from turning into Sylar and pushing that version of himself towards Olivia while orchestrating their relationship behind the scenes by removing Suresh and Linderman then. The truth was, that ending was too convoluted and I realized that the battle was the main climax of the story. Continuing on with the adventures of Gabriel in his past would drag things out and bring it all crashing down. Also, killing Olivia after everything they'd been through, after everything Gabriel had done to redeem himself would be a let-down as well. It would be almost like "why bother"? I also thought about killing her and letting him go dark again, abandoning Faith to the Petrelli/Nakamura clan as he reverted back to Sylar, but once again, it would have destroyed the whole premise of this story which was, the redemption of Gabriel Gray. I decided in the end to let Olivia live and give them a pleasant ending.

I'm still not sold on the idea of a sequel to this story, I'll be honest. If I DO write one, it'll deal with the younger generation that was introduced in the epilogue. I've gotten a bit of an attachment to a few of those kids, especially Gracie Gray. It might be fun to write a story featuring them, if I can come up with an idea to use them.

Anyhoo, thank you to everyone has read this story since May.


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